Mazda explores EV battery partnership with Panasonic Energy to fuel next-gen EVs
Japanese automaker Mazda Motor and Tesla’s primary battery cell supplier, Panasonic Energy, are in talks over establishing a battery partnership to power Mazda’s future EVs.
Mazda and Panasonic discuss EV battery partnership
The business leaders revealed Wednesday that they are discussing establishing a medium-to-long-term partnership to “meet demand for battery EVs and automotive batteries in a rapidly expanding market.”
Mazda and Panasonic will enter “concrete discussions” for Panasonic to supply Mazda with lithium-ion batteries manufactured at the company’s plants in Japan and North America.
The Japanese automaker plans to deploy EVs with Panasonic batteries, but not until the second half of the decade (likely around 2025 to 2027 or later). Mashiro Moro, who took over as CEO in March, said:
As part of our electrification initiatives, Mazda is working with its partners in three phases to flexibly respond to changes in regulatory trends, consumer needs, and other areas.
Mazda and Panasonic look to build upon the relationship they have built over the years. In 2012, Mazda used Panasonic batteries for its Demio EV (or Mazda 2 as it’s known overseas), an electric car with 200 km (124 mi) driving range, according to the Japanese automaker.
The news comes after Mazda unveiled a $10.6 billion investment in November designed to accelerate EV production through 2030.
To help the company catch up in the new EV era, Mazda laid out a three-phase approach. The first includes utilizing existing technology, such as that used in its first EV, the MX-30. Mazda will also launch a series of new hybrids in China as it works toward the final phase, including a full-fledged launch of battery EVs and investing in battery production.
Mazda forecasts EVs to represent 25% to 40% by the end of the decade. According to Mazda, a big part of its strategy is “co-creating with others,” such as battery suppliers like Panasonic.
Electrek’s Take
The news comes after Japan’s largest automaker, Toyota, revealed a slate of new EV tech, including next-gen batteries, design upgrades to enhance aerodynamics and manufacturing improvements, and more to help transform the company and help it better compete in the electric era.
Mazda (and Toyota) will need to speed up the progress if it expects to compete in the auto industry’s future as it transitions to EVs.
Introducing next-gen EVs in 2025, at the earliest, is still way too late to the game. Many automakers are already achieving double-digit or 100% EV sales. Meanwhile, Mazda is forecasting 25% to 40% by 2030. And including a hybrid phase will only delay the company’s transition further.
Hopefully, with newly elected CEO Moro at the helm, Mazda can turn things around. But they will have to act urgently.
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James Murdoch, a Tesla board member and friend of CEO Elon Musk, has confirmed that he sold about $13 million in stock today as the stock (TSLA) crashed.
There has been a lot of insider trading at Tesla lately, and by trading, we mean selling – cause no insider is ever buying at Tesla.
We recently reported on Kimball Musk, Elon’s brother, and Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Taneja Vaibhav recently selling ahead of a recent drop in the company’s stock price.
Tesla’s chairwoman, Robyn Denholm, also sold $33 million worth of Tesla shares last week and over $100 million in the last 3 months.
Now, it’s James Murdoch’s turn. The Tesla board member just confirmed, through a required SEC filing, that he sold 54,776 Tesla shares for just over $13 million today:
He sold as Tesla’s stock crashed 15% today. It is now down more than 50% from its all-time high just a few months ago.
Murdoch was appointed to Tesla’s board in 2017.
He is better known as the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the former CEO of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019.
Murdoch was one of the Tesla board directors who was forced to return almost $1 billion in cash and stock options to Tesla as part of a settlement for over-compensation.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla insiders are unloading, and those are just the ones we know about. Public companies only have to report insider trading for board directors and listed top executives.
For the latter, Tesla purposefully only lists 3 people: Elon, Vaibhav Taneja, Tesla’s CFO, and Tom Zhu, whose role at Tesla has bit quite fluid in recent years.
Therefore, we don’t know about the dozens of other top executives potentially selling their shares right now amid a giant correction.
It’s really suspicious because there are clear top leaders at Tesla who are often on Tesla’s earnings calls, and they are not even listed, like Lars Moravy, for example.
