Michigan House committee OKs bill limiting direct EV sales

Volkswagen of America head Scott Keogh is betting that the battery-powered crossover key to the brand's EV aspirations will replicate the pricing and novelty success that the Beetle had when it hit the U.S.

American Axle and Manufacturing's Colfor plant in Malvern, Ohio, caught fire Tuesday. Fire authorities told the local newspaper that multiple presses had been burning at the plant.

House Republicans introduced the bill in 2017. It was passed unanimously by the House. A complementary bill — the AV Start Act — was later introduced in the Senate. Both bills stalled in 2018.

Cavnue, the developer of the planned autonomous corridor between Detroit and Ann Arbor, hired former U.S. Department of Transportation Under Secretary Tyler Duvall as its CEO. Mark de la Vergne, former chief mobility officer for the city of Detroit, was named director of the firm's Michigan office.

The companies say they will start by equipping 1,000 cars with Mobileye's system to map Dubai and collect data. It's the latest collaboration to emerge after last week's historic accord between Israel and the UAE to normalize relations.

The factory under construction is slated to start production in the summer of 2021 and underpins the automaker's expansion plans in the region.

The sports car maker plans a 33-acre development for a new service center, classic factory restoration operation and an expanded track next to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

The company has said it expects to deliver 500,000 vehicles this year, up about 36 percent from 2019.

The automaker will add its Leipzig plant as a production site for battery modules as it expands its range of electrified vehicles.

Shares of LG Chem, CATL and Panasonic all slipped after Elon Musk outlined Tesla's efforts to eventually halve the cost of EV batteries.