BidItUp Auctions Worldwide is set to auction equipment from a former lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in Midland, Michigan, in a six-day live virtual sale running March 31, April 1-3 and April 7-8.
According to BidItUp, the equipment comes from a 400,000-square-foot battery plant that had been used for EV and energy storage applications. The company says the site includes Class 10,000 to Class 1,000 clean and dry rooms, integrated automated production lines, and high-volume pouch-cell manufacturing infrastructure.
Highlighted assets include automated battery module and pack assembly lines, cathode and anode slurry mixing systems, coating lines, formation and grading systems, and lab and QA equipment. BidItUp also says the plant includes largely symmetrical pouch-cell production systems with two parallel anode and cathode lines capable of both NMP-based and aqueous processing.
“This auction presents a unique chance for global manufacturers to immediately access advanced lithium-ion production infrastructure without the long lead times associated with building new facilities,” said BidItUp CEO Tara Shaikh.
Revolution Concrete Mixers and London Machinery have developed a hybrid drum drive system that’s designed to power cement mixer operation without engine idling.
The new e-HYDRIVE system addresses “one of the ready-mix industry’s most persistent operational challenges”—unnecessary idling during loading, waiting and pouring—and also reduces fuel consumption and emissions.
The e-HYDRIVE is designed to deliver full drum performance at the job site with the chassis engine off. Early field testing demonstrated measurable reductions in idle time and fuel consumption across daily production cycles.
Traditionally, mixer trucks must run the chassis engine to power the drum during loading, waiting, and pouring. The hybrid system charges the battery while the truck is driving, then powers the drum electrically (the truck can also operate traditionally if needed).
Designed for both new builds and retrofits, e-HYDRIVE is designed to require no significant modification to existing mixer components, allowing seamless integration in active fleets while minimizing downtime.
“Our customers have consistently told us they need practical electrification solutions that work in real production environments,” said Executive VP Bryan Datema. “e-HYDRIVE reduces unnecessary idling, lowers operating costs, and prepares fleets for the future of electrified chassis platforms without disrupting daily operations.”
As part of its development, e-HYDRIVE has operated in active production environments with Amrize, a concrete producer known for evaluating emerging technologies. This collaboration allowed Revolution | London to validate durability, usability and real-world performance under demanding operating conditions.
“This has been a long-term testing effort across multiple generations of the system,” said Ian Paine, Amrize. “Innovation at this level requires commitment, iteration, and a willingness to stay engaged until the value is clear.”
“Electrification in concrete delivery is not a distant concept—it’s happening now,” said Bob Monchamp, President, Revolution Concrete Mixers and London Machinery. “Solutions like e-HYDRIVE help set the foundation for the next era of mixer technology and accelerate the next generation of sustainable concrete delivery.”
Researchers from the College of Chemistry at China’s Nankai University have announced a battery breakthrough using a new type of electrolyte.
In “Hydrofluorocarbon electrolytes for energy-dense and low-temperature batteries,” published in the journal Nature, the team explains how they designed and synthesized a series of new fluorinated hydrocarbon solvent molecules with fluorine coordination. Based on this, they constructed an electrolyte system that replaced the traditional lithium-oxygen coordination in electrolytes, enabling a 700 Wh/kg lithium metal battery to achieve reversible cycling.
Oxygen atoms have long been regarded as indispensable elements in the solvents of electrolytes. “Current lithium-ion battery electrolytes are usually composed of lithium salts and carbonate solvents,” the researchers explain. “The ion-dipole interaction between lithium and oxygen in the carbonate solvents can promote the dissolution of lithium salts. However, this solvent has poor wettability and requires a large amount, which makes it difficult to further increase the energy density of the battery. The strong interaction also hinders the interfacial charge transfer in the battery and limits low-temperature performance.”
The Nankai team tested the new electrolytes in lithium metal pouch cells, and were able to achieve specific energy exceeding 700 Wh/kg at room temperature and ~400 Wh/kg at -50° C. These hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) electrolytes thus offer a scalable solution for batteries operating in extreme cold.
