LG Energy Solution Cuts Battery Health Testing From Hours to Minutes
LG Energy Solution has been recognized as a CES Innovation Awards 2027 honoree in the Vehicle Tech and Advanced Mobility category for Re.Pulse, a proprietary software-based state-of-health diagnostic platform built for secondary-life and in-service traction battery packs. The system performs rapid electrochemical characterization by injecting targeted current pulses and evaluating the transient voltage responses. That approach compresses conventional state-of-health profiling cycles from more than seven hours to under ten minutes, while isolating degradation at the individual cell level rather than offering blended pack-level approximations.
The cell-level detail is intended to support granular remanufacturing, targeted module replacement, circular reuse or end-of-life material recycling, curbing premature pack retirement and the embedded carbon that goes with it. The software-defined diagnostic stack interfaces natively with standard legacy capacity test fixtures and existing electric vehicle supply equipment, with no secondary onboard hardware integration required. Commercial deployment targets include fleet asset management, dealer certified pre-owned evaluation workflows, stationary energy storage repurposing platforms and automated Battery-as-a-Service lifecycle management frameworks.
Li-Fire Suppression Solutions Backs E-Bike Fire Covers With a Replacement Program
Li-Fire Suppression Solutions has introduced an incident replacement program for its micromobility containment line, offering a free replacement for any E-Bike Lithium Fire Cover deployed during an active lithium-ion battery fire. The initiative responds to a rise in thermal runaway events in dense metropolitan areas. New York City has reported a 68 percent increase in e-bike battery fires over 2025 metrics, and incident counts are also climbing across Canadian municipalities.
The containment system is engineered to limit structural damage and fire propagation during charging and stationary storage. Designed for residential, commercial fleet and repair environments, the product uses a proprietary Fiberweave material certified to EN13501-1, NFPA 701 and EN 1869 standards to suppress open flames, isolate extreme heat and filter particulate smoke emissions. The replacement warranty applies to original purchasers and is meant to support post-incident recovery across private and enterprise micro-fleet operations.
Certarus and Gazelle Transportation Bring Compressed Natural Gas Fueling to California Freight
Certarus, a subsidiary of Superior Plus Corp., has announced plans to establish its first permanent California compressed natural gas (CNG) terminal near Bakersfield, with commercial gas flow slated for the first quarter of 2027. Positioned along the Interstate 5 and State Route 99 freight corridors, the bulk compression and transport facility will supply off-pipeline industrial facilities, agricultural processors and commercial fleets from Southern California through the San Francisco Bay Area.
At the same time, Certarus entered into a memorandum of understanding with Gazelle Transportation to put a turnkey Mobile CNG Fleet Fueling system at Gazelle’s operations yard. Gazelle has moved 36 heavy-duty commercial haulers to compressed renewable natural gas (RNG) with a lifecycle carbon intensity rating of negative 200 gCO2e/MJ, avoiding approximately 27,000 metric tons of carbon emissions in 2025. The behind-the-fence mobile dispensing arrangement eliminates upfront infrastructure capital expenditures while providing a hedge against elevated on-highway California diesel costs.
Hingham Public Schools Puts Thirteen IC Electric Buses on the Road With Highland Electric Fleets
Hingham Public Schools in Massachusetts is deploying 13 IC Type C electric school buses paired with 13 Zerova chargers through an Electrification-as-a-Service (EaaS) partnership with Highland Electric Fleets. The district is adding 10 new vehicles to an initial 2025 allocation of three buses, and the zero-emission units now account for nearly half of its PreK–12 transportation fleet.
Approximately $2.9 million in EPA grant funding supports the turnkey deployment, which brings together local utility coordination from Hingham Municipal Lighting Plant (HMLP), electrical construction by NECGroup and vehicle supply through dealer DeVivo. Under Highland’s fixed-cost fleet management model, the program eliminates tailpipe emissions and engine vibration while lowering long-term fuel and maintenance expenditures, in alignment with the Town of Hingham’s Climate Action Plan.
WeaveGrid and Hyundai Motor Group Build a North American Smart Charging and Vehicle-to-Grid Platform
WeaveGrid and Hyundai Motor Group have announced a partnership to co-develop a North American EV energy services platform that connects Hyundai and Kia vehicles to electric utilities. The collaboration builds on Hyundai Motor Group’s January 2025 strategic investment in WeaveGrid and will deliver smart charging (V1G) and eventual vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capabilities through the myHyundai and Kia Access apps. Most of the automaker’s U.S. EV lineup uses the Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP), which supports bidirectional power architectures already demonstrated through vehicle-to-load on the IONIQ 5 and EV6 and home backup on the Kia EV9.
Through authorized telematics integration, WeaveGrid’s grid orchestration software optimizes charging schedules around driver departure times and off-peak utility rates, while supplying utilities with battery and charging data at the transformer and feeder level. As bidirectional hardware and utility interconnection standards mature, the platform is set to scale from managed load shifting to dispatchable V2G energy storage. WeaveGrid currently integrates with utilities serving over half of U.S. EVs, including PG&E, Southern California Edison, Exelon, Xcel Energy and AEP.
Voltu Motor Launches the 2027 Voltu3 With 200 kW Onboard AC Fast Charging
Riverside, California-based Voltu Motor has introduced the Voltu Charging Network alongside its 2027 Voltu3 heavy-duty electric pickup truck and an online fleet configurator. The Class 3 vehicle is offered in standard Voltu3 and stripped-down Voltu3 Work trims and uses a patented bidirectional inverter architecture that repurposes onboard propulsion power electronics to handle AC-to-DC conversion while the truck is stationary. The integrated design allows up to 200 kW of AC fast charging, replenishing the battery in as little as 30 minutes directly from three-phase electrical service, without an external DC fast-charger cabinet.