But it’s par for the course at Tesla, which has some of the worst corporate governance I have ever seen. It’s truly shameful.
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Environment
Mercedes’ new electric people mover is coming soon: Here’s a sneak peek at the luxe EV van
The next generation of Mercedes-Benz luxury vans is almost here. Mercedes’ first luxury electric van, based on its new VAN.EA platform, is now in Arjeplog, Sweden, for winter testing. The new platform will serve as the base for upcoming VIP private vans, high-end limousines, luxury all-arounders, and much more.
What we know about Mercedes’ new luxury electric van
Mercedes is already a leading van maker, both for business and private use. Starting next year, all electric Mercedes’ vans will launch on its new Van Electric Architecture (VAN.EA).
After unveiling the platform almost two years ago, Mathias Geisen, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, said “VAN.EA clearly underscores our aspiration to ‘Lead in Electric.” He explained that the purpose-built EV architecture supports both mid and large vans.
With a modular design, Mercedes can easily swap out sections to create a different design. The platform consists of three blocks, or modules.
The first block has the electric powertrain while the middle module determines the van’s dimensions. At the rear, the final module can add another electric motor, giving it AWD capabilities.
With 4MATIC AWD, Mercedes claims the new architecture significantly expands driving range and ensures the vans “meet the highest standards regardless of weather conditions.”
Although final specs will be revealed closer to launch, the electric vans will be based on an 800V platform, suggesting relatively fast charging speeds.
The luxury vans will also be loaded with Mercedes’ new operating system (MB.OS), it’s powerful new in-vehicle software that powers all functions like infotainment, autonomous driving, and more.
After the electric van began testing on public roads late last year, Mercedes said it was headed to Sweden for winter testing before its official debut next year.
Mercedes plans to launch several versions for private and business use. The VAN.EA-P is designed for those looking for a mobile office, family activity vehicle, etc., while the VAN.EA-C is for commercial use, such as courier, express, and parcel delivery vehicles. It can even support larger vehicles like campers or RVs.
Mercedes aims for 20% of van sales to be electric by the end of next year. By 2030, the luxury brand wants half of all van sales to be EV.
Source: Mercedes-Benz
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Environment
BlackRock’s Fink says Trump deportations will have severe impact on agriculture, construction
HOUSTON — BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said Monday that President Donald Trump‘s deportation policy will have a severe impact on the agriculture and construction sectors, which could lead to elevated inflation in the near term.
“I think that over the next six to nine months, we’re going to see a little more elevated inflation,” Fink said the CERAWeek by S&P Global energy conference. “I do believe deportations and the speed at which it is happening is going to have severe impacts on the agricultural sector and the construction sector.”
Fink said CEOs in the agriculture sector have told him that about 70% of the men and women who work in the industry were not born in the U.S. This raises the question of whether the U.S. will have enough labor to harvest the crops when spring arrives, Fink said.
“With the whole idea that we’re going to have to use private capital to build out this economy — are we going to have enough workers,” Fink asked. “I’ve even told members of the Trump team that we’re going to run out of electricians as we build out AI data centers — we just don’t have enough,” the CEO said.
This potential labor shortage will contribute to inflation, Fink said. Over the longer term, however, the U.S. could see “big deflation because of the advancement of AI and robots and how that’s going to reshape the economy,” the CEO said.
The deflationary pressure that the U.S. experienced over the past two decades was due in part to the importation of cheaper goods from overseas though this hurt U.S. workers, Fink said. The shift to rising nationalism around the world will have an impact on prices, he said.
“When I go to Washington, they talk about these policies,” Fink said. “I ask at what cost are you willing to tolerate that. “Yes, we may have opportunities to create better and more robust jobs, but then the offside of that will be, it will probably create a little more elevated inflation in the short run.”
Trump’s deportation policy is occurring at the same time the president is imposing tariffs on major U.S. trade partners. The president has slapped 20% tariffs on China. He has paused tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods that are compliant with the deal that governs trade in North America. But Trump is threatening what he calls “reciprocal tariffs” in April.
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