Transport for London awards oil giant TotalEnergies a contract to deploy 43 DC fast EV chargers

Transport for London (TfL) has awarded oil supermajor TotalEnergies a contract to deliver up to 43 DC fast EV chargers across London. The new chargers will offer charging speeds of 100 kW or 200 kW (“rapid” or “ultra-rapid,” in TfL’s terminology), and will be located near key routes used by high-mileage commercial users, or near high streets and local amenities.

Many of the new charging sites will be located in south London, including Bromley, Lewisham and Sutton.

This is the second contract TfL has awarded to TotalEnergies. This includes the agency’s existing work with EV charge point operator Zest, which has delivered some 40 on-street rapid or ultra-rapid EV charging bays for TfL.

London is already a pretty charged city. According to TfL, Cool Britannia’s capital currently boasts more than 27,980 public charging points, more than 1,550 of which offer “rapid or ultra-rapid charging.” TfL predicts that if current demand continues, London will need between 43,000 and 51,000 charge points by 2030.

TfL is working with the GLA Group and other public sector partners to facilitate installing chargers on public land. Places for London—TfL’s wholly-owned real estate company—has partnered with EV charging hub operator Fastned to develop several new EV ultra-rapid charging hubs across its estate. Work is underway on an EV charging hub at TfL’s Hatton Cross Station car park, the first of 25 hubs targeted to be delivered by 2030.

“By unlocking our land to bring new EV bays forward, we’re working with both TotalEnergies and Zest to provide the infrastructure that Londoners need to have the confidence to transition to electric vehicles,” said David Rowe, Director of Investment Planning at TfL.

Source: Transport for London

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Porsche begins manufacturing Cayenne Electric and in-house battery modules

Porsche has started production of its Cayenne Electric model in Bratislava and has developed its own battery modules in-house.

The Cayenne is being manufactured on a line that also produces combustion engine and hybrid drive models. The automaker said this flexible production enables it to react quickly to changes in demand. The batteries are manufactured in the Porsche Smart Battery Shop in Horná Streda, which is located around 100 km northeast of Bratislava.

The battery features large pouch cells, and has a gross energy content of 113 kWh, enabling driving ranges of more than 600 km. It supports 800-volt fast charging. Two cooling plates cool or heat the high-voltage battery from above and below as required to help maintain optimal temperatures

The top-of-the-range Cayenne Turbo has an output of up to 850 kW, which the automaker said makes it the most powerful Porsche production model of all time.

“With the Smart Battery Shop, we are bundling decades of industrialisation experience with state-of-the-art battery technology—from cell processing to fully automated end-of-line testing,” said Markus Kreutel, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche Werkzeugbau. “This end-to-end vertical integration gives Porsche control over the quality, precision and scalability of a key technology that will significantly shape our future.”

Source: Porsche                   

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CATL wins MINDS award for Intelligent Cell Design project

Chinese battery giant CATL won the MINDS Award at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland for its Intelligent Cell Design project.

By using deep learning from more than 100,000 battery cases, 600 TB of test data and EV aftermarket data, CATL has built an intelligent cell design platform that can generate design suggestions instantly and deliver virtual cells based on user-defined performance indicators.

The performance prediction has an accuracy of around 95% and improves design efficiency by 30% compared to traditional design, according to the company, shifting R&D from reliance on experimental trial and error to data-driven design.

The MINDS Awards, established by the World Economic Forum’s Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence, select organizations worldwide that drive AI transformation across five core dimensions: strategy, talent, data, technology and governance.

Source: CATL

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HeyCharge wins €2.5-million grant to develop its offline EV charging solution

HeyCharge, a Munich-based EV charging technology company backed by BMW i Ventures, Statkraft Ventures and Y Combinator, has been awarded a €2.5-million grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator.

The grant will fund HeyCharge’s SecureCharge FLEX project, which seeks to eliminate two barriers to deploying conventional EV chargers in multi-unit residential buildings: unreliable connectivity and prohibitive installation costs.

“Nearly half of Europe’s population lives in apartment buildings, and most of them park underground—exactly where internet-dependent chargers fail,” said Chris Cardé, founder and CEO of HeyCharge. “Our technology works 100% reliably even in underground garages, and because we’ve eliminated the need for communications infrastructure—the cabling, the specialist labor, the ongoing maintenance—we cut installation costs by more than 40%.”

HeyCharge’s SecureCharge platform operates 100% offline, using patented one-time cryptographic tokens generated on the user’s smartphone for secure authentication.

HeyCharge says it has deployed its technology across more than 130 sites and 2,500 parking spaces in Germany, and over 123,000 additional spaces are addressable through strategic partnerships with major real estate operators. The company is launching a partnership model that will enable charging operators and installers across Europe to deliver its technology. HeyCharge has raised €6.3 million in total private funding to date.