Last week, Chinese EV-maker BYD introduced its Blade Battery 2.0, which it says will deliver a range of over 1,000 km (that’s according to China’s CLTC rating system—using the US EPA’s testing system, it probably amounts to a still-impressive 725 km, or 450 miles), and can be charged in just 10 minutes. Of course, charging at such speeds would require a new type of charging station, and now BYD has unveiled that too.
BYD says its new “flash charging” system can deliver up to 1,500 kW of charging power, making it possible to charge a Blade Battery from 10% to 70% in just five minutes, or from 10% to 97% in nine minutes.
Yes, the term “game-changing” gets thrown around a lot, but if any new tech deserves that epithet, this is it. At a stroke, BYD has destroyed any remaining practical reason to buy a legacy gas vehicle. A Blade battery can theoretically deliver as much range as a full tank of gasoline, and a flash charger could charge up that battery faster than you can fill that tank. Oh, and by the way, the new battery is cheaper than the previous generation.
Now, when an obscure startup announces a new super-duper battery tech (as Finnish firm Donut Labs recently did), skepticism is the order of the day. But this is the world’s largest manufacturer of EVs we’re talking about, and the company says the new battery is ready to be installed in 10 production models, including the Yangwang U7, Denza Z9GT, Seal 07 and Sealion 06. The flash charging speed is not unprecedented—it’s basically a 50% improvement on BYD’s 1,000 kW Super E-platform, which it unveiled last year. And the company says it already has 4,239 flash chargers in service, and plans to install 20,000 of them by the end of this year. (It’s not clear whether these will deliver the full 1,500 kW or not, but even 1,000 kW would be almost triple the charging speed generally available here in the West.)
BYD’s flash chargers also feature a novel overhead design that could make the charging plugs more accessible and more secure. At the new stations, the cables hang down from a sliding rail attached to a T-shaped overhead rack, allowing drivers to plug in on either side, and enabling pull-through charging for cars with trailers or for trucks. This also keeps the cables off the ground, minimizing the chances of damage.
Commercial EV builder Xos has announced V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) production beginning in April 2026 on a major electric school bus platform in North America, and plans to add bidirectional capability to its entire product portfolio, including step vans, powertrains and energy storage solutions.
Xos will begin production this April with bidirectional charging on a school bus platform serving tens of thousands of routes across the US. Fleet vehicles entering production at this stage will be able to discharge stored energy back to the grid during peak demand events, opening a direct revenue stream for school districts and operators without requiring hardware retrofits. (This capability does not retroactively apply to existing Xos vehicles already in the field.)
By embedding bidirectional capability at the depot level, Xos enables fleets to reduce peak demand charges, defer infrastructure upgrades, and participate in utility demand response programs.
Commercial fleets present excellent use cases for V2G deployment. Vehicles follow predictable schedules, and return to a central depot each night. In particular, school buses typically sit idle outside of morning and afternoon routes, so stored energy can be made available to the grid for extended periods without affecting daily operations.
“V2G is a fundamental shift in how commercial fleets create value,” said Dakota Semler, CEO of Xos. “Starting with one of the most widely deployed vehicle platforms in America and extending across our full product catalog, we are turning new Xos-powered depots into a grid asset. With production beginning this April, we’re delivering the ability to generate revenue, cut peak demand costs, and strengthen community energy resilience without adding complexity to daily operations.”
“The engineering challenge with V2G at commercial scale is not just bidirectional hardware. It is building the capability to manage energy flow across vehicles and sites without disrupting daily operations,” said Saleh Heydari, Chief Technology Officer of Xos. “We designed this to handle predictive scheduling, depot-level coordination, and utility integration, making V2G operationally seamless and financially meaningful from day one.”
