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A CATL lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cell on display at the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2023. Credit: CnEVPost. The Hungarian plant will become CATL’s largest production base outside China once all facilities are ready. The first 2 cell production lines began trial runs to prepare for equipment commissioning and process validation ahead of mass production. CATL (HKEX: 3750) has started producing battery cells at its Hungarian plant, moving closer to supplying European automakers at scale from a local facility. The plant secured all permits required for trial operations and began trial cell production on September 22, the Chinese…

The new Nissan Rogue Hybrid, besides being the most efficient Rogue offered in America, is also the most potent one. It packs 225 horsepower, and even more torque from its dual electric motors. Also, with how SUVs have become the de facto vehicular form factor, it wouldn’t be crazy to wonder if Nissan might consider giving it the Nismo treatment and maybe squeezing more power out of it. A reporter from The Drive asked a Nissan product planner just that, and the answer was a pretty definitive “no.” 2027 Nissan Rogue Hybrid from the front three-quarter angleNissan One Of The…

The Drive 🤝 your inbox. Every weekday The Daily Brief wraps up the biggest stories and our exclusive reporting on the auto industry and car culture. Iran’s car market is a paradox. Despite low factory prices, inflation and import costs make cars unaffordable for many. State-run car lottery system. Iranians enter a lottery for the chance to buy cheap domestic cars at factory prices. Imported cars are exorbitantly priced. Import duties and taxes inflate prices by up to 200%, making them luxury items. Cars as financial assets. Due to inflation, cars in Iran are seen as safe investments rather than…

Porsche Boxster EV charging at Tesla Supercharger in California. Photo: Roland J, used with permission Porsche’s upcoming Boxster EV has been spotted in California, Supercharging at a Tesla Supercharger, adding to speculation over the car’s release timing and details. Porsche has been gradually electrifying its vehicle line, offering more and more powerful EVs. As of now, the most powerful Porsche ever is electric, and there’s more to come. But so far, Porsche has been reticent to electrify its sportiest models. Despite coming out with the Taycan, a high-performance sport sedan, and extremely powerful electric versions of the Macan and Cayenne, the classic sportscars of the…

Rabbit, the company behind the underwhelming R1 device, is rolling out a standalone AI agent that you don’t need its hardware to use, as reported earlier by Wired. The startup says its new OS3 “agentic operating system” runs in the cloud but operates locally across Windows, Mac, and Linux devices.According to Rabbit, you can add up to five devices to one account, along with your preferred AI models. OS3 will automatically determine the devices, files, apps, and AI models it needs to complete a task. You can also access OS3 through its dedicated desktop site, a paired messaging app like…

It also has Bang & Olufsen speakers. Motorola just revealed the Signature 27 smartphone at the Snapdragon Summit. This is a refresh of the pre-existing Signature handset. The big news? It features the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 mobile processor. It’s one of the first phones to use Qualcomm’s latest and greatest mobile SoC. This is a flagship model that Motorola is calling “the most advanced smartphone” it has ever created. There’s some Bang & Olufsen speakers, and an upgraded cooling system to ensure the components don’t get too hot. The primary camera looks to be relatively unchanged, as it…

McLaren dabbled in road cars throughout the brand’s history, most notably with the legendary F1, but it didn’t get serious about being an automaker until the 2000s. It started by collaborating with Mercedes on the SLR and then went independent when the MP4-12C hit the road in 2011. Since then, the company has become a legitimate player in the supercar game, with a range that includes the Artura and 750S. Now, McLaren is announcing a fresh look for the brand. It’s not changing any of the actual vehicles, but there’s a new wordmark that is supposed to reflect the brand’s…

Marel Power Solutions has received $1.9 million through the Michigan Supplier Conversion Grant Program to support new power‑electronics manufacturing in Plymouth, Mich., according to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. The company is one of 11 Michigan automotive suppliers selected to share $21 million intended to strengthen the state’s domestic supply chain and help manufacturers adapt to future vehicle technologies. The funding will support equipment for a pilot production line focused first on electric‑vehicle applications. Marel develops power stacks used in inverters and converters that move energy between AC and DC in systems such as traction inverters, battery…

Zeekr 9X SUVs form the model’s name at Fuzhou Port’s Jiangyin port area as the brand begins volume shipments to the UAE. Credit: Zeekr. The Zeekr 9X starts at 369,900 dirhams ($100,720) in the UAE. Zeekr’s UAE website shows deliveries for new orders will begin in December 2026. Zeekr, the premium brand of Geely Auto (HKEX: 0175), has begun volume shipments of its 9X luxury hybrid SUV (sport utility vehicle) to the United Arab Emirates, advancing the flagship model’s overseas expansion. Zeekr announced the move on Weibo on Tuesday. The vehicles departed from the Jiangyin port area of Fuzhou Port,…

The Drive 🤝 your inbox. Every weekday The Daily Brief wraps up the biggest stories and our exclusive reporting on the auto industry and car culture. Last week, General Motors announced a new infotainment user experience launching first in trucks before “expanding across the broader portfolio,” in the company’s words. The revamped UX features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in a new, picture-in-picture layout, and because the text billed this system as “a single scalable foundation that can extend across electric, gas and diesel-powered vehicles,” many—myself included—interpreted it to mean that GM was finally conceding its war against phone projection…