Military use of drones for air, land, and sea is booming—and so is the need to power them. So the Pentagon is working on a strategy for how it sources and buys batteries—including the critical minerals they require—which officials expect to release in 2026…“What we know is, especially from the battlefield in Ukraine, that batteries are really important. They're important for enabling capabilities like drones, communications, and many other things that we need to fight and win. It's important for the department to have secure supply chains for these and…really important that we have standards, because that's one way that we're going to tackle some of these challenges,” Shields said. “And you can see clearly in executive orders coming down on drone dominance and security, you can see guidance coming down on the importance of critical minerals to the administration that these are priorities and are going to need resources to make progress.”…The Pentagon’s reliance on critical minerals, including those required for batteries, has long been a concern, especially because much of the supply chain resides in China…Nearly 80 percent of the Defense Department’s weapons systems rely on critical minerals, according to a recent Govini report. And that demand is only increasing as the White House and Pentagon push new technologies, such as drones, across all warfighting domains…Standardizing batteries from all angles, including cell material and modular architecture, is a primary focus, since different platforms and devices have different batteries…Making sure there’s a robust, secure, and domestic supply chain that can keep up with demand is also another priority…On Thursday, the Energy Department proposed $1 billion in an effort to shore up the critical minerals supply chain. Earlier this year, a White House issued an executive order calling for an increase in critical minerals production, and the recently passed budget reconciliation carves out $1 billion in appropriations for Defense Production Act, which has previously been used to produce critical minerals…The bill also includes $2 billion to improve critical minerals stockpiles and supply chains “through the National Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund” run by the Defense Logistics Agency, plus $5 billion for “investments in critical minerals supply chains” for fiscal year 2025

Ukrainian officials working on a joint investment fund with the U.S. are preparing for a visit by their American counterparts in September, Kyiv's economy minister said on Monday. Ukraine and the U.S. established the fund this year as part of a critical minerals deal aimed at shoring up ties and eventually rebuilding swathes of the war-torn country after Russia's invasion…Ukraine's prime minister ordered a review of all licences to mine strategic minerals in the country as part of the joint investment effort with the United States.

Chinese electric car companies are increasing investments in overseas factories as they ramp up competition against Tesla and other global automakers…For the first time since records going back to 2014, the Chinese electric car supply chain last year invested more outside the country than at home, according to a U.S.-based consulting firm Rhodium Group report published Monday…The spending plans come as Chinese automakers face intense competition at home and higher tariffs on exports. Boosting investments abroad can help Chinese businesses win foreign governments’ support for market expansion.

Xiaomi Corp. intends to sell its first electric vehicle in Europe by 2027, declaring plans to take on Tesla Inc. and BYD Co. globally after gaining traction with its year-old Chinese EV business…President Lu Weibing shed more light on the company’s expansion plans after reporting a 31% rise in quarterly revenue, riding the successful launch of its second electric vehicle over the summer. That helped counter slowing demand for smartphones…Strong demand for the YU7 sport utility vehicle, which co-founder Lei Jun released at the end of June, is propelling Xiaomi’s $10 billion gamble on a fast-growing but crowded EV arena. The company aims to become one of the world’s top five carmakers, despite a production crunch that’s testing its ability to scale up. Wait times for the SUV have stretched to more than a year…It delivered 81,302 cars, taking the total to more than 157,000 in the first half — on track to surpass 2024’s haul. But smartphones — its original and largest business — slid 2.1% and missed the average projection by about 5%....Xiaomi has gained some $120 billion of market value over the past year, galvanized by a drive into EVs that’s gained momentum against much larger and more experienced rivals. 

Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng on Tuesday forecast third-quarter revenue would double, betting on surging deliveries of its cars despite challenging economic conditions…Xpeng has been able to drum up demand for its diverse lineup of electric cars, helped by government stimuli to boost customer spending in a faltering economy…The carmaker is also working on integrating artificial intelligence into its self-driving software and expanding technology tie-ups with other automakers…China is now the largest auto market in the world due to the ability of its companies to make and sell vehicles at lower costs than Western automakers…It expects quarterly deliveries between 113,000 and 118,000, a jump of 142.8% to 153.6%.