[6.5 Lithium Battery News] EU Selects 13 Foreign Strategic Raw Material Support Projects, Including a Graphite Mine in Greenland

[Initiation of the Formulation of "Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems in Intelligent Connected Vehicles"]The National Standards Information Public Service Platform has issued a notice soliciting opinions on the proposed mandatory national standard project "Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems in Intelligent Connected Vehicles". The national standard plan "Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems in Intelligent Connected Vehicles" was proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and entrusted to the Intelligent Connected Vehicle Branch of the National Technical Committee of Auto Standardization for execution. The main drafting units include China Automotive Technology & Research Center Co., Ltd., Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., among others. The project duration is 22 months, and it was submitted for approval on March 22, 2024. The public consultation period began on June 4, 2025, and will end on July 4, 2025. (Caijing)

[EU Selects 13 Foreign Strategic Raw Material Support Projects, Including a Graphite Mine in Greenland]To ensure access to critical raw materials, the European Commission has selected 13 strategic projects located outside the EU, including a graphite mine in southern Greenland. The European Commission stated in a declaration that these projects will receive "coordinated support" from the Commission, member states, and financial institutions, facilitating financing and connections with relevant buyers. The Commission estimates that a total capital investment of 5.5 billion euros will be required to initiate and operate these 13 projects. These projects involve strategic raw materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite, and rare earths. Other projects are located in Canada, Kazakhstan, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine, Zambia, New Caledonia, Brazil, Madagascar, Malawi, South Africa, and the UK. The newly selected projects will complement the list of 47 strategic projects already approved within the EU on March 25. (Caijing)

[US EV Company Lucid Signs Graphite Contracts in Succession, Securing Mines to Build Local Supply Chain]US electric vehicle company Lucid announced on its official website on Wednesday local time that it has reached a multi-year supply agreement with Graphite One to source natural graphite from within the US. According to the agreement, Graphite One is expected to commence production in 2028, supplying natural graphite to Lucid and its battery suppliers. The press release mentioned that Graphite One's natural graphite comes from the Graphite Creek deposit north of Nome, Alaska, US. This agreement builds on the contract signed by both parties in 2024, with Graphite One having already committed to supplying Lucid with artificial graphite for future car models from its proposed anode active material (AAM) factory in Warren, Ohio. (Caijing)

[AESC's Gigafactory in France Commences Production with an Initial Capacity of 10 GWh]AESC announced that its battery gigafactory in Douai, France, has officially commenced production. It is reported that the initial 10 GWh capacity of the factory will supply power batteries to leading international automakers such as Renault, meeting the demand for 200,000 EVs. (Financial Associated Press)

[CITIC Securities: The Singularity of Autonomous Driving in Automobiles Has Arrived, Accelerating Commercial Implementation] CITIC Securities' research report points out that L4-level autonomous driving is showing positive changes in multiple scenarios: 1) Robotaxi: Benefiting from the expansion of operational areas and vehicle deployment, the weekly orders of Robotaxi for leading companies have increased to 250,000 by early May this year (a 400% YoY increase), accelerating commercialization; Tesla plans to launch Robotaxi operations in Austin in June this year, expected to lead technological changes in the industry; 2) Robovan: Leading companies are demonstrating cost-reduction and efficiency-enhancement capabilities in the express delivery industry, accelerating order acquisition and product delivery; 3) Robotruck: The most clearly defined implementation scenario for unmanned operations, with autonomous driving operational efficiency gradually approaching human efficiency, driving product application. We believe that under these trends, various links in the industry chain are expected to accelerate technological R&D and product deployment, and the automotive intelligence industry chain is expected to benefit. (Financial Associated Press)

[China Rare Earth Magnesium Industry: Plans to Invest No More Than 8 Billion Yuan in Building an Integrated Base Project for Lithium-ion Battery Anode Materials] China Rare Earth Magnesium Industry (300035.SZ) announced that the company plans to establish a project company in Oman through its wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary, Zhongke Shinzoom (Hong Kong) Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of its controlling subsidiary Hunan Zhongke Shinzoom Graphite Co., Ltd., to implement an annual production capacity of 200,000 mt of an integrated base project for lithium-ion battery anode materials, with a total investment of no more than 8 billion yuan. The project will be constructed in two phases, each with a planned capacity of 100,000 mt per year, and the construction period for each phase is expected to be 36 months. This project aims to meet overseas market demand and enhance the company's global market share, but there are risks associated with project construction and approval, fundraising, price fluctuations, market demand, operational management, policies and laws, and exchange rates. (Financial Associated Press)