Wieland Electric will showcase its new podis power bus system for EV infrastructure at the upcoming EV Charging Summit and Expo 2026 in Las Vegas.
Wieland’s podis is designed to simplify, accelerate and future-proof EV charging installations. The podis decentralized power distribution system offers a modular, plug-and-play alternative to traditional hard-wired installations. It’s aimed at commercial, industrial, fleet and parking applications.
Using podis eliminates complex conduit runs. Wieland says it can be installed in a third the time compared with pre-assembled, pluggable components, and can reduce labor costs by up to a third compared to conventional wiring methods.
Wieland’s podis delivers reliable power distribution with high-current capacity. It offers scalable design that can grow with EV demand, and includes flexible layouts optimized for various applications, including parking garages, fleet depots and multi-unit residential developments.
Wieland’s podis system will be on display at booth 1402 at the upcoming EV Charging Summit & Expo, March 17–19, 2026 at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino.
Battery electrode manufacturer LiCAP Technologies has announced a major expansion of its operations. The company recently secured a 40,500-square-foot industrial facility in Sacramento, tripling its work space.
The new facility will serve as LiCAP’s dedicated manufacturing hub, enabling scaled production of its dry electrode platform and supporting development for energy storage and data center applications.
LiCAP’s proprietary Activated Dry Electrode (ADE) technology eliminates the toxic solvents required for the traditional wet slurry electrode production process. The company says its dry process saves energy, cost and factory space, as well as improving electrode performance. (Read our in-depth interview with LiCAP President Richard Qiu.)
LiCAP has introduced a new ultracapacitor system assembly line. The company says its ultracapacitors deliver more than one million charge-discharge cycles and exceed 15 years of calendar year life, reducing maintenance intervals and total cost of ownership. The ultracapacitor system line will focus on grid stabilization projects, data centers and other energy storage applications.
“This milestone reflects the market’s strong appetite for cleaner, more efficient energy storage technologies,” said President Richard Qiu. “Our new facility gives us the scale to support commercial partners and deliver energy storage solutions that meet industrial reliability standards.”
Components borrowed from other GM EVs, a LFP battery, and up-to-date new software gives the classic Bolt a brief new life.
The Bolt is back! The new 2027 Chevrolet Bolt has been available at some Chevy dealers since last month, and now we’ve driven it. GM’s lowest-priced EV remains what it always was: a practical small EV hatchback with a range of 262 miles. In 2017, its 238 miles was class-leading, at a price $7,500 higher; today, 250-plus miles is adequate, and it’s a good value for the money.
That price may be the single most important aspect of the new Bolt. A 2027 Chevrolet Bolt LT starts at $28,995. The sportier Bolt RS trim adds $4,000, and the priciest Bolt is the RS with the Technology Package, Super Cruise, and a sunroof, at $38,990. (All prices include a mandatory destination fee of $1,395.)
But shoppers who like the new Bolt shouldn’t dawdle. Chevrolet says the car will have a “limited run” of one long model year, with cars available from now through the end of 2027. Its Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas will switch to building gasoline-powered Equinox compact SUVs in mid-2027. What will follow the Bolt when it sunsets? Chevy repeatedly declined to say.
Photos by John Voelcker
Same exterior, new interior
The Chevy Bolt is now the VW Beetle of EVs: on the outside, a 2027 Bolt looks very close to one from its first model year in 2017. It hit dealerships in December 2016, even earlier than the Tesla Model 3 now in its 10th model year. (The Bolt skipped model years 2024, 2025, and 2026.)
The 2027 Bolt, however, is actually an updated version of the slightly longer Bolt EUV introduced for the 2022 model year. Now the “EV” and “EUV” suffixes are gone, and there’s only a single Bolt, the bigger one. It’s still a subcompact, and the sheet metal remains identical, with only mild updates to the front and rear. GM kept cost down by adapting components from other models.
Photos by GM
Current Bolt owners, however, will find an entirely new interior that takes elements from a number of GM’s other EVs. The 11-inch digital instrument cluster was carried over from the Equinox EV, but that car’s wide central touchscreen was too large—so the Bolt adapted an 11.3-inch unit from the Chevy Colorado midsize pickup truck. The column-mounted “shifter” is shared with other Chevy EVs, freeing up console space.
Over parts of two days in the temperate weather of Westlake Village, north of Los Angeles, we had the chance to drive two different Bolts, including a top-spec RS, a total of roughly 65 miles.
