US-based Full Circle Lithium has made its first commercial sale of FCL-X, its lithium-ion battery fire extinguishing agent, to a US-based waste management operator for on-site deployment.

The sale highlights the escalation of lithium-ion battery fires in landfills, recycling facilities and waste collection systems in North America, the company noted.

More than 5,000 fires occur annually at recycling facilities internationally, many linked to lithium-ion batteries, the company said. Some 2,400 waste facility fires were estimated to have taken place in the US and Canada in 2022.

Lithium-ion battery fires are driven by thermal runaway, a self-sustaining chemical reaction that produces intense heat, flammable and toxic gases and a risk of reignition. The fires burn hotter and faster than typical combustible materials, can reignite hours or even days later, release toxic and hazardous gases, and can be difficult to suppress with water or traditional extinguishing methods.

FCL-X is designed to rapidly suppress thermal runaway reactions and reduce reignition risk, enabling safer handling for on-site personnel.

“Waste operators are facing a growing and costly threat with no effective solution, until now. FCL-X is purpose-built for this challenge and is quickly becoming the new standard in lithium-ion battery fire response,” said Carlos Vicens, CEO of Full Circle Lithium.

Source: Full Circle Lithium

Power2Drive South America is LATAM’s key exhibition and conference for charging infrastructure and e-mobility. Strongly connected to the Latin American market, it showcases innovative charging solutions, battery concepts and business models that are shaping the future of sustainable mobility. It underlines the growing role of electric vehicles in the energy mix and their contribution to more climate-friendly transport systems in the region.

Power2Drive South America is the ideal platform for manufacturers, suppliers, installers, distributors, fleet and energy managers, e-mobility service providers and start-ups to connect, exchange and explore new opportunities. It provides in-depth insight into market trends and technology innovations across Latin America – from urban transport and smart charging to energy self-consumption.

The event will be held from August 25–27, 2026 as part of The smarter E South America, LATAM’s largest alliance of events for the energy industry, at the modern and centrally located Expo Center Norte in São Paulo, Brazil. In parallel, the following exhibitions will be dedicated to sector coupling and a renewable 24/7 energy supply:

• Intersolar South America – LATAM’s Largest Exhibition and Conference for the Solar Industry
• ees South America – LATAM’s Key Event for Batteries and Energy Storage Systems
• Eletrotec+EM-Power South America – The Event for Electrical Infrastructure and Energy Management

With Power2Drive Europe in Munich, Germany and Power2Drive India in Gandhinagar, India, this global exhibition series is represented across three continents.
Power2Drive South America is organized by Solar Promotion International GmbH, Freiburg Management and Marketing International GmbH (FMMI) and Aranda Eventos & Congressos Ltda.

E-Mobility in Brazil – Electrification in a Flex-Fuel Market

Brazil’s e-mobility market is developing under conditions that differ from most other growth regions – and at the same time is setting the pace for e-mobility as Latin Americas biggest car market. The country combines one of the world’s cleanest electricity systems, which gives electric mobility a particularly strong decarbonization advantage, with a long-established ethanol and flex-fuel ecosystem. At the same time, Brazil is not following a purely battery electric pathway. Instead, battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles are expanding alongside existing biofuel-based technologies. This makes Brazil one of the most distinctive transition markets in global e-mobility.

How is the e-mobility market in Brazil developing?

The market for e-vehicle has shown significant growth recently: the Brazilian Electric Vehicle Association reported 223,912 electrified light vehicles sold in 2025, up from 177,358 in 2024. Their share of total domestic light-vehicle sales reached 9 percent, while the overall market for light vehicles grew by only 2.6 percent. This shows that electrified mobility is expanding much faster than the market as a whole.

A key driver behind this growth has been the rising availability of imported vehicles, especially from China. Chinese brands accounted for 85 percent of electric vehicle sales in Brazil in 2024, helping reduce the price gap between battery electric cars and conventional vehicles. At the same time, the government is trying to combine market growth with industrial development. Import tariffs on electric cars were reintroduced in 2024 at 10 percent and are set to rise gradually to 35 percent by mid-2026. In parallel, the Green Mobility and Innovation Program MOVER is designed to strengthen local production, innovation and investment in cleaner vehicle technologies.

Charging infrastructure is also expanding, but it remains unevenly distributed and heavily concentrated in economically stronger regions, especially São Paulo, where 30 percent of all charging infrastructure is located, according to Brazilian Energy Research Authority EPE. Brazilian E-mobility Association ABVE states that by February 2026, Brazil had 21,061 public and semi-public charging points, including 6,479 direct current fast chargers, with the fast-charging segment up 167 percent year on year.

