Formula E, Rivian & US Mining: Top EV News This Week
6 May
ABB unveiled its latest DC-DC converter technology in the GENBETA prototype car, as the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship returned to Tempelhof Circuit in Berlin.
The GENBETA is a high performance modified version of the Formula E's GEN3 racecar, developed to push EV performance to its limit.
The GENBETA is well known for winning the Guinness World Record for fastest indoor land speed in 2023.
4 May
US President Donald Trump has signed H.J. Res. 140 into law, overturning a Biden administration mining ban in northern Minnesota.
The resolution reopens 225,504 acres of land in the Superior National Forest to mineral exploration and development.
The Duluth Complex in northern Minnesota contains nearly 7.3 billion tonnes of minerals. If developed, this region could constitute 95% of America's nickel reserves, 88% of its cobalt reserves, one third of its copper reserves and 75% of US platinum resources.
These minerals are essential components in EV battery production. Nickel and cobalt are core materials in lithium-ion batteries used by most EV manufacturers.
7 May
EV manufacturer Rivian announced it is increasing the initial production capacity of its future manufacturing facility in Stanton Springs North, Georgia to 300,000 vehicles per year.
The company has invested US$5bn in its new facility where it will manufacture the R2 SUV.
It also operates a plant in Normal, Illinois where it works on commercial vans and the Rivian R1.
The company says that progress on the facility will accelerate this summer as the facility’s primary buildings begin to take shape.
5 May
Mercedes-Benz Trucks has launched the reECONIC project with Hydro supplying recycled aluminium components. The initiative builds on the eECONIC battery electric waste collection truck platform.
This involves Hydro providing low-carbon, recycled aluminium made from Hydro CIRCAL to Mercedes-Benz Trucks, for its reECONIC project.
According to Hydro, CIRCAL has one of the world's lowest carbon footprints for recycled aluminium. The material is produced using end-of-life automotive parts and building materials.
6 May
More customers have turned to EVs since the start of the US and Israel's war in Iran , which has triggered rising fuel costs.
Recent data from Bloomberg, shows that in March 2026, consumers in France, Germany and the UK drove off in 206,200 EVs, a 44% increase over 2025.
Bloomberg's data shows that in South Korea, electric car transactions more than doubled and in Italy, 16,000 battery-powered vehicles were sold last month, a 67% increase over the previous year.
As more consumers are switching from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to EVs in order to pick up on the benefits in efficiency, EV Magazine has analysed in-depth how efficient EVs are in comparison to ICE vehicles.
