Cox Automotive acquires EV battery lifecycle services company Spiers

Cox Automotive Mobility has announced a foundational investment for its new global EV battery service network with the acquisition of Spiers New Technologies (SNT), a service provider for EV battery lifecycle management.

The company says the acquisition of Spiers New Technologies, which currently has operations in the U.S. and Europe (The Netherlands), will allow Cox Automotive Mobility to establish a comprehensive global offering of EV battery service capabilities to meet the needs of its customers across the U.S., UK and other continental European markets.

While passenger EVs in the U.S. market are forecast to grow to 32.8 million (15% of the total auto market) and 6.5 million in new-vehicle sales (35% of total new-vehicle sales) in 2030, Cox Automotive research shows that eight out of 10 non-EV considerers are skeptical about battery value and remaining useful life.

The new independent, third-party battery health diagnostic tool built by SNT and Cox Automotive Mobility is powered by SNT’s ALFRED battery decisioning platform. With ALFRED and the health score, Cox Automotive says it will help drive greater transparency and confidence in EV transactions with consumers, much like the vehicle valuations Kelley Blue Book provides to the automotive industry. Cox Automotive is currently delivering EV battery health reports as part of its Manheim condition reports at select auction locations.

Canoo revealed that the U.S. Department of Commerce has approved its Oklahoma City facility as a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ). The company said this will accelerate its made-in-America EV manufacturing strategy, improve unit profitability and enable a faster path to break even.

Canoo said its Oklahoma City facility currently employs more than 100 workers and will support as many as 1,100 manufacturing jobs at full capacity. The company said this FTZ designation allows for the elimination of all customs duties on vehicles sold to customers overseas and for the deferral of customs duties on imported parts used in vehicles sold domestically. The company added it sources more than 90% of its parts from the U.S. and allied nations. Approximately 70% of parts come from North America, and the remaining are from the rest of the world.