Public transport and fleet electrification: a key driver in Brazil

Public transport and fleet applications are among the most promising segments for electrification in Brazil. São Paulo is leading this development in bus electrification and surpassed 1,000 zero-emission buses in its municipal fleet in 2025, reaching 1,009 vehicles. In addition, the federal government has earmarked significant funding for fleet renewal through the New Growth Acceleration Program Novo PAC.

In freight transport, electrification is progressing more cautiously. The International Council on Clean Transportation reports 480 electric truck sales in Brazil in 2024, with most concentrated in light and medium-duty segments. This suggests that urban logistics and regional delivery are currently the most viable use cases, while long-haul heavy-duty transport still faces stronger cost and infrastructure barriers.

Potential and challenges

Brazil’s long-term potential for e-mobility is substantial. According to EPE, electricity demand from electric vehicles could rise from 627 gigawatt-hours in 2025 to 7.8 terawatt-hours in 2035.

Overall, Brazil’s market environment is currently shaped by strong growth, Chinese imports, industrial policy, expanding charging networks and the coexistence of battery electric mobility with hybrid and flex-fuel technologies. That combination makes Brazil a market with its own highly specific transition model.

Mitsubishi Materials (MMC) is investing in US rare earth refiner ReElement Technologies as part of a strategic collaboration with ReElement shareholder American Resources to develop supply for manufacturing in the US and friendly countries, including Japan.

In the US, the collaboration will focus on supporting ReElement’s refining operations by pursuing opportunities for feedstock sourcing, tolling and offtake to expand domestic refining capacity.

In Japan, the companies will jointly evaluate opportunities to commercialize rare earth and critical mineral recycling solutions, combining Mitsubishi’s established recycling infrastructure and ReElement’s chromatographic refining platform.

ReElement’s technology enables the efficient processing of a wide range of feedstocks, including recycled materials, mine waste and primary ores, into high-purity critical mineral products.

Conventional solvent-based refining methods are difficult to deploy outside China because of environmental, capital, and operational constraints. ReElement’s platform is designed to be modular, scalable and environmentally responsible, its former parent company American Resources said.

“By combining MMC’s expertise in feedstock sourcing and recycling with ReElement’s refining-first platform, we are advancing a scalable and economically viable solution to the midstream bottleneck,” said Mark Jensen, CEO of ReElement Technologies.

Source: American Resources

Electric city buses have reached critical mass in Europe, Transport and Environment reports. Sixty percent of new EU city buses ordered in 2025 were electric (56% battery-electric and 4% fuel cell). At the current rate of growth in sales, all new city buses are expected to be electric by 2028.

A variety of OEMs from European and Asian countries (including Daimler, Scania, Vinfast, Yutong, Temsa, Irizar, Solaris and more) are delivering city buses and motorcoaches.

Austrian carrier Blaguss deploys 12 Yutong electric coaches

Austrian transport operator Blaguss introduced 12 battery-electric coaches from Chinese OEM Yutong. The company recently conducted a six-month pilot of vehicle-mounted solar systems, and estimated the payback period at around 18 months.

Blaguss has been gradually introducing electric buses into its operations starting in 2024. In 2025, the company added electric hop-on/hop-off buses for tourist services in Vienna.

Temsa delivers 15 electric buses in Kaunas, Lithuania

Turkish commercial vehicle manufacturer Temsa has delivered 15 MD9 electriCITY electric buses to public transport operator UAB Kautra in Kaunas, Lithuania. Further scheduled deliveries will bring Temsa’s Lithuanian e-bus fleet to 321 units.

Flemish transport agency deploys its 1,000th electric bus

Transport agency De Lijn, which serves the Flanders region of Belgium, has commissioned its 1,000th electric bus, and is steadily ordering more. In 2025, De Lijn ordered more than 650 new e-buses, which will be deployed in phases in the coming years.

By 2035, the company plans to phase out diesel buses entirely. This will require a fleet of 3,800 e-buses, representing major investments not only in new vehicles, but also in charging infrastructure, energy supply, software, training and maintenance.

Three hydrogen buses join 203 battery-electric buses in Sardinia’s capital

Cagliari, the capital of the Italian island of Sardinia, has deployed 3 Solaris Urbino 12 Hydrogen buses. Transport agency CTM Cagliari now operates 236 electrified vehicles, including 203 battery-electric buses, 30 trolleybuses and the 3 new fuel cell buses, which will operate on longer suburban routes.