Carrar says testing at its R&D lab showed its Two-Phase Immersion Architecture can prevent thermal propagation between high-energy NMC pouch cells even under extreme failure conditions. In the test, a 72 Ah pouch cell was driven into thermal failure with a temperature rise exceeding 15 °C per second, and the triggered cell rose above 800 °C, while an adjacent cell remained at about 50 °C, according to the company.
The company says the result demonstrates complete prevention of cascade failure—a major safety hurdle for both battery energy storage systems and EV packs. Carrar’s approach submerges battery modules in a dielectric fluid engineered to boil at specific temperatures. Under normal operation, the company says the phase-change cooling keeps cell temperatures uniform and avoids hotspots; under failure conditions, the fluid’s latent heat absorption is meant to soak up thermal spikes quickly enough to stop propagation.
Carrar is also tying the result to tightening safety standards. The company says its architecture exceeds the requirements of China’s GB 38031-2025 standard, which will require zero fire and zero explosion for two hours following thermal runaway, as well as the direction of UL9540A:2025 for stationary storage. Carrar says its system does this passively, without requiring sensors, suppression systems or other active intervention.
“We’re seeing the triggered cell hit catastrophic temperatures while adjacent cells remain near ambient,” said VP Product Bar Ben Horin. CEO Eitam Friedman said the company expects its BESS systems to be commercially ready by the end of 2026 and that it is already working with automotive partners on multi-year programs.
Tapes can simplify complex processes, support robotic assembly, reduce scrap, and more.
By Max VanRaaphorst
Globally, more than 60 million EVs are now on the road. It’s a number that might have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago. It underscores how EV OEMs have moved beyond needing only to prove feasibility, and must now prove manufacturability — the ability to scale-up rapidly while maximizing quality, safety and profits.
The same holds true for EV and e-mobility batteries. While the technology continues to evolve, the path to marketability now goes through manufacturing. Winning providers will be those that can optimize their production processes, automate effectively and produce high quality at a low cost.
That path may seem daunting. But there are strategies available that can result in greater quality and throughput. One such strategy is materials selection, particularly that of pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes.
What do PSA tapes offer for battery design?
PSA tapes are a mature, sophisticated and diverse technology used in a wide range of industries, including automotive and transportation. Depending on its configuration, a tape may feature one or two adhesives that bond to a substrate upon the application of light pressure, a facestock that provides dimensional stability and other qualities, and a liner that protects the adhesive until its application.
These versatile tapes can easily fit in tight spaces while helping limit a pack’s overall mass. They offer clean and repeatable application and are typically compatible with automated production processes.
From a manufacturing perspective, such benefits may make PSA tapes an enhanced alternative choice to liquid adhesives, which require cure time and have variance in their application; and mechanical fasteners, which increase part count and mass.
Common PSA tape configurations
PSA tapes can also be customized to provide qualities that go beyond simple bonding. Some examples: Electrically insulative film facestocks can enhance a system’s dielectric protection
strategy. Tapes combined with flame barrier materials, such as mica, can enhance thermal protection. Tapes laminated to thick foam facestocks can provide shock absorption for delicate components.
PSA tapes as a design-for-manufacturability solution
Importantly, PSA tapes can be customized not just for the end use, but for specific challenges of the manufacturing process itself. This is the essence of DFM.
The fact is, battery manufacturing is highly complex at multiple levels. Cell, module and pack production involve different substrates, tight tolerances and layered assemblies, and electrical and thermal management requirements. Wasteful production steps and damage to fragile battery components are pain points, and may be frequent occurrences for manufacturers using traditional bonding and assembly methods.
How PSA tapes address pain points and optimize battery production
Enter PSA tapes. Here are just a few ways this DFM solution can help optimize battery production.
PSA tapes reduce process steps, production line costs and complexity
Manufacturing optimization with PSA tape solutions
The use of PSA tapes eliminates some of the time-and effort-intensive steps associated with traditional bonding and fastening methods. As mentioned earlier, tapes require no cure time. Once adhered, a taped part can move immediately to the next step of the production process. This saves time and eliminates the need for equipment such as curing ovens, helping manage CAPEX.
