Samsung SDI, Magna Steyr Battery, ED Design, MILA Plus, BASF.

Samsung SDI takes over Magna’s battery division: The South Korean battery producer said it has acquired the battery pack unit of Austria-based auto parts supplier Magna Steyr Battery Systems. The takeover will be finalised on April 1st. 264 employees, as well as all production and development facilities and current contracts will be singed over to Samsung SDI.
yonhapnews.co.kr, techcrunch.com, businesswire.com

Flat and electric: Italian company ED Design released a teaser image of an all-electric race car, which it will presented in Geneva next week. The Torq is only about one metre high and can drive completely autonomously. Apparently reason enough for the Italians to skip adding any windows to the car.
auto-motor-und-sport.de (in German), quattroruote.it (in Italian)

The MILA Plus is Magna Steyr’s newest lightweight concept vehicle, which the company will unveil at the Auto Show in Geneva. The plug-in hybrid sports car will combine a three cylinder petrol engine with two electric motors and offer an all-electric range of about 75 kilometres. According to the Austrian company, the 1,520 kilo car could be ready for serial production in two to three years.
steiermark.orf.at (in German)

NiMH instead of Li-ion: According to a recent Technology Review report, chemical company BASF researchers have high hopes for nickel-metal hydride batteries. They hope to increase their energy storage capacity tenfold and decrease their costs to only 146 dollars per kWh.
technologyreview.com

– Feedback –

Most clicked link on Monday was the Bloomberg report on Apple pushing its team to begin production of an electric vehicle as early as 2020.
bloomberg.com