WattEV’s new heavy-duty electric truck charging depot in Fresno is its seventh in California

WattEV has opened its seventh heavy-duty electric truck charging depot in California, creating a link between the ports of Oakland and Stockton and inland freight hubs in the northern San Joaquin Valley.

The Fresno public charging depot features seven MCS chargers, along with 15 single 240 kW CCS chargers. It is supported by Pacific Gas & Electric’s Flex Connect program.

The Fresno charging site, located on Highway 99, is the first of four sites planned to support electric freight transport in Northern California. This summer, WattEV plans to break ground on another charging depot across Interstate 5 from Sacramento International Airport.

“We’re excited to see the Northern California portion of our network coming together just in time for the arrival of [our new] Tesla trucks,” said Salim Youssefzadeh, CEO and co-founder of WattEV. “Northern California is now poised to benefit from the expansion of electrified freight hauling we’ve helped build up in Southern California. Fresno is within easy reach of both the Port of Oakland and our solar-powered Bakersfield depot, which is the gateway to our Southern California network.”

“By using innovative tools like Flex Connect and our distributed energy resource management system, we can support this site with up to 3.6 megawatts during most hours of the year—well ahead of traditional timelines—while longer-term upgrades are underway,” said Josh Simes, Regional Vice President, Central Valley PG&E. “This approach helps accelerate freight electrification, reduce emissions in communities across the San Joaquin Valley, and make better use of available grid capacity.”

Source: WattEV

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CarbonScape secures a powerful partner to industrialize its sustainable graphite battery materials

New Zealand-founded CarbonScape has developed a proprietary process that converts forestry by-products into battery-grade graphite, potentially creating a sustainable domestic source for a critical battery material. Today, more than 75% of the graphite used in batteries comes from oil-based feedstocks. (Read our in-depth interview with CarbonScape Chief Commercial Officer Vincent Ledoux Pedailles.)

Now Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s largest battery manufacturer, has entered into a strategic investment partnership with CarbonScape. The collaboration combines CarbonScape’s innovative biographite technology with CATL’s extensive experience in industrialization, manufacturing and large-scale deployment.

CATL, along with Lochpine Capital, is now a strategic shareholder in CarbonScape, and will have representation on CarbonScape’s board. The companies will validate the technology at demonstration scale at CATL facilities, and refine the process in preparation for full-scale commercial plants.

The partnership structure includes equity-based incentives aligned with the successful commercial deployment of CarbonScape’s technology.

“This partnership is about far more than capital,” said Ivan Williams, CEO of CarbonScape. “It provides access to CATL’s unparalleled expertise in scaling and mass production, world-class facilities, global market reach, and a clear pathway to gigafactory-scale deployment. It validates the strategic importance of biographite in the future of electrification. Together, we aim to bring commercial biographite production online by the end of the decade.”

“CarbonScape’s technology introduces a novel method for producing battery-grade graphite from renewable resources, embodying a true breakthrough in material science,” said CATL Executive President Oscar Luo. “This is not just about scaling a process—it’s about catalysing a shift toward fundamentally cleaner and smarter energy solutions.”

“Graphite is the forgotten giant of the battery supply chain—the single largest material in every EV battery by volume—yet the majority of that supply is oil-based,” said Vincent Ledoux-Pedailles. “What we have built at CarbonScape is the only proven pathway to produce battery-grade graphite from forestry residues, at target cost parity with conventional graphite and with a carbon-negative footprint. CATL’s investment is the most powerful validation this technology could receive.”

Source: CarbonScape

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Heliox’s new H60D dual DC fast EV charger is designed for flexibility

When it comes to EV charging hardware, one size definitely does not fit all. Choosing a charger with the right form factor and power level for the intended application is the key to a cost-effective deployment.

Heliox, a Siemens business, has introduced a new compact DC fast charger with 60 kW of output power. The H60D delivers up to 150 amps of DC current, and boasts peak efficiency of more than 96%.

The H60D features dynamic power allocation between two CCS1 outlets. Both outlets can operate simultaneously and share power dynamically, delivering up to 60 kW to one vehicle or distributing power between two vehicles as charging demand changes.

The charger can be wall- or pedestal-mounted, and can be deployed in either networked or standalone configurations. RFID capability enables driver authentication for fleet operations. A NEMA 3R-rated enclosure supports indoor and outdoor installation. Operating temperature range is from -22° to 131° F.

Communication based on OCPP 1.6J and OCPP 2.0.1 supports vehicle-to-charger connectivity and smart charging capabilities.

The H60D is engineered and manufactured in the US. It comes with a standard 24-month warranty and optional preventive maintenance programs.

Source: Heliox

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EVelution’s solar-powered Arizona plant will produce battery-grade cobalt sulfate

EVelution Energy is building a commercial-scale, solar-powered plant to make cobalt metal and EV battery-grade cobalt sulfate, in Yuma County, Arizona.

Once operational, the facility is expected to process about 24,000 metric tons of cobalt hydroxide feedstock per year. EVelution says it will produce up to 20,000 metric tons of EV battery-grade cobalt sulfate annually, containing roughly 4,000 metric tons of cobalt, along with up to 3,000 metric tons of alloy-grade cobalt metal. The company says that the plant’s output could supply up to about 40% of projected US cobalt demand.

Once complete, EVelution Energy says the array should generate enough electricity to power the processing plant entirely on solar energy. Excess electricity will be stored in on-site battery systems or supplied to the local grid. The company has committed to using 100% American-made steel across the solar, battery storage and cobalt processing structures.