The fleet’s charging network includes 50 Level 2 charging systems and 22 DC fast charging systems. The agency aims to operate a fully zero-emission urban fleet by 2030.

England and Scotland fund hundreds of new electric buses

The UK government, which has sometimes been criticized for directing the lion’s share of support to London and the Southeast, recently authorized a major funding package for electric buses to be deployed in several English districts.

The new funding includes £73.2 million from the UK government and £94 million from operators and local authorities, bringing total investment to over £167 million. The dosh will be used to procure some 484 zero-emission buses, as well as charging infrastructure.

Not to be outdone, Scotland approved £45 million in new funding to support the deployment of 334 zero-emission vehicles (227 buses and 107 coaches) along with associated charging infrastructure. Fleet operators will collectively contribute over £163 million, and public funding complemented by private investment contributions will come to over £118 million.

Aurora grid connections enable Stagecoach to charge over 1,300 electric buses in the UK

Aurora Utilities has electrified some 17 bus depots belonging to bus operator Stagecoach across England and Scotland. Aurora, acting as an independent distribution network operator, will operate the grid connections required to supply high-capacity bus charging infrastructure at the depots.

The company says the upgraded energy capacity now supports around 1,330 electric buses, equal to around 16 percent of Stagecoach’s total UK fleet.

Sources: Transport and Environment, Sustainable Bus

At ACT Expo next week (May 4–7, Las Vegas, Booth 3570), chargebyte is introducing the Charge Control L MCS (CCL MCS), a stand-alone charge controller that handles the complete ISO 15118-20 communication and safety stack for Megawatt Charging System-equipped trucks, buses and heavy machinery. First samples are open for pre-order.

The CCL MCS sits in the low-voltage path between the MCS inlet and the vehicle and eliminates the need for additional ECUs. It’s built around two NXP S32K146 processors and implements charging communication over 10BASE-T1S Ethernet—the single-pair automotive Ethernet layer specified for MCS—replacing the power line communication (PLC) approach used in CCS deployments. Interfaces include CAN-FD and CAN with vehicle CAN at 500 kbit/s, native support for Isabellenhütte IVT-S and IVT-3 current shunts, and UDS-based firmware updates.

Integrated functions cover dual HV interlock, HV switch control with weld detection, a full inlet controller (ID, CE, PE, lock, button), temperature monitoring on both DC paths and LED control. Protection rating is IP6K9K (ISO 20653), operating range is -40 °C to +85 °C, supply input is 9–32 V, and the Cinch housing measures 153 × 146 × 56 mm at 400 g. Each unit ships with a per-unit end-of-line test.

10BASE-T1S offers lower latency and better noise immunity than PLC—significant at the power levels MCS targets. For heavy-duty OEMs and body builders, the practical appeal of a product like this is offloading the entire ISO 15118-20 stack to a qualified, production-ready ECU rather than developing it in-house.

“With the Megawatt Charging System, charging communication moves to a new layer – away from PLC, towards Ethernet,” said Martin Kranzfelder, CPO Products at chargebyte. “Our brand new CCL MCS is a fully integrated, rugged controller. It makes MCS deployable today, and thus enables OEMs and body builders to stay ahead in the e-truck market.”

Customer-specific variants are available on request.

Source: chargebyte

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville plans to deploy nine electric trucks, including a refuse truck that will be used to collect recyclable materials.

The Volterra electric refuse truck is built by McNeilus (a subsidiary of Oshkosh) in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, using aluminum from Alcoa, which is not far from the UT campus.

A refuse truck is an ideal use case for electrification. The truck will spend its days in constant stop-and-go motion, lifting, compacting and hauling materials around UTK’s sprawling campus. Electric motors paired with hydraulic systems handle lift, compression and pickup along the route.

The truck’s 499 kWh battery pack delivers up to 200 miles of range, or roughly 110 “picks,” the industry term for each stop. The truck supports DC fast charging as well as overnight Level 2 charging.

UTK hasn’t specified what tasks its other 8 new EVs will be used for, but has reported that each will have a 240 kWh battery pack, which is “perfectly suited for the work they’ll do.”

The trucks feature an onboard route-planning system that calculates the most efficient path, helping drivers to stay on schedule while maximizing battery performance. Some of the new trucks support bidirectional charging, enabling them to serve as mobile power banks in the event of a power outage.

