Between 1 and 1,000 temporary jobs are at risk at Volkswagen in Zwickau
At the Volkswagen electric car factory in Zwickau There is a risk of further job cutsMedia reports say the automaker may terminate temporary contracts for more than 1,000 employees at the end of 2025. A final decision should be made in August. MDR Sachsen and others reported, citing a company spokesman. The job cuts plans are said to date back to last year. The focus is on fixed-term contracts expiring at the end of next year. Volkswagen has already not extended hundreds of fixed-term contracts in Zwickau for 2023 and 2024. A VW spokesman told MDR that the reason for the possible upcoming job cuts is the sluggish demand for the VW Group’s electric vehicles.
2 – Tesla will increase deliveries but not production
Tesla gets another one in the second quarter A decline in production has been reportedAs can be seen from the currently published production and shipment figures, they did not even achieve the first quarter figures. Having completed the first six months of the year, Tesla is significantly below last year. Tesla reported that the company produced about 410,000 vehicles in the second quarter and delivered about 444,000 to customers. The overdelivery can be explained by the situation in the first quarter. At the time, Tesla produced about 46,500 more vehicles than it could deliver by the end of the quarter. Some of the deliveries fell in the second quarter for logistical reasons.
3 – Back to the Future: Conversion solution for the Delorean DMC-12
The car is iconic: in the cult film Back to the Future, a DeLorean DMC-12 is the time machine that Marty McFly and Doc Brown use to travel to the future using a “flux compensator.” Now, cars can travel to the future in a different way. Electric Vehicle Conversion KitThis was made possible by Electrogenic, a British company specialized in conversion kits from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. Among others, Electrogenic has already developed and marketed kits for old Land Rovers, Jaguars and Porsches. Now, a conversion solution for the DeLorean DMC-12. This cult car was only produced for a short time, from 1981 to 1982, and only around 9,000 were made. But to this day, the DeLorean DMC-12 has many fans, especially thanks to its prominent role in “Back to the Future”.
4 – Renault is open to LFP batteries
Groupe Renault is moving away from its previous policy of only equipping its electric vehicles with NMC batteries. Instead, the French are becoming more open to LFP technology. The first model with LFP batteries CATL or LG Energy Solutions’ products are expected to be on the market in early 2026. LFP stands for lithium iron phosphate. Renault’s electric vehicle subsidiary Ampere said it wants to put LFP batteries in its first vehicles “in record time.” The carmaker currently only uses batteries with NMC chemistry, which is known to be more expensive and less robust, but has a higher energy density. In a statement, the French side said the course correction was a forward-looking decision in response to “market volatility and technological changes.”
5 – ZF unveils 48-volt drive for electric bikes
ZF Group Presents New Solutions 48 Volt Drive System for Electric Bikes Before. The “ZF Bike Eco System” includes all drive components: motor, battery, control unit, app and connection to the cloud. ZF Drive is compatible with almost all types of e-bikes and can be installed on the bike with significantly less effort than e-bike drives currently available on the market. The core component is the ZF “CentriX” drive unit with a very compact 90 Newton-meter mid-engine. “CentriX” is characterized by compact dimensions, with the motor and gear stages integrated into the unit due to its high torque density. With installation dimensions of just 88 millimeters in diameter and 118 millimeters in width, the drive is incomparably larger than a 0.33 liter beverage can and can be combined with both chain and hub gears.