Avery Dennison next-gen Volt ToughTM Stretch offers a prime example of these benefits.
Estimated cost comparison: Use of powder coating vs. next-gen Volt Tough Stretch
The product is a PSA-tape-based dielectric insulation solution engineered for adhering to flat metal blanks. Those blanks can then be cut and stamped into whatever shapes are needed for the battery component’s design. The “stretchability” engineered into the tape prevents the dielectric barrier from tearing or cracking during those processes.
Traditional dielectric strategies, such as powder coating, can add complexity and cost to a production process whether done in-house or outsourced. As a PSA tape, next-gen Volt Tough Stretch can more easily be applied inline, manually or robotically, to promote simplicity and cost savings.
PSA tapes support automation and robotic application
By using tape constructions tailored to their application and automation methods, e-mobility manufacturers can design efficient and effective automated processes. PSA tapes support multiple automation strategies, including pick-and-place of die-cut parts, single-pass liner removal and application, and wide-web lamination for large components such as cooling plates.
Because PSA tape bonding occurs immediately upon contact with a substrate, components are less likely to shift during transfer between stations. This is particularly important for layered battery assemblies, where misalignment can lead to electrical clearance issues, uneven thermal interfaces and downstream assembly failures.
Dimensional stability is another plus for PSA tapes applied robotically. Film-based carriers such as PET resist stretching during robotic handling and placement, improving positional accuracy at high application speeds. Where assemblies require conformity around edges or uneven surfaces, nonwoven or foam carriers can be used to balance flexibility with automation compatibility.
For battery producers focused on scale, PSA tapes engineered for robotic application can help stabilize production lines, improve yield and increase overall equipment effectiveness.
PSA tapes help manage scrap rates and promote quality
Many battery materials are delicate and difficult to handle, making them especially vulnerable to damage during high-speed assembly. PSA tapes can be customized to help battery manufacturers limit these materials’ contribution to waste and scrap rates.
A common challenge occurs during liner removal. Materials such as mica or ceramic paper can tear, delaminate or fracture if subjected to excessive stress and forces.
PSA tape constructions that pair controlled-release liners with appropriately balanced adhesive systems reduce the mechanical stress placed on these materials during automated or semi-automated removal. This results in fewer damaged parts entering downstream processes.
Manufacturers such as Avery Dennison can fine tune a liner’s removal force through approaches such as controlling the release formula (low, medium or high) and/or zone coating the adhesive.
In addition, tapes can be designed for compatibility with vision systems to support inline quality checks. Printed liners or pigmented adhesive systems allow automated equipment to verify part presence and placement before the assembly progresses further down the line. Identifying defects early allows for removal of noncompliant parts prior to the addition of value, thus reducing the total cost of scrap.
At scale, such incremental improvements compound. By reducing handling damage, misalignment and late-stage defects, PSA tapes optimized for battery manufacturing help improve overall yield while decreasing manufacturing costs.
Engineering PSA-tape-based DFM solutions for your production line
Printed liners aid robotic vision systems that perform inline quality checks
A logical first step in creating PSA-tape solutions for your manufacturing needs is to locate collaborators who can provide expertise and capabilities you may not have in-house. The industry is served by a variety of PSA tape manufacturers who can fulfill this role.
Some questions to consider as you vet tape manufacturers:
Does the manufacturer have experience and application expertise in the battery industry?
Does the manufacturer have the R&D capabilities to develop the solutions I need?
Does the manufacturer have the business appetite to develop customized solutions? (Not all do.)
Does the manufacturer have access to a network of additional companies, such as tape converters and functional material manufacturers, who may be crucial to my success?
Does the tape manufacturer provide ongoing support?
Ideally, this relationship begins early in your product design phase. This gives the tape manufacturer maximum leverage to develop solutions that work for your manufacturing process.
