Tesla signs agreement with CATL battery maker

China’s leading power battery maker, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd, announced Thursday it has signed a volume production supply pricing agreement with US carmaker Tesla.Tesla is in talks to use CATL’s cobalt-free batteries in cars made at its Shanghai plant, citing people familiar with the matter.CATL saw its shares a sharp surge by the midday on Feb 20, gaining 5.32 percent to 161.35 yuan per share ($22.98).

Aston Martin puts planned WEC, Le Mans Hypercar entry on hold

Aston Martin said on Wednesday it was putting on hold a planned entry into the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and Le Mans 24 Hours with its Valkyrie hypercar.This will allow IMSA prototypes to compete for outright victory at Le Mans and the WEC in 2021-22.The Valkyrie was created as part of a technology partnership between Aston Martin and Red Bull Advanced Technologies.

Production Halted Again at Hyundai’s Ulsan Plant

Hyundai is halting production at one of its factories again due to a shortage of parts supplied from China due to the coronavirus outbreak.The Ulsan plant earlier halted production from Feb. 5-12 due to a stoppage in supplies from China of cable harnesses, a bundle of wires that connect various circuits in a car.Other automakers here have also been forced to idle many assembly lines since parts supplies from China have been disrupted due to the coronavirus outbreak there.