Every 2027 Voltu3 delivery includes a Voltu Power Outlet hardware kit for electrician installation at customer depots, along with standard DC fast-charging compatibility and up to 200 kW vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) energy sharing. To expand infrastructure in parallel with fleet adoption, Voltu Motor will deploy one public charging outlet within 12 months for every truck delivered. The company is targeting up to $13,000 in annual fuel savings per vehicle for commercial operators.
VinFast Pitches a 10-Year, Unlimited-Mileage Battery Warranty for the VF 8 and VF 9
VinFast is positioning its 10-year, unlimited-mileage battery warranty for the VF 8 and VF 9 electric SUVs as a differentiator against the standard eight-year or 100,000-mile industry coverage. The policy applies to vehicles under standard personal use and removes odometer ceilings, so high-mileage drivers logging 25,000 miles a year keep full high-voltage battery protection across the entire decade rather than exhausting coverage in four years.
The battery coverage is paired with a 10-year or 125,000-mile new-vehicle limited warranty, 24/7 roadside assistance and integrated access to more than 250,000 public charging ports across North America. By decoupling battery warranty expiration from annual mileage accumulation, VinFast aims to reduce long-term ownership risk for heavy commuters and frequent interstate travelers.
Waymo Robotaxi Fleets Strain Southern California’s Public DC Fast Chargers
Private electric vehicle drivers across Southern California, including Los Angeles and San Diego, are reporting 30-to-60-minute queues at public DC fast-charging stations as Waymo autonomous vehicles converge on shared infrastructure. After Waymo’s September 2026 commercial launch in San Diego, motorists reported multiple robotaxis occupying three of four stalls at commercial charging plazas. Because the current autonomous Jaguar I-PACE fleets lack automated physical plug-in hardware, Waymo deploys human attendants to public stations to connect charging cables, or relies on safety operators to plug in vehicles during scheduled breaks.
Charging network operator EVgo confirmed that its public stations remain open to commercial autonomous fleets alongside private consumers, and that it maintains 120 dedicated charging stalls across California for AV partners. Electrify America, which operates 13 stations in San Diego and more than 300 statewide, stated that it holds no formal fleet charging agreement with Waymo. Municipal friction over depot operations has also intensified in Los Angeles County, where a court injunction restricted Waymo from overnight charging at two Santa Monica Broadway facilities following neighborhood nuisance complaints over backup alarms, lighting and alley queuing.
Waymo maintains that it prioritizes dedicated fleet depots as regional operations mature, uses dispatch logic to prevent vehicle bunching at public sites and pays standard commercial kWh tariffs. For site hosts, high-concurrency fleet charging brings accelerated dispenser wear and elevated utility demand charges triggered by simultaneous peak power draw, prompting municipalities and operators to evaluate dedicated commercial hubs away from residential corridors.
Audi Brings Bidirectional Charging to the Entry-Level A2 e-tron
Audi has integrated bidirectional charging into its compact A2 e-tron, enabling Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) power delivery for external devices and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) residential energy backup through a compatible bidirectional DC wallbox. Grid export through Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) is scheduled for a future rollout, subject to local regulatory approvals, utility infrastructure readiness and electricity tariff frameworks. V2H operation is restricted to a 20 to 80 percent state-of-charge window, and the battery management system reverts to charge-only or discharge-only modes outside that range.
Powertrain configurations span 52 kWh and 61 kWh cell-to-pack lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries alongside an 84 kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) pack. DC fast-charging from 10 to 80 percent takes 24 to 29 minutes, with peak charging rates up to 183 kW. The charging architecture centers on the OCDC 2.0 unit, which consolidates the onboard charger and DC/DC converter with expanded MOSFET arrays and revised AC output management. It is paired with a dedicated state-of-charge estimation algorithm engineered to compensate for the flat open-circuit voltage curve of LFP cells.
Honda’s 2028 CR-V Hybrid Meets Toyota’s RAV4 Hybrid in the Compact SUV Arena
Honda is moving the seventh-generation 2028 CR-V to a 100 percent hybrid lineup on an all-new lightweight modular platform, matching Toyota’s all-hybrid sixth-generation RAV4 strategy. Arriving in late 2027, the 2028 CR-V debuts Honda’s fifth-generation two-motor hybrid powertrain, paired with a new four-cylinder Atkinson-cycle engine and a dedicated electric all-wheel-drive (e-AWD) rear motor unit that replaces the mechanical driveshaft. Honda is targeting a fuel economy gain of more than 10 percent over the outgoing model.
Toyota’s sixth-generation RAV4 uses a reinforced TNGA-K architecture with its fifth-generation 2.5-liter hybrid system, delivering 226 hp in front-wheel-drive trim at 43 mpg combined and 236 hp with electronic on-demand AWD at 41 to 42 mpg combined, alongside a 324-hp Plug-in Hybrid variant. The RAV4 offers up to 3,500 pounds of towing capacity on upper AWD trims and runs Toyota’s Arene software-defined vehicle operating system. Honda counters with expanded domestic hybrid drive-unit production in Ohio and a clean-sheet chassis engineered for cross-platform parts commonality.