Familiar feel behind the wheel
On the road, the 2027 Bolt feels remarkably like the old one: punchy when needed, but otherwise competent, quiet, and generally free of fuss. Its motor produces 156 kilowatts (210 horsepower, or 10 hp more than the 2022 model) and 169 pound-feet of torque. A final drive ratio of 11.59:1 means torque to the wheels is slightly higher than its predecessor, for a 0-to-60-mph acceleration time of 6.8 seconds, according to Bolt chief engineer Jeremy Short. It has three regenerative braking levels: None, Normal, and Strong. We left it in Normal; the Strong was just … too strong.
Fully 57 percent of its components are new or adapted from other GM electric vehicles. Most crucially, the battery pack now uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells. The new Bolt is GM’s first EV to use LFP (if you discount one year of the low-volume Chevy Spark EV, which used A123 Systems’ “Nanophosphate” LiFePO4 cells in 2014; the 2015 Spark EV switched to LG Chem cells with a nickel-manganese-cobalt chemistry).
Photos by John Voelcker
You’d never know the new battery uses a different cell chemistry—nor should you have to. While its prismatic LFP cells contain 20 to 30 percent less energy than the nickel-manganese-cobalt-aluminium cells used by GM in its other EVs, evolution in LFP chemistries gives the 2027 Bolt battery pack 65 kWh of energy—and better range than earlier models. The 2022 Bolt EUV was EPA-rated at 247 miles; the 2027 Bolt gets a 262-mile rating.
The new cells are housed in a battery of identical dimensions to previous Bolts, using the same attachments, despite having differently arranged internals. It’s also a cell-to-pack configuration, meaning the prismatic cells are not contained in modules but sit in rows directly on a cooling plate at the bottom of the pack. Though the pack itself is roughly 200 pounds heavier than its predecessor, weight savings in other parts of the car—Short cited an entirely new front suspension cradle and far more integrated power electronics and charging gear—reduced total weight gain to only about 20 pounds more than the 2023 Bolt EUV.
From late next year, GM will produce LFP cells in the U.S. at its joint-venture Ultium Cells plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Until that plant comes online at scale, GM must purchase LFP cells for the 2027 Bolt from an outside vendor. In a statement last August, the company said, “To stay competitive, GM will temporarily source these packs from similar suppliers to power our most affordable EV model.” The Wall Street Journalreported the vendor was China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., or CATL.
150 kW, NACS port, 100% charges
Rebooting the Bolt wasn’t nearly as simple as owners imagine; while the shell of the car remains the same, its electrical architecture is almost entirely new. That means not just the battery pack, electric motors and power electronics, but also the switches and wires to control modules and high-voltage components. It’s fitted with a heat pump for the first time, for more efficient heating and cooling of not only the cabin but the battery pack as well.
Photos by John Voelcker
The old Bolt maxed out at a DC fast-charging rate of 53 kilowatts; the update almost triples that, “up to 150 kW.” In our test, with no battery preconditioning, we saw a sustained rate of 119 kW starting at a charge level of 19 percent. One driver saw a rate of 153 kW. GM cites charging from 10 to 80 percent in 25 minutes, under ideal circumstances.
The 2027 Bolt is Chevy’s first EV with a standard J3400, or NACS (Tesla), charging port—still on the left-front fender, as the old CCS port was. The onboard AC charger can deliver up to 11.5 kW from charging stations that can provide it. The 2027 Bolt comes standard with a portable charger capable of charging at either120 or 240 volts via swappable pigtail connectors included. Adapters for J1772-to-NACS ($67) and CCS-to-NACS ($189) are available from Chevrolet.
One drawback to the 2027 Bolt is that it’s not presently Plug & Charge compatible. That’s the protocol that lets drivers simply plug in and walk away, with all session validation and billing done in the background. A member of the charging team told us the car “is ISO 15118-ready, and we’re working on growing the compatible networks for this vehicle to use Plug & Charge with.” The first of those networks is to be Tesla’s Superchargers—or at least the 25,000 Version 3 and Version 4 stations out of its total of 36,000 chargers.
Asked about Plug & Charge at any other U.S. charging networks, where some drivers of other EV makes have used it for more than five years, GM released an anodyne statement: “We’re committed to continuously working with our partners to expand coverage, improve reliability and enhance the overall charging experience.” Gosh, which maker isn’t committed to those things? Sadly, GM gave Bolt shoppers not a shred of information on when, or whether, Chevy EV drivers can expect Plug & Charge functionality one day at Electrify America, Ionna, and other networks.
