The reading list features companies in the program so attendees get the most from the EV Innovation & Technology Conference

It’s just one week until Electric Autonomy‘s EV Innovation & Technology Conference hosts speakers from the Tesla-Jeff Dahn Research Group, PowerCo SE, Linamar Corp., General Motors, Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA), NOVONIX, First Nations Major Projects Coalition, Accelerate-Accélérer, Propulsion Quebec, Adamas Intelligence, NGen Canada, Stantec and more.

Attendees can expect a day of informative panel and discussion sessions, new industry announcements and multiple networking and Q&A opportunities with panelists. Anyone who still hasn’t got a ticket for the conference on Feb. 7 can register here. (Get one while they last!)

To help prepare for the incredible sessions day-of, we’ve assembled a curated Electric Autonomy reading list for EV Innovation & Technology Conference attendees who want to do some briefing ahead of time.

Opening Keynote: PowerCo Powers Up

The biggest storyline in Canada’s EV supply chain in 2023 was the unveiling of two new battery gigafactories. The largest of these, from Volkswagen, through its battery arm PowerCo, is a 90-GWh battery cell factory on a 370-acre site in St. Thomas, Ont. Scheduled to open in 2027, the Volkswagen St. Thomas Gigafactory — VW’s first in North America and largest outside of Germany — will create 3,000 direct jobs, up to 30,000 indirect jobs and produce one million batteries per year. With site preparation now complete, senior director of finance and interim chief financial officer Robert Weggässer will share the project’s latest details and next steps, including its supply chain development and integration with the regional and national industry ecosystem.

Suggested supplementary reading:

• Exclusive: Pierre Boutin on the future for Volkswagen in Canada
• EXCLUSIVE: Trademark application for new Volkswagen-Umicore joint venture, Ionway, filed in Canada

Presentation and Panel: Priorities for Maximizing Canada’s EV Supply Chain

This stage-setting session will identify the key issues industry, labour and policy makers must tackle to fully realize Canada’s EV opportunity. Moe Kabbara, who leads Accelerate’s Battery Innovation Roadmap project, will open with an overview on the current status of Canada’s EV/battery ecosystem. Panelists will then engage in a candid discussion identifying current strengths and gaps in Canada’s developing EV ecosystem and sharing their insights on critical next steps to achieve long-term success. Talking points will be drawn, in part, from Accelerate’s recent CEO report, “Seizing Canada’s Opportunity: Defining and Building a Successful ZEV Industry.”

Suggested supplementary reading:

• NGen issues new call for proposals to allocate $35 million for advanced manufacturing projects to support Canada’s ZEV value chain
• Industry partnership launches Canadian ZEV supply chain map

Panel: New Materials Supply: Critical Minerals Sourcing Integration

The race is on to develop Canada’s critical minerals resources and to supply the new precursor and battery plants. Mines are coming online, sourcing deals with battery companies, CAM producers and automakers. Of all the parts of the Canadian EV/battery ecosystem, this is the newest frontier. What are the linkages between these players? Are there things missing/required behind the scenes to put sourcing deals/production in place? What is Canada’s full potential in this space?

Suggested supplementary reading:

• Conversion facility with links to massive Dumont Nickel project planned for Quebec
• GM, Posco to build $500-million Canadian cathode active material factory in Quebec to supply Ultium battery factories

Panel: Next-Generation Manufacturing: Process Innovation

Gigacasting. Rare earths. Battery components. This panel features elite companies in different segments of the EV/battery supply chain with a key trait in common: all are creating new EV-sector opportunities with world-leading process innovations. The session will highlight each firm’s innovation and the strategies they are using to move them into the broader supply chain. What challenges and obstacles are involved? What support is needed? How does each become part of the new EV ecosystem? What are the lessons learned?

Suggested supplementary reading:

• Linamar to supply EV industry from new Ontario gigacasting plant
• Exclusive: Behind the scenes of a battery manufacturing breakthrough at Novonix

Presentation: Project Arrow 2.0: A Flagship for Canada’s EV Ecosystem

Project Arrow 2.0 is the just-announced APMA-led successor program to the original Project Arrow (aka “Canada’s car”) which was unveiled in early 2023. The goal is to produce a series of 10 to 20 vehicles featuring upgraded technology and new suppliers in a program designed to help solve Canada’s EV ecosystem challenges. Project Arrow 2.0’s RFP is open until spring. APMA president Flavio Volpe will discuss the project goals and outline how members of Canada’s EV value chain can contribute.

Suggested supplementary reading:

• Project Arrow 2.0: bigger, better, designed to strengthen Canada’s EV ecosystem
• Curtain lifts on Project Arrow, “Canada’s Car,” in Las Vegas at CES 2023

Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) Project Announcement

Suggested supplementary reading:

• Ontario launches demo zone for real-world automotive and mobility tech testing

Fireside Chat: The Future of Batteries: Facts, Fiction and Fearless Forecasts

Building better batteries is a global arms race in the EV sector. The Tesla-Jeff Dahn Research Group lab at Dalhousie University is responsible for many breakthroughs in this space. Michael Metzger, one of two research chairs who joined the lab in 2021, is a world leader in battery physics. In this fireside chat with Electric Autonomy’s Emma Jarratt, he’ll discuss some of the advances he and his colleagues are working on and offer his views on the near-term future of battery technology — chemistries, speeds, opportunities, challenges.

Suggested supplementary reading:

• EXCLUSIVE: Inside the Tesla-funded Jeff Dahn Research Group labs
• EXCLUSIVE: Hot ideas emerging from Western Canada’s growing battery research cluster

Panel: New Production Hubs: OEMs and Battery Makers

Assembly plants are where the vehicles of today and tomorrow come together, but the production networks they rely on consist of hundreds of companies and many thousands of workers and communities. As the industry pivots from ICEV assembly to BEVs and PHEVs, many of those connections are being created anew, posing critical economic, commercial and policy challenges. For the vehicle makers and new battery plants at the centre of these hubs, building these new networks is one of their most important strategic concerns. This session brings together senior OEM and battery sector leaders to discuss how those new supply chains are being built. What lessons does their experience hold for the ecosystems currently forming in Canada?

Suggested supplementary reading:

• Northvolt reaches deal with Quebec and Ottawa to build a $7-billion battery cell factory
• GM Canada chooses St. Catharines plant to produce EV drive units

Fireside Chat: Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

Suggested supplementary reading:

• Exclusive: New Ontario rep David Paterson, minister Vic Fedeli, predict “banner year” for EV battery supply chain

We look forward to welcoming everyone on Feb. 7. Once again, to secure your ticket for the EV Innovation & Technology Conference, visit here.