| Click on blue article title for full story. | | | | Cobalt | | | | Bloomberg - February 5, 2018 PE deals in mining industry rose about 30% to $2.3 billion Copper, gold and battery metals were favored, law firm says talking points as the mining industry meets in Cape Town this week. Read more: Electriccars and niche metals lure cash to Africa’s mines Copper is often seen as a barometer of the world’s economic health and rallied 31 percent last year, while metals such as cobalt and lithium climbed amid an electric-vehicle boom. The move into those materials is a trend that’s likely to continue, Berwin Leighton Paisner said…“With the continued recovery in the sector, 2018 is expected to see an ongoing deployment of capital by the mining private equity funds,” Alexander Keepin wrote in the report. “Battery metals, copper and gold are expected to continue to be the most popular commodities.” | | | | | EVs & Energy Storage | | | | Yahoo! Finance - February 4, 2018 Some 50,000 homes in South Australia will receive solar panels and Tesla batteries, the state government announced Sunday, in a landmark... plan unveiled on Sunday, a network of solar panels linked to rechargeable batteries will be provided free to households and financed by the Some 50,000 homes in South Australia will receive solar panels and Tesla batteries, the state government announced Sunday, in a landmark plan to turn houses into a giant, interconnected power plant…Under a new plan unveiled on Sunday, a network of solar panels linked to rechargeable batteries will be provided free to households and financed by the sale of excess electricity generated by the network, the government said…Tesla said in a statement that the virtual power plant would have 250 megawatts of solar energy and 650 megawatt-hours of battery storage…“At key moments, the virtual power plant could provide as much capacity as a large gas turbine or coal power plant,” the company added. | | MSN.com - February 2, 2018 Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), has said little about how he plans to turn his prototype electric truck into reality....... But Reuters has learned that Tesla is collaborating with Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo and United Parcel Service Inc to build on-site charging terminals at their facilities as part of the automaker's efforts to roll out the vehicle next year…Companies that spoke with Reuters said the first step is to install charging equipment on their own premises. The Semis would be limited to routes that would get them back to home base before the batteries are spent, the firms said…Separately, in a high-tech twist on the traditional truck stop, Tesla is moving ahead with plans for its own stations to sell electricity to truckers who pull up for a charge, according to customers and transportation industry executives who have discussed the matter with the Silicon Valley automaker…Tesla already operates more than 1,100 "supercharger" stations globally for drivers of its passenger cars. Musk has spoken publicly of doing something similar for its heavy-duty trucks by installing a network of solar-powered "megachargers" that could juice up a Semi battery in 30 minutes…Grocery chain Loblaw Companies Ltd (L.TO) will likely use solar power to juice charging stations for the 25 Semis that it has pre-ordered from Tesla, according to spokeswoman Catherine Thomas. | | The Guardian - February 5, 2018 Consumers switch away from diesel amid tax changes and rising air pollution concerns vehicles not meeting the latest emissions standards. Electric and other alternative fuel vehicles continued to expand their sales rapidly, Sales of diesel cars have continued to drop significantly, with the first figures of 2018 showing a 25% fall from last January…Sales of petrol cars rose by 8% as consumers switched away from diesel, sending market share down to 36% of new vehicles, as the extent of the air pollution crisis has become evident and government raised tax on vehicles not meeting the latest emissions standards…Electric and other alternative fuel vehicles continued to expand their sales rapidly, albeit from a small base, with just more than 9,000 sold in January. Sales of SUVs also rose by 6.6%. | | Xinhua News (Eng.) - February 5, 2018 BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Japanese automaker Nissan and its Chinese partner Monday announced a 60 billion yuan (9.5 billion U.S. dollar)...... production in the next five years, with about half of them electric. Electric vehicles are key to the five-year investment, which could Over 40 new models will go into production in the next five years, with about half of them electric…Electric vehicles are key to the five-year investment, which could account for about 30 percent of the joint venture's total sales by 2022. | | Automotive News Europe - February 5, 2018 TOKYO -- Suzuki Motor said its operating profit rose 68 percent in the last quarter due to strong automobile and motorcycle sales in India,...... but Suzuki last year formed a joint venture with Toshiba and Denso to produce lithium-ionbatteries for cars in India. To get a foot in the Booming Indian demand has been a strong profit driver at Suzuki, but a rapid tightening of the country's regulations on gasoline vehicles could have a big impact on the automaker, which generates roughly half of its global sales in the country…Neither Suzuki nor Maruti market all-battery EVs at present, but Suzuki last year formed a joint venture with Toshiba and Denso to produce lithium-ion batteries for cars in India…To get a foot in the door of the fast-growing EV market, Suzuki in November also reached an agreement with bigger peer Toyota to cooperate in selling electric vehicles in India from around 2020. | | | | |