The rapid expansion of the EV market is making it difficult to keep up with all the changes. The race to make a ground-breaking improvement battery technology is one of the most expensive and contested on the planet. But, the EV race is so much more than that as 2021will also be the year of the world’s first electric pickup and many other developments.

Updates

Volkswagen (OTC: VWAGY) just unveiled its roadmap to longer range EVs, cheaper batteries, and better charging through its nearly two-hour event which was seen as an echo of Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) “Battery Day” event. A renown truck tonneau cover manufacturer that brought solar power to the EV table, Worksport Ltd (OTC: WKSP) announced it has expanded its Private Label business segment, adding yet another major brand.

Volkswagen’s “Power Day”

The German automaker, which is the second largest in the world based on sales, said it would halve the costs of producing its batteries, build multiple factories, expand the charging ecosystem, and transition to solid-state technology that will simultaneously cut costs and boost efficiency. The ultimate goal is to make electric cars with longer ranges and quicker charging times  which are among the biggest barriers to mass EV adoption.

Delivering on the promise

In order to deliver on its bold promise of making electric vehicles 50 percent of its sales in the US by 2030, along with its recently unveiled concept sedan called Trinity with “high range” and “short charging time” which is due by 2026, the automaker is going strong on four fronts as it aims to boost its battery expertise and upgrade its supply chain.

Unified battery cells

From 2023, VW plans to roll out a new unified prismatic cell design of its batteries with the goal is to have this unified cell design powering up to 80 percent of its electric vehicles by 2030. The aim is to “gradually” reduce the cost and complexity of the battery while increasing its range.

VW’s “Gigafactories”

Under a strategy for massive expansion of its manufacturing footprint, the automaker plans to have six battery cell production plants operating in Europe by 2030, which it will build alone or with partners. The first two plants will be built in Germany and Sweden. The third will be either in Spain, Portugal, or France; and the fourth factory will be based in Eastern Europe.

Charging infrastructure

Through a series of strategic partnerships, with BP (NYSE: BP) among others, VW intends to have 18,000 public fast-charging points in operation in Europe by 2025, or more precisely, expand the existing structure by five times.

Adding solar to the equation

Beginning from 2022, electric vehicles built  on the MEB platform will support two-way charging. This process will allow green electricity from the solar energy system to be stored in the vehicle and even fed back into the home network if needed. As a result, customers be more independent of the public power grid, along with saving money and reducing CO2 emissions.

Worksport Finalizes Second Major Private Label Agreement

Speaking of solar power, Worksport is the company who patented its “TerraVis” solar system that comes both in the form of solar-powered tonneau covers for pickup trucks as well as an independent source of remote power. Atlis Motor Vehicles and Hercules Electric Vehicles already teamed up with the company to configure its solar fusion for their upcoming electric pickups.

The demand for the company’s products is going strong as its sales team has successfully closed on their second major Private Label agreement in the US, bringing with it a multinational, very high value brand. Under the agreement, Worksport’ will create tonneau cover designs exclusively for multinational companies from its original, non-solar, patented product lines.  It is important to note that these products will

not

compete with Worksport’s branded offerings. Over the past decade, Worksport has created a Gold standard for tonneau covers, building up a robust supply chain and continually refining its operational processes. Producing the #1 accessory for pickup trucks ended up being a winning combination both for the traditional and the electric vehicle market. With the technology, design and manufacturing processes in place, Worksport positioned itself well for the electric era.

Outlook

Practically every automaker is betting heavily on an EV future, with the largest countries and markets in the world taking regulatory action that support the elimination of internal combustion engine vehicles. By the looks of it, this particular transformation will be fast and unprecedented.

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