A wrinkle to the new LFP cells is the need to charge the battery to 100 percent regularly. That keeps the range-estimating software properly calibrated, but for owners of other EVs used to capping charges at 80 or 90 percent, it’s contrary to common practice and requires adjustment. The car will suggest to owners every so often they should charge to 100% when convenient.
All new electrical everything
The 2027 Bolt can export energy to power a home during a blackout, known as Vehicle-to-Home (V2H). That capability requires a specific GM Home Energy charging station—meaning owners of older Bolts may have to replace their home charger to take advantage of bidirectional charging.
The old Bolt used GM’s “Global A” electrical architecture, but now, every EV in the lineup uses its “Global B” architecture. That offers five times the processor power, over-the-air (OTA) software updates, and cybersecurity improvements. Buyers can now specify a greater range of advanced safety features: automatic emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert, a Surround Vision Recorder that captures camera views onto a USB drive inserted into the console, and more. The new architecture also enables the latest version of GM’s well-reviewed Super Cruise hands-free adaptive cruise control, now including automatic lane changing.
Boosting GM’s bottom line, Global B allows new apps and features—some with monthly fees. Chevy has aligned the new Bolt with its other EVs by removing phone mirroring: No more Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. That was controversial. Now, audio apps like Spotify and Apple Music have been added into the 8-year period during which Chevy won’t charge for OnStar Basics (Google Maps, Voice Assistance, Automatic Crash Response, and mobile app features like remote commands). Bolts with Super Cruise get three years of Onstar One, which adds video streaming, then the Super Cruise subscription fee alone is $40 a month or $399 a year. Bolts without get Super Cruise get a one-month trial of OnStar One, then it costs $35 per month.
What comes after 2027?
When Chevrolet announced the return of the Bolt for 2027 as a “limited run,” the phrasing begged the question: What happens after that run ends? While GM remains tight-lipped, some hints have emerged in comments from GM president Mark Reuss. Last October, he said on Inside EVs’ Plugged-In podcast that Chevy is planning a “family” of low-cost EVs to come after the Bolt.
Renesas has added a new low-end member to its RH850 automotive MCU family with the 28 nm RH850/U2C, aimed at chassis and safety systems, battery management systems, lighting, motor control and other ASIL D applications.
The 32-bit MCU combines four RH850 CPU cores running at up to 320 MHz—including two lockstep cores—and up to 8 MB of on-chip flash. Renesas says it is designed as a migration path for developers using RH850/P1x or RH850/F1x devices, helping them move toward newer vehicle E/E architectures.
A big part of the pitch is communications support. The RH850/U2C includes interfaces for Ethernet 10BASE-T1S, Ethernet TSN at 1 Gbps/100 Mbps, CAN-XL and I3C, while maintaining compatibility with more familiar automotive interfaces such as CAN-FD, LIN, UART, CXPI, I²C, I²S and PSI5. Renesas says that mix should ease phased migration toward domain- and zone-based architectures.
The company also emphasizes functional safety up to ASIL D, ISO 26262 compliance and support for ISO/SAE 21434 cybersecurity requirements, along with hardware accelerators for cryptographic processing. “The RH850/U2C combines performance, a rich feature set and compliance with key industry standards to meet the requirements of next-generation ECUs,” said Renesas VP Satoshi Yoshida.
For many a year, a certain California carmaker dominated the headlines in the EV press—so much so that I created a keyboard shortcut for the company’s name. Despite a relentless tide of naysaying, the company went from strength to strength for almost two decades. Then, coincidentally (?) around the time of Covid, the innovation engine seemed to stall, and the company’s leadership turned its attention to other things. In January, an uncharacteristically uninspiring earnings report seemed to confirm that the firm was “pivoting away from its electric car business.” No Master Plan Part Trois, no new vehicles—just some warmed-over talk about AI and robots. Has the company that almost single-handedly invented the modern EV industry lost its mojo, passed the torch on to others, gone over to the dark side?
Not so fast.
Christopher Chico reports, in his excellent Battery Chronicle blog, that “Tesla is quietly building the most complete battery supply chain in the West.” The company operates a lithium refinery, a cathode manufacturing facility, and two cell factories producing two different battery chemistries.
Tesla has been making 4680 cells at Gigafactory Texas since 2022. In 2023, the company filed for a $716-million expansion that included cathode manufacturing facilities. Early cathode production has reportedly begun, at an annual capacity of around 10 GWh.
Tesla is producing anodes and cathodes for its 4680 cells using a dry process that it acquired along with a company called Maxwell Technologies in 2019. Compared to the traditional wet slurry process, the dry process eliminates toxic solvents, cuts energy use, and requires less factory space. (The founding team of Maxwell is now running a company called LiCAP, which is licensing a similar dry electrode process. Read an in-depth interview with LiCAP President Richard Qiu in our Oct-Dec 2025 issue.)
