Battery performance can make or break the electric vehicle experience, from driving range to charging time to the lifetime of the car. Now, artificial intelligence has made dreams like recharging an EV in the time it takes to stop at a gas station a more likely reality, and could help improve other aspects of battery technology.

While at the proof-of-concept stage, it shows enormous potential as a portable power supply in several practical applications including electric vehicles, phones and wearable technology.

Ahead of the IDTechEx Show! Berlin, 13-14 May 2020, IDTechEx looks back at the stories of some companies propelled to success by the IDTechEx Launchpad initiative.

The E-Mobility Group of Daimler Trucks & Buses is now launching a worldwide initiative to establish a charging infrastructure for battery-electric trucks. The initial focus is on charging stations installed at the depots of truck customers.

IDTechEx will be hosting a free webinar on Thursday 27 February 2020 titled Electric Trucks: An Impending Revolution?

The Holden brand will be retired from sales in Australia and New Zealand and local design and engineering operations will wind down by 2021, General Motors has announced. Maven and Holden Financial Services operations will also wind down in Australia.

AMT Genoa has placed its trust in Irizar e-mobility for the renewal of its fleet and has acquired 14 Irizar ie bus 10.8m long 100% electric zero‑emissions buses and their charging facilities.

Alpiq and Mercedes-Benz Energy GmbH have concluded a delivery agreement addressing the stationary use of electric car batteries. To achieve their objective of using resources sustainably and increasing the economic efficiency of electric mobility, Alpiq and Mercedes-Benz Energy are teaming up to make batteries available for industrial use.

Modern cars already feature a range of sophisticated systems such as remote-controlled parking, automatic lane-departure warning and drowsiness recognition. In the future, self-driving cars will also have auditory capabilities. Researchers have now developed a prototype system capable of recognizing external noises such as sirens.

Vehicles for construction, agriculture and mining CAM have become one industry served by giants such as Caterpillar, CNH Industrial, John Deere and Komatsu but also small businesses making the new requirements such as drone systems and weeding and mine survey robots.

The rise of electric vehicles is creating many new material opportunities. One such material class is the die attach material used in power electronics.

Anglo American, has engaged Williams Advanced Engineering to develop its new Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle: an ultra-class electrically powered mining haul truck, which is set to be the world's largest hydrogen powered mine truck.

Since their accelerated growth began in 2015, 2019 saw two of the top three regions selling electric cars plateau as a short-term transition from 'carrot' to 'stick' unfolds. In China, serious subsidy phase-outs, amid relaxing of internal combustion engine bans (to stimulate overall car sales), are to blame. Similarly, growth in the US has been underpinned by Tesla, whose tax credits were slashed mid-year as quotas were reached.

The US Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved a regulatory exemption for R2, Nuro's second-generation vehicle. As the first company to be granted approval for a self-driving vehicle exemption, it's an important moment for Nuro and a milestone for the industry.

The companies will jointly develop an all-electric platform based on Canoo's fully scalable, proprietary skateboard design for upcoming Hyundai and Kia EVs and PBVs.

New research by carwow has revealed the best places in Europe for an electric vehicle road trip with Norway taking the top spot and the UK ranked 6th out of 27 countries.

The New Zealand Government has signed a memorandum of understanding with urban air mobility company Wisk (the new trading name of Zephyr Airworks) to support a world-first passenger transport trial of the company's all-electric, self-flying air taxi 'Cora' in Canterbury.

Energy storage startup SPARKZ Inc has exclusively licensed five battery technologies from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory designed to eliminate cobalt metal in lithium-ion batteries. The advancement is aimed at accelerating the production of electric vehicles and energy storage solutions for the power grid.

What does it take to commercialize photonic beam steering?