Month: May 2023

The Lamborghini Revuelto is the automaker’s new flagship model, replacing the Aventador. It’s also a plug-in hybrid and signals a change for the iconic company as it focuses on the industry’s digitized future that goes well beyond the car. A new video provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Revuelto’s production process, showing off the high-tech artistry and the artisans who build it.

The Revuelto’s modular production line is comprised of 15 stations that are flexible thanks to the use of autonomous vehicles. This will allow Lamborghini to quickly adapt to changes in production volumes, model mix, or other production needs, like adding a new engine, and better serve customers’ customization requests. Employees in specialized areas such as hybrid and engine technology, saddlery, and others undergo more than 500 hours of training in order to build the Revuelto.

Lamborghini also completely fabricates the Revuelto’s carbon-fiber monocoque in Sant’Agata, with the chassis being 25 percent stiffer and 10 percent lighter than the Aventador’s. The company is also assembling the Revuelto’s electric motor in-house, a first for the automaker. Each one undergoes testing, which puts the motor through a static, a dynamic, and an NVH test. Lamborghini also performs a load test that simulates the Nardò circuit.

The Revuelto is a hybrid that uses three electric motors to provide additional horsepower and performance alongside the 6.5-liter V12 engine behind the cabin. The supercar makes a combined 1,001 horsepower; however, its EV mode cuts that back to 180 hp. An eight-speed dual-clutch transmission routes power to all four wheels, propelling the car to 60 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds. It can reach 124 mph in under 7 seconds while on its way to a top speed of over 217 mph.

We won’t have to wait too much longer for the Revuelto to go on sale, as it will launch in the US later this year for the 2024 model year. Lamborghini hasn’t announced how much it will cost, but we expect it to supersede the Aventador’s half-a-million-dollar price tag. However, until then, you can configure one to your heart’s content and worry about paying for your dream supercar later.

Aston Martin said Geely Automobile Holdings had committed to invest about 234 million pounds ($295 million) in the British luxury automaker, making the Chinese automotive group its third largest shareholder.

As part of the transaction, Geely will acquire a 17 percent stake in Aston Martin, purchasing 42 million shares from Chairman Lawrence Stroll’s Yew Tree consortium along with 28 million new shares, Aston Martin said in a stock exchange filing.

“Geely Holding, who initially became a shareholder last year, sees tremendous potential for Aston Martin’s long-term growth and success,” Stroll said in a statement.

“They offer us a deep understanding of the key strategic growth market that China represents, as well as the opportunity to access their range of technologies and components,” he said.

Aston Martin has struggled with cash and acquired Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund as a shareholder last year as Stroll looks to turn around the automaker and pivot to battery-powered sports cars. Analysts have in the past said that Aston’s lack of scale and precarious cash balance made it vulnerable.

Currently, Stroll’s Yew Tree is the company’s largest shareholder, followed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Geely owns multiple brands including British sports-car maker Lotus, Zeekr, Volvo Cars and Polestar, via a joint venture with Volvo.

Geely acquired a 7.6 percent stake in Aston Martin in September last year.

“Our decision to increase our shareholding in Aston Martin reflects our confidence in the company’s growth prospects, its technologies and its management team,” said Geely Chairman Eric Li.

Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report

WIXOM, Mich. — Cirba Solutions, a new battery recycler formed from companies with decades of industry experience, plans to expand its electric vehicle battery recycling business sevenfold in the next few years.

The key to Cirba Solutions’ future are its regional facilities.

“The name of the game is to make sure we’ve got locations where we can price materials close to our customers, and also sell that material back close to where the customers are going to be building new batteries for the industry,” said CEO David Klanecky on a tour of the Cirba Solutions plant here.

The company now has six plants, but that will nearly double in the next five years. Cirba has plants in Wixom, Mich., near Detroit; Anaheim, Calif.; Mesa, Ariz.; British Columbia in Canada; and Lancaster and Baltimore in Ohio, both near Columbus. A seventh facility, its flagship, near Columbia, S.C., is slated to open next year.

A small player in the battery recycling sphere, Cirba Solutions is leaning on longstanding relationships with automakers, battery manufacturers, cathode producers and others as it faces competition from prominent battery recycling companies.

Cirba plans to invest more than $1 billion in the battery recycling and materials business in the next decade, Klanecky said. Its employee count — about 300 — is set to double in the next two years.

Regional centers empower the company to offer multiple collection points and to reduce carbon emissions. When Cirba Solutions gets a call to pick up batteries, a representative can travel almost anywhere in the continental U.S. within 48 hours, said Klanecky.

“That’s a massive competitive advantage,” he said. “No one else can do that in the industry.”

The company formed from a series of mergers of three companies: Heritage Battery Recycling, which specialized in battery and materials processing innovation; Retriev Technologies, which specialized in battery materials processing; and Battery Solutions, which specialized in battery collection, logistics and services. Heritage Battery Recycling and Retriev Technologies merged in 2021 and acquired Battery Solutions last year. The combined entity was branded Cirba Solutions in 2022.

Today, Cirba Solutions markets itself as the most comprehensive battery materials and management company for end-of-life batteries and gigafactory scrap.

But analysts say Cirba Solutions will likely face challenges from competitors that have existing partnerships with major automakers.

“There is a place for smaller-scale players in this landscape, but they would have a tough time competing with the likes of Li-Cycle and Redwood Materials,” said Prabhakar Patil, former CEO of LG Chem Power who now advises battery companies.

As EV sales continue to scale, one of Cirba Solutions’ strengths is battery collection in the consumer electronics market, Patil said.

The company uses metals from phones, laptops and even hearing aids to develop materials for batteries, Cirba said.