Tesla’s lithium refinery in Texas began operations in January. Mr. Chico says it’s the first spodumene-to-lithium-hydroxide refinery in North America. Tesla uses an acid-free refining process that eliminates some steps traditionally dominated by Chinese firms. The facility is expected to deliver 30 GWh of annual lithium refining capacity.
At Gigafactory Nevada, Tesla has an LFP cell factory that uses manufacturing equipment from Chinese battery behemoth CATL. The company said last July that the facility was nearing completion. Mr. Chico reports that production is scheduled to begin in “early 2026,” at an initial annual capacity of 7 GWh. Most of these prismatic LFP cells are destined for Tesla’s energy storage products, not for EVs.
In fact, it could be argued that the enigmatic automaker is indeed pivoting away from vehicles, and toward stationary storage. Mr. Chico reports that stationary storage products are now the company’s fastest-growing business line, and are delivering nearly double the profit margin of the vehicle business.
Tesla’s battery-building business stands in marked contrast to the Dinosaurs of Detroit, who are, for whatever reasons, gradually retreating from all things electric. GM, Stellantis and Ford have all recently backed out of plans to build or buy stakes in battery plants.
At the other end of the spectrum, China’s BYD manufactures roughly 75% of its vehicle components in-house, including cells, cathode material, electric motors, power electronics and semiconductors. It also owns lithium mining interests in Brazil, Africa and China.
Chico calls Tesla’s vertical integration strategy “the most ambitious in the West,” but it is incomplete, as Tesla owns no semiconductor or mining interests. However, “Tesla is the only Western company even attempting to match the Chinese model of full-chain ownership.”
Automakers spent decades outsourcing virtually everything except engines and vehicle design, but in the EV era, vertical integration makes a lot of sense. Batteries are so expensive that it pays to avoid sharing margin with suppliers, and the technology is changing so fast that OEMs can be more agile if they don’t have to wait for innovations to ripple through a complex supply chain. There are also geopolitical considerations.
Of course, there’s always a downside. Chico points out that when demand drops, vertically integrated companies can get stuck with high fixed costs. The way he sees it, Tesla’s vertical integration is a bet on trade barriers staying up and demand continuing to grow.
In the global game of battery poker, Asians are showing some aces, but at least one US automaker is still sitting at the table.
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A new Chinese electric truck brand is stalking the European market. Electrive reports (in German) that startup SuperPanther plans to start selling electric semi-trucks in Europe this year.
SuperPanther will rely on a contract manufacturing arrangement with Steyr Automotive in Austria for European production, Frank Schulz, SuperPanther’s Europe sales chief, told Electrive. Series production is scheduled to start this summer, and the company plans to deliver 100 to 200 customer vehicles in Europe by the end of 2026.
Four-year-old SuperPanther is based in Xiamen, China, and already has “several hundred electric trucks” on the streets in the People’s Republic. Europe will be its first export region.
SuperPanther doesn’t want to be seen as the stereotypical Chinese manufacturer, flooding the local market with cheap goods, Schulz told Electrive. “We do not intend to [offer] price breakers—we want to convince with performance, added value and TCO.” SuperPanther plans to provide comprehensive service to its European customers, including charging solutions (in-house or through partners) and repair and maintenance through a cooperation with brand-independent provider Alltrucks.
SuperPanther’s eTopas 600 is built on a BEV-only platform. It’s a 4×2 tractor unit with an empty weight of 10.8 tons and permissible total weight of 42 tons.
The battery technology comes from CATL, and is much the same as that of Daimler Trucks’ eActros 600. The LFP battery packs offer a gross capacity of 621 kWh, which is expected to deliver a range of 500 kilometers. The eTopas 600 is based on an 876-volt architecture and offers 394 kW continuous and 692 kW peak power in its twin-engine configuration.
SuperPanther’s truck sports dual CCS-2 charging ports, which will enable extra-high charging speeds at compatible charging stations. It’s also slated to be fitted with an MCS charging port.
Steyr Automotive will build the trucks from pre-assembled modules that include core components from China, as well as components from European suppliers including ZF, Schaeffler, Continental and Aumovio. SuperPanther is developing the e-axles, thermal management and software layer in-house, and plans to offer these solutions to third parties.
DHL has been named as the first potential customer—the logistics giant signed an MOU with SuperPanther in 2024.
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