| Click on blue article title to read full story. | | | | Cobalt | | | | Reuters US News - February 2, 2018 LONDON (Reuters) - Blockchain is to be used for the first time to try to track cobalt’s journey from artisanal mines in Democratic Republic...... in China, the main destination for Congolese cobalt from artisanal mines, have set up a Responsible Cobalt Initiative, which has been joined Sources close to a pilot scheme expected to be launched this year say the aim is eventually to give manufacturers a way of ensuring the cobalt in lithium-ion batteries for products such as iPhones and Teslas has not been mined by children…Sheila Warren, head of blockchain policy at the World Economic Forum, said it was an open question how well it could work in Congo given the prevalence of conflict, lawlessness and an opaque legal system…“Congo holds half the world’s cobalt reserves and demand for the main mineral component of lithium-ion batteries is set to surge as electric cars proliferate. In 2016, Congo mined 54 percent of the 123,000 tonnes of cobalt produced worldwide…Carmakers such as Volkswagen are trying to secure long-term cobalt supplies to sustain electric car production, and they are asking suppliers to ensure no child labor was used in the supply chain…Christine Chow of Hermes Investment Management said tracking cobalt was far more complex than diamonds, typically involving 12 steps as opposed to five stages for gems. “But the principle of recording key characteristics and then entering them into the blockchain, which is stored on the cloud, is the same,” said Chow, part of the Hermes EOS team that advises institutional shareholders on responsible investing. | | | | | EVs | | | | Reuters UK - February 2, 2018 TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T) on Friday said it expected China would overtake the United States as its biggest market for... United States soon.” Honda plans to launch a compact all-battery electric car in China later this year, and Kuraishi said that the company In the third quarter, Asia including China was the only region where Honda saw year-on-year growth in vehicle sales, while sales at home, North America, Europe and other regions fell. Honda expects Asia to overtake North America as its biggest source of annual vehicle sales for the first time this year…Honda plans to launch a compact all-battery electric car in China later this year, and Kuraishi said that the company would also focus on developing car-sharing and other new mobility services for the country. | | OTCMarkets.com - February 2, 2018 Toyota City, Japan, Feb 2, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - When it comes to global environmental leadership, the number of vehicles that customers...... Electric Vehicle, the Mirai, in 2014, the fourth generation of the Prius in 2016, and the second-generation Prius Plug-In ElectricVehicle Toyota Motor Corporation announced today that it reached a major milestone in annual sales of electrified powertrains in 2017 with over 1.52 million sold worldwide…"In just over 20 years, we have seen electrified new vehicle sales increase from under 500 sales to more than 1.5 million sales," said Shigeki Terashi, executive vice president, Toyota Motor Corporation...Since the introduction of its first commercially available electrified powertrain on the Prius in Japan in 1997, Toyota has worked at improving the technology as the basis for its electrification efforts... The company will continue the development and diversification of electrified vehicles as it now turns its sights to include the mass production of battery electric vehicles from 2020, starting in China and India, followed by Japan, the United States and Europe. | | Reuters US News - February 1, 2018 STUTTGART (Reuters) - Daimler’s profit growth will be dampened this year by spending on new technologies such as electric and autonomous... Daimler’s profit growth will be dampened this year by spending on new technologies such as electric and autonomous vehicles, it said on Thursday Daimler’s profit growth will be dampened this year by spending on new technologies such as electric and autonomous vehicles, it said on Thursday, as it missed quarterly earnings forecasts and reported a lower margin on its Mercedes-Benz cars…Most major carmakers are ramping up spending on electric vehicles and autonomous driving technologies, as well as services such as car-sharing, amid tightening emissions regulations and competition from the likes of Uber and Google. | | Business Quarter Magazine - February 2, 2018 The British luxury car brand has unveiled plans for a five-year trade and investment drive in China worth over £600m. -out of our new model pipeline, including the company’s first electric vehicle in 2019, will further improve Aston Martin’s market share in Speaking in Beijing, Dr Palmer said: “Our impressive 2017 performance in China reflects increasing demand for our new and special vehicles…“The continued roll-out of our new model pipeline, including the company’s first electric vehicle in 2019, will further improve Aston Martin’s market share in this key market, alongside investments we are making to strengthen brand visibility and sales performance. | | Reuters US News - February 2, 2018 BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s would-be coalition partners agreed on Friday on an environmental policy in which cars with excess emissions... the use of electric vehicles, in particular by fostering the introduction of more electrictaxis, buses and delivery vehicles. Reporting by In a coalition paper seen by Reuters, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the Social Democrats also said they would aim to promote the use of electric vehicles, in particular by fostering the introduction of more electric taxis, buses and delivery vehicles. | | | | | | |