The €2.5-million EIC Accelerator grant will support a 24-month project to advance SecureCharge FLEX from its current technology readiness level (TRL 7) to TRL 8, including:

• Development and validation of advanced energy management features, including dynamic load management, demand response, dynamic tariffs and bidirectional (V2G) charging capabilities.
• Integration and interoperability testing with partner platforms and third-party hardware systems.
• Large-scale pilot deployments in multiple European countries to validate performance in diverse building types and grid conditions.
• Multi-country certification and regulatory compliance preparation for EU-wide commercial rollout.
• Onboarding installers and operators across Europe through a franchise model.

“The EIC Accelerator is not just funding—it’s a signal from Europe’s most rigorous innovation programme that our approach to democratising EV charging is ready to scale,” said Dr. Robert Lasowski, co-founder and CBDO of HeyCharge. “We’ve proven that eliminating communications infrastructure makes charging both more reliable and more affordable. Now we’re taking that from proven deployments to mass-market adoption across the continent.”

Source: HeyCharge

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NOVONIX sells battery testing division to its former CEO to refocus on synthetic graphite

NOVONIX is divesting its Battery Technology Solutions business in Nova Scotia, Canada, selling the unit back to its founder and former NOVONIX CEO Chris Burns for $1. The move sharpens the company’s focus on building a vertically integrated synthetic graphite supply chain in North America.

BTS, founded in 2013 in collaboration with Dalhousie University researchers and acquired by NOVONIX in 2017, provides advanced battery testing systems—including Ultra-High Precision Coulometry—along with R&D services and a proprietary all-dry, zero-waste cathode synthesis technology. Its customers span defense, grid stability and high-performance energy storage.

Under the deal, NOVONIX retains a 15% non-dilutable equity stake in the cathode business and will leave $2 million in cash at BTS at closing. NOVONIX will also provide transition services and a trademark license through at least September 2026. The transaction follows the company’s sale of its Mt. Dromedary natural graphite mining project in September 2025.

“The divestiture of the BTS division reflects NOVONIX’s disciplined strategy to prioritize synthetic graphite,” said CEO Mike O’Kronley. “We are focused on directing our management attention and capital to building the North American supply chain for this critical mineral.”

Source: NOVONIX

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WiTricity launches 600 W wireless charger for golf carts

WiTricity AI Tech has added a lower-cost option to its golf cart wireless charging lineup. The MR/1 600 W system is priced at $1,625—half the cost of the company’s existing MR/1 900 W commercial unit—and is aimed at courses, communities and smaller fleets where the higher-power system isn’t necessary.

The 600 W unit uses the same contactless charging pad approach as the 900 W version: carts park over the pad and charging begins automatically with no cables, exposed contacts or user interaction. Charging times are slightly longer than the 900 W system but remain practical for daily operations, according to the company.

“For courses and communities that want the benefits of wireless charging at a lower entry cost, the 600-watt system delivers an excellent balance of performance, simplicity, and value,” said CEO Joe Benz.

The system is available immediately and is compatible with a range of golf carts and light electric vehicles.

Source: WiTricity

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Japanese EV startup partners with major gas station chain

Japanese startup KG Motors (whose investors include Toyota Gosei) makes a tiny, affordable city EV called the MiBot. The single-seat MiBot is aimed at drivers who have short urban commutes—it has about 100 kilometers of range, a top speed of 60 km/h, and a rock-bottom price tag of ¥1 million (around $7,000).

KG delivered the first units in late December 2025. Now CleanTechnica reports that Idemitsu Kosan, one of Japan’s largest oil refiners and gas station operators, took an early interest in the electric runabout, and that company execs envision some interesting synergies with their business.

In January, the two companies signed an agreement to collaborate. Idemitsu will provide sales support, delivery handling, insurance services, and after-sales maintenance and parts support.

Idemitsu will provide e-mobility services on a pilot basis at some of its apollostation service stations in Tokyo and Hiroshima beginning in April—around the same time that KG Motors plans to bring the MiBot into mass production, beginning at a volume of 300 to 500 units per month.

Idemitsu plans to converts some of its apollostation locations to electrified energy hubs. Many of the stations already offer EV charging. Under the company’s new Smart Yorozuya (“many trades”) strategy, select locations will add shopping options, solar generation and renewable electricity supply.

Oil companies have been diversifying into EV charging for years. But as CleanTechnica’s Raymond Tribdino writes, this is a deeper collaboration that could become “a test case for how a legacy oil company can remain relevant in an electrified future.”

Source: CleanTechnica

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