In a surprising dual strike at China’s grip on the global electric vehicle battery industry, General Motors and Ford have both unveiled manganese-led batteries that could shoulder aside incumbent chemistries dominated by China’s behemoths.

Volkswagen has enhanced its mass-market EV prospects with plans to refresh its lineup using new battery tech.

Much of the global attention around industrial self-sufficiency has focused on the US and China. Yet Japan, too, has been working to reduce its reliance on foreign suppliers in strategic sectors, and particularly when it comes to China. A part of that effort has been to catch up in the electric vehicle battery market. That push is now faltering.

Panasonic Holdings Corp.’s decision not to rush into expanding capacity to build batteries has been validated by slower global demand for electric vehicles, Chief Executive Officer Yuki Kusumi said.

Battery / EV Metals Price BMI Lithium Carbonate, EXW China, >=99.2% Li2CO3 9,025 BMI Lithium Hydroxide, EXW China, >=56.5% LiOH 9,175 BMI Cobalt Sulphate, EXW China, >20.5% Co 6,742 BMI Nickel Sulphate, EXW China, >22% Ni 3,782 BMI Flake Graphite, FOB China, -100 Mesh, 94-95% C 435

The Chinese battery giant is planning to raise as much as US$4.0 billion in the year’s biggest listing in Hong Kong.

Honda’s CA$15 billion commitment was touted by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the “largest auto investment in Canada’s history.” It was to include a battery plant with an annual capacity of 36 GWh while an EV assembly plant would have been able to build as many as 240,000 vehicles per year from 2028.

From different battery tech pitted against each other to a drop in Tesla’s China deliveries, here are seven EV stories you may have missed.