The surging costs of lithium batteries and vehicle components continue to pressure suppliers of micro- and small-sized cars in China. Many of them are migrating to the mid-priced tier, whereas Tesla plans to launch cheaper models.
Arun Plus and Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) have signed a strategic MOU to explore potential cooperation and development opportunities in battery-related business in ASEAN, to increase the competitive-edge of both parties in battery business, as well as to secure a long-term energy storage system technology in Thailand and in global markets.
One month after Tesla recalled more than 120,000 units of its Model 3 in China, allegedly due to defects in rear motor inverters, the real causes of the defects remain unclear. As Tesla is the first carmaker to use silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) in commercial cars, the recall has sparked debates about the reliability of SiC - the third-generation semiconductor material that is gaining favor.
LED chipmaker Everlight Electronics expects shipments of its miniLED backlight units (BLU) for automotive displays to rise in the second half of 2022, when its Taiwan production capacity for the offering will be expanded sharply, according to industry sources.
Hyundai Motor India and Tata Power have entered into a partnership to build fast-charging facilities for Hyundai's dealer stores and customers, an important step for Hyundai's electric vehicles (EV) expansion in India.
As power systems of EVs differ greatly from those of oil-fueled cars, automakers require innovative technologies to manufacture and assemble key system components, leading to a growing demand for 3D measurement and quality inspection solutions to boost precision and accuracy of the components, according to Road Ahead Technologies Consultant (RATC), a 3D measurement solutions provider in Taiwan.
South Korea's 5G-V2X cooperative autonomous vehicle infrastructures and service research projects are now open for bids, according to Korean-language media ET News.
SK On and Ford Motor are spending KRW8 trillion (US$6.35 billion) on equipment for EV battery factories they are jointly setting up in the US states of Kentucky and Tennessee, according to South Korean media ET News.
Renesas Electronics has announced an integrated automotive ECU virtualization platform that enables designers to integrate multiple applications into a single ECU that are safely and securely separated from each other to avoid interference. The solution enables customers to adopt new electrical-electronic (E/E) architectures using MCU-based zone ECUs supporting multiple logical ECUs on one physical ECU, said the vendor.
International IDMs including Infineon and STMicroelectronics continue stepping up production of automotive, industrial control and networking chips to meet ever-rising demand, outsourcing more backend operations for such chip solutions to partners in Taiwan, according to industry sources.
The rapid growth of electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems has intensified the short supply of lithium batteries, while battery materials prices are being further pushed up by manufacturers' overbooking of materials, according to Chinese media reports.
Taiwan's first-tier IC design houses Novatek Microelectronics and Realtek Semiconductor are seeking more capacity support from foundry partners TSMC and UMC to fulfill new orders from new clients that are bolstering their growth despite a decline in demand for consumer chips, according to industry sources.
The Philippines and Cambodia are seeing acceleration of EV market developments, while Vietnam has support from a foreign group to build solar energy capacity.
Optimistic about getting approval under India's chip incentive scheme, Vedanta has started to find customers before building its chip plant, while Ather Energy, one of the few electric two-wheeler vendors not caught in recent fire incidents in India, has received India's government funding.
Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) has taken another significant step into the electric vehicle (EV) market by signing a contract manufacturing agreement and a joint venture agreement with Lordstown Motors (LMC).
LED automotive lighting module maker Laster Tech has disclosed its first-quarter 2022 operating profit reached NT$6.2 million (US$210,500), decreasing 83.67% sequentially and 85.88% year-on-year.
