HOUSTON—Honeywell has launched battery manufacturing software that uses artificial intelligence technology to optimize the operation of gigafactories.

CHARLESTON, SC—Volvo Cars has started to produce the EX90 at its assembly plant here.

REDDITCH, England—Engineers at Samuel Taylor Ltd. here have developed a new aluminium-to-copper bonding process for electric vehicle battery applications, such as bus bars.

LONDON—A materials research company has used artificial intelligence to develop a new permanent magnet that does not contain rare earth elements.

Ultrasonic welding creates solid-state metallurgical bonds with high conductivity.

COLOGNE, Germany—Ford Motor Co. has ramped up production of a battery-powered Explorer SUV at its first dedicated electric vehicle facility in Europe.

Toyota Material Handling is investing nearly $100 million to build a new facility that will assemble battery-powered forklifts.

Developing lightweight, yet powerful air taxi batteries is a big challenge.

NORMAL, IL—Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian plans to increase the capacity of its assembly plant here to produce its midsized SUV, the R2. The company has secured an $827 million incentive package from the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity to support the expansion.

STANTON, TN—Ford Motor’s Co.’s 21st century facility for electric vehicle production is starting to take shape just a few miles northeast of Memphis.