Bringing these vehicles to campus was made possible through a $3-million grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). The Student Environmental Initiatives Fund contributed $315,000 and UT Facilities Services covered the remaining costs of about $700,000.

Source: University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Australia-based American Rare Earths, which operates a US subsidiary called Wyoming Rare, has advanced the pilot plant program for its Halleck Creek Project in Wyoming to produce a high-purity separated rare earth oxide.

The company has signed agreements for initial processing to be done in Wyoming through Western Research Institute in Laramie and DISA Technologies in Casper, followed by a final stage of hydrometallurgical processing and oxide separation at the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) in Saskatoon, Canada.

The pilot plant program has been structured in three stages. The first two stages, milling and sizing followed by mineral separation and concentration, will take place in Wyoming. SRC will handle leaching, impurity removal and oxide refining in the third stage.

This will allow the front end of the pilot plant processing to stay in Wyoming, as it will process ore that has already been extracted from the American Rare Earths Halleck Creek site and stockpiled in Laramie. It will then leverage the downstream facility at SRC to accelerate production, the company said.

The pilot plant will use DISA’s patented high-pressure slurry ablation (HPSA) technology to handle coarser particle sizes and then use the GradePro reflux classifier and induced roll magnetic separators to perform primary mineral separation and secondary concentration.

The SRC facility has a similar process configuration to the type of downstream processing facility American Rare Earths intends to build in Wyoming. The company will use the data generated during the pilot campaign to further develop its plans for the commercial plant and mine.

“The pilot plant and production of pre-production rare earth oxide were previously expected to take several years. This defined pilot pathway now materially shortens the timeline and positions the Company to deliver outcomes within months,” said Mark Wall, CEO of American Rare Earths.

Source: American Rare Earths

OCSiAl has completed a new portfolio of TUBALL single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) dispersions targeting silicon-rich anodes, high-energy cathodes and solid-state battery chemistries, paired with an aggressive expansion of its nanotube synthesis capacity.

The new anode products address two use cases. Dispersions using ultralong SWCNTs are designed for silicon-rich anodes, where the nanotubes form conductive networks at lower loadings—important because silicon expands substantially during lithiation, degrading electrical contact that shorter or sparser carbon networks fail to maintain across cycles. A separate dispersion targets Li-ion cells using lithium-carboxymethyl cellulose (Li-CMC) binders, aimed at improving first cycle efficiency and C-rate performance. On the cathode side, NMP-based ultrafine dispersions are positioned for high-energy cells, with OCSiAl claiming higher power density and electrochemical performance. A fourth product line covers solid-state battery development with ready-to-use dispersions compatible with SSB electrode chemistries.

OCSiAl points to its G/D ratio—a measure of graphitic order in the nanotube structure, with higher values indicating fewer structural defects and better electrical conductivity—and more than a decade of consistent batch-to-batch industrial production as differentiators for manufacturers qualifying new electrode materials at scale.

Capacity is expanding fast. A second nanotube synthesis unit is launching in 2026, doubling current output. Two more units are expected within the following year, bringing total capacity to four times today’s level. A project in Luxembourg will extend OCSiAl’s global footprint, supporting total SWCNT production of up to 1,000 tonnes. Dispersion production facilities are also expanding across Europe and Asia.

OCSiAl cites energy storage systems, UPS and battery backup units as demand drivers alongside EVs and consumer electronics—markets where fast discharge response and power density matter as much as energy capacity.

Source: OCSiAl

The manufacturing assets and electric trucks of Bollinger Motors will be sold at a public auction on May 13 via a webcast event conducted by Maynards Industries. The sale includes equipment at two sites—Oak Park, Michigan and Tunica, Mississippi.

The auction offers 20 2025 Bollinger B4 Class 4 all-electric trucks alongside a 2025 electric delivery truck and the contents of what was an operating EV manufacturing operation. Production and support equipment includes battery testing and validation systems, EV charging and testing infrastructure, vehicle lifts, alignment and balancing systems, toolroom machinery and plant support assets.

Inspection of the Oak Park assets is scheduled for May 11–12, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. The Tunica assets are available for inspection by appointment.

Bollinger Motors had been developing the B4—a Class 4 all-electric truck—for commercial fleet applications, including beverage delivery. The auction offers a rare opportunity to acquire production-spec B4 trucks and EV manufacturing infrastructure.

Source: Maynards Industries