EU-Ukraine launch strategic partnership on raw materials and batteries - by Kostis Geropoulos

The European Union and Ukraine have launched a strategic partnership on raw materials and batteries, EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said on February 11.

“The European Union has always stood side-by-side with Ukraine as its closest friend,” said the VP for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight. “Our support and cooperation has been delivering tangible results. I’m therefore trully excited to expand this positive agenda to new areas,” said Sefcovic, who is also coordinating the EU Battery Alliance.

He stressed that the EU-Ukraine strategic partnership on critical raw materials and batteries a win-win as it promotes EU’s green and digital transition while helping Ukraine approximate its policies with the European Green Deal. “This is all the more important as we need to sustainability revive our economies in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. As part of this partnership, the EU stands ready to scale up its technical assistances program with the Ukrainian government by including raw materials and topping up its budget with an additional 800,000 euros,” Sefcovic said. “In this context, I welcome that the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine has become a new member of our two strategic industrial alliances on raw materials and batteries. I’m also looking forward to a high-level conference on strategic EU-Ukrainian cooperation on raw materials to be held later this year,” he said.

Read more at: EU-Ukraine launch strategic partnership on raw materials and batteries | New Europe

Car Industry Alternative Energy: Electric car batteries with five-minute charging times produced

Batteries capable of fully charging in five minutes have been produced in a factory for the first time, marking a significant step towards electric cars becoming as fast to charge as filling up petrol or diesel vehicles.

Electric vehicles are a vital part of action to tackle the climate crisis but running out of charge during a journey is a worry for drivers. The new lithium-ion batteries were developed by the Israeli company StoreDot and manufactured by Eve Energy in China on standard production lines.

Read more at: Electric car batteries with five-minute charging times produced | Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars | The Guardian