Aquila Energy is the project’s solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor . M3 Engineering & Technology is providing engineering and project integration support.

Evelution has begun construction of the 28 MW solar array that will power the plant, driving the first permanent steel piles at the 150-acre site. The company expects the cobalt processing plant to reach commercial operation by the end of 2029.

“The piles going into the ground mark the beginning of the renewable energy system that will power the first cobalt metal and cobalt sulfate processing facility in the United States,” said Navaid Alam, President and CEO of EVelution Energy.

Source: EVelution Energy

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As the EV charging industry gradually adopts the NACS standard, Electrify America expands its implementation

As penance for its sins in the Dirty Diesel Debacle, the Volkswagen Group created EV charging subsidiary Electrify America in 2017. The charging network’s creators wisely arranged for its funding to be released in four 30-month cycles over 10 years, so that it would be able to invest in new technology as it emerged.

Now EA is into its Cycle 4 Investment Plan, and it has $412 million to invest before the end of 2026. One of the technical advances the company is dealing with is the gradual transition from the CCS standard to NACS, and it recently announced plans to expand its NACS pilots.

EA currently has NACS pilot stations in Connecticut and Florida. Later this month, NACS implementation will expand to five of its large-format sites in California—San Francisco, Santa Clara, South San Diego, Santa Monica and Santa Barbara. The company will convert some CCS connectors to NACS at each of these sites to support a broader range of EV drivers.

Later this summer, EA will convert four stations in California to all NACS connectors, and will convert some CCS connectors to NACS at five sites in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Some chargers at these stations may briefly go offline while the CCS connectors are converted to NACS. All the changes will be reflected on EA’s Network Updates page and the Electrify America app.

Source: Electrify America

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DASH breaks ground on DC metro region’s first en-route electric bus chargers

DASH, a public transit agency that serves the City of Alexandria, Virginia, has begun construction on what it says will be the first en-route electric bus chargers in the Washington DC metropolitan region.

En-route chargers enable electric buses to get a partial charge at stops along their routes (in addition to overnight charging at terminals). En-route charging helps to extend vehicle range, maximize fleet utilization and reduce service interruptions.

ABM, a facilities management provider that lists EV charging among its many services, will provide electric charging services for DASH’s West Alexandria Transit Center. (Read our in-depth interview with Satish Jayaram, ABM’s Senior Vice President of eMobility.)

The two overhead pantograph chargers will be capable of delivering charging speeds of up to 360 kilowatts. The deployment was funded through a partnership between DASH and the City of Alexandria, with some $1 million in federal funding. Construction of the new chargers is underway and is expected to be completed by 2027.

DASH currently operates 16 battery-electric buses, and an additional 20 are in procurement. The agency has worked with bus manufacturers to ensure that the new infrastructure is compatible with both its current electric fleet and future vehicle purchases.

“This project reflects years of planning and collaboration to support our transition to an all-electric fleet,” said DASH General Manager and CEO Josh Baker. “As the first en-route electric bus chargers in Northern Virginia and the DC region, this is a significant step toward a cleaner transit system.”

“Transit agencies like DASH are demonstrating that successful electrification starts with the right infrastructure,” said Mark Hawkinson, President of Technical Solutions at ABM. “By investing in charging solutions, DASH is building the operational foundation needed to support an electrified transit network for years to come.”

Source: ABM

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Sicona wins $45M ARENA grant to build silicon-carbon anode plant in Wollongong

Australian battery technology company Sicona Battery Technologies has secured $45 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to build and operate its first commercial-scale silicon-carbon battery anode facility in the Illawarra region. The grant comes through the Australian Government's Battery Breakthrough Initiative.

The plant will scale production of Sicona's silicon-carbon anode material, SiCx, to up to 230 tonnes per annum for customer qualification and commercial sales, marking the company's move from technology development into commercial-scale manufacturing. Sicona and BlueScope Steel have signed an exclusivity agreement to assess developing the facility within BlueScope's Port Kembla precinct.

SiCx is designed to work with existing lithium-ion battery production lines, which Sicona says gives it a clearer pathway to customer qualification, offtake agreements and commercial-scale supply to global battery makers and OEMs. The company says the material increases energy density by over 20% and enables charging more than 40% faster than conventional graphite. Silicon can hold far more lithium than the graphite used in most anodes today, but it swells substantially as it charges, and silicon-carbon composites are one approach to managing that expansion.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said the technology has undergone independent testing and is already being evaluated by global battery manufacturers and electric vehicle companies. Beyond EVs, Sicona is developing the material for applications across AI data centers, power tools, defense and robotics. The Wollongong facility is expected to create up to 36 skilled manufacturing jobs. It follows a May 2025 licensing and strategic partnership with India's Himadri that included an AU$17.5 million follow-on investment, and Sicona is also planning a 6,500 tonne-per-annum commercial facility that it says could later expand to 26,500 tonnes per annum. Sicona says the funding supports its goal of building sovereign battery materials manufacturing capability in Australia and competing in higher-value global supply chains.

"While EVs remain a major opportunity, some of the fastest-growing demand is coming from AI data centers, robotics, drones and power tools," said Christiaan Jordaan, founder and CEO of Sicona Battery Technologies. "The Wollongong facility will allow us to validate our process at commercial scale, deliver SiCx to customers, and accelerate our entry to multiple markets."

Source: Sicona Battery Technologies

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