Volkswagen, New Flyer, Deep Orange 7, XALT Energy.

VW got no takers: Volkswagen issued a tender last month seeking to secure its supply of cobalt at a fixed price. Said price however, was well under current market prices, that jumped 80 percent this year and so the miners did not take the deal. It would have still been considerable in volume though given that VW wants to become the biggest producer of electric vehicles by 2025 and cobalt is one of the raw materials needed for batteries.
ft.com (original source, paid content), seekingalpha.com

New Flyer with new R&D centre: Bus manufacturer New Flyer opened the Innovation Center to design and build new electric and driverless vehicle technology. 4.1m dollars were invested in the facility located next to the company’s Anniston manufacturing plant. The centre is both engineering hub as well as a training space and museum.
masstransitmag.com

Students develop e-Mini for BMW: Deep Orange 7 is a concept EV conceived by students from Clemson University. Financially aided by BMW, it explores how a Mini could look like in the future and it has a scalable drive that allows it to run on fuel, as PHEV or purely electrically. More striking is the chassis that was developed with the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California.
carscoops.com, jalopnik.com, clemson.edu

Energy density upgrade: North American XALT Energy presents the second-gen Li-ion cell for electric vehicles. The new prismatic 65Ah ultra-high energy cell with a NMC cathode and anode made from graphite is said to have a 4 percent higher energy density (223 Wh/kg) than the first generation cell.
greencarcongress.com, xaltenergy.com