Nikola, Ricardo, FMC, BEI, Rice University.

Nicola has received 8,000 reservations for its hydrogen truck with a 320 kWh battery so far and wants to name the fleets involved in the next two months. In the meantime, the Nicola One is being tweaked to accommodate for wide ranging autonomy once it rolls off the lines by 2020. Weight is also undergoing a diet so to speak, while more storage and two doors shall make the utility FCV fit/ter for service.
insideevs.com

Strategic cooperation: Ricardo has agreed to support Chinese Future Mobility Corporation (FMC) in engineering a range of EVs for customers around the world. Led by former BMWi manager Carsten Breitfeld and backed by Foxconn and Tencent, the first concept is due this year allegedly and should be, if the firm wants to deliver by 2020 as planned.
tyrepress.com

Batteries made Down Under? Boston Energy and Innovation leads a consortium, that is in talks with Townsville in Australia to discuss a financial framework for the construction of a 15 GWh battery plant. If the MoU proves feasible, up to 250,000 EV batteries or about 1m “home battery units” could be made.
greencarcongress.com

Spare the platinum: Scientists at Rice University and colleagues from China have made a durable catalyst for fuel cells by attaching single ruthenium atoms to nitrogen-doped graphene. They shall replace expensive platinum catalysts eventually.
greencarcongress.com