My company, Avery Dennison, collaborates with OEMs and suppliers to tailor PSA-tape-based solutions to specific cell, module, and pack designs. We offer a wide range of PSA-tape solutions for the e-mobility battery industry, and our portfolio is backed by extensive R&D capabilities.
About the author
Max VanRaaphorst is market manager for Energy Storage at Avery Dennison Materials Group North America. With a decade of technical, sales, and marketing experience in the adhesives and tapes field, Max strives to help OEMs and suppliers address design, manufacturing, and performance challenges in the fast-evolving energy storage segment.
CamMotive has opened a new battery testing lab in Cambridge, UK, with more than 800 high-current cell-cycling channels and the ability to deliver up to 800 A per cell. The company says the facility is aimed at speeding development and validation of next-generation batteries for automotive and other high-power applications.
According to CamMotive, the lab can cycle hundreds of large-format cells under controlled conditions, and is one of only a few UK facilities with comparable capacity and current capability. The company says the setup is designed to help OEMs and other developers gather the data needed for modeling, compliance work, performance optimization, lifespan analysis, and charging-strategy development.
The facility is also equipped with dynamic climatic chambers operating from -40 °C to +180 °C, process thermostats for thermal-management testing, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and swelling analysis. For larger hardware, CamMotive says it can test modules and packs at up to 1 MW. Beyond automotive cells, the company is targeting eVTOL, data center, and stationary energy storage applications.
“The launch of our new test facility marks the latest phase of CamMotive’s commitment to advancing battery technology and its applications,” said director Bruce Campbell. He said the company aims to support work ranging from early concept development to end-of-line validation.
Taseko Mines says it has harvested the first copper cathodes from the newly completed commercial production facility at its Florence Copper operation in Arizona, marking what the company calls the first new US greenfield copper production since 2008.
The company had announced startup of Florence Copper’s electrowinning plant in late February. Now it says the first cathodes have been harvested, an early milestone in ramping the site toward its nameplate capacity of 85 million pounds per year of LME Grade A copper. Over a 22-year mine life, Taseko expects Florence to produce at least 1.5 billion pounds of copper.
Taseko also says Florence Copper is the first greenfield site globally to use its ISCR process, which it describes as a low-cost copper production method with environmental advantages over conventional mining. If the site reaches planned output, Taseko says it will become the third-largest copper cathode producer in the US.
“Producing LME Grade A copper cathode for America’s manufacturing sector, including automotive, semiconductor, defense/aerospace and AI data centers, will meaningfully strengthen US manufacturing and supply chain security,” said President and CEO Stuart McDonald. He added that all copper produced at Florence will remain in the US.
Cary, North Carolina has deployed a Pierce Volterra plug-in hybrid fire truck. The city adopted its first light-duty electrified vehicles a decade ago, and chose to electrify this heavy-duty truck in order to improve public health and air quality, firefighter working conditions, and long-term fleet resilience.
The Pierce Volterra features an Oshkosh parallel-hybrid drivetrain. Both travel and pumping can be powered by batteries or by the internal combustion engine.
The Environmental Defense Fund is using the city’s deployment as a case study to demonstrate how light-duty plug-in vehicle adoption can scale into heavy-duty, mission-critical applications. EDF’s case study is designed to show municipalities how focused deployment, strong cross-sector partnerships and leading-by-example planning can facilitate EV implementation.
EDF’s recommendations based on the group’s electrified fleet case studies:
Start with applications in which impact and feasibility align for your fleet to transition to plug-in vehicles.
Strong partnerships make the process easier and build relationships that facilitate future additions. Cary’s project was enabled through collaboration among the town’s leadership, fire department, utility, OEMs and other stakeholders.
A targeted deployment builds knowledge, confidence and momentum, and provides a framework for other municipal fleets to learn from. EDF’s case study is designed to show how other fleets can replicate Cary’s planning and incorporate coordination into their initial research and transition plans.
