Tesla announced today that Jerome Guillen, president of automotive, will transition to a new role focusing on heavy trucking at the automaker. Guillen is best known for being the Model S program director during a crucial time for Tesla’s vehicle program (2010-2013), but prior to joining Tesla, he was a longtime Daimler engineer and led the development of the successful Cascadia truck. He…

Researchers at ETH Zurich and Empa have chemically modified wood and made it more compressible, turning it into a mini-​generator. When compressed, it generates an electrical voltage. Such wood could serve as a biosensor or as a building material that harvests energy. Ingo Burgert and his team at public research university ETH Zurich and Swiss federal laboratory Empa have proven that wood is…

Volkswagen Group confirmed that it placed a new order for $14 billion worth of battery cells from Northvolt’s Swedish gigafactory, and it is taking a bigger stake in the battery manufacturer. Northvolt is a battery startup founded by two former Tesla executives who worked on Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada with Panasonic. The Swedish startup received investments from several companies…