As the United Auto Worker strike continues, General Motors took out a credit line of $6 billion to prepare for a continued shutdown. GM said it has already lost $200 million due to the strike, which started on Sept. 15 at a plant in Missouri and has since spread to other GM facilities.

GE Aerospace is collaborating with NASA to develop sustainable aviation technologies, including a hybrid-electric engine with Boeing and sustainable jet fuel. "We are in a phase where we are looking at all of these technologies (hybrid-electric, hydrogen, sustainable fuel) and throwing everything we know how to at it in order to meet that sustainability challenge for the industry and the planet," said the company's Mohamed Ali.

Boeing has teamed up with RTX to develop the X-66A flight demonstrator, a project under NASA's Sustainable Flight National Partnership aiming for net-zero emissions in commercial aviation. The agreement includes the supply of Pratt & Whitney GTF engines and Collins Aerospace nacelles, with ground tests slated to begin in 2028.

General Motors plans to re-enter the European market with an electric Cadillac Lyriq SUV, and first deliveries are expected during the first half of next year. GM is taking orders in Switzerland for the EV at a price point of $89,705, and plans to offer a full range of EVs in Europe by 2030.

Joby Aviation has transitioned to crewed flight testing for its electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi, with four test pilots completing flights. The company aims to launch its air taxi service in partnership with Delta Air Lines in 2025, initially in New York and Los Angeles.

Collins Aerospace has inaugurated a $50 million lab called "The Grid" to focus on developing and testing key components for hybrid-electric propulsion systems. Henry Brooks, president of Power & Controls for Collins Aerospace, stated, "Hybrid-electric aircraft will help our industry significantly reduce carbon emissions, and with The Grid, the most sophisticated lab of its kind, we are investing to help these aircraft take flight."

Experts at the 2023 Battery Show North America predict that solid-state batteries for electric vehicles still have a long road before the technology is commercially viable. Bill Kephart from P3 Group says solid-state EV batteries will reach up to 5% market penetration by 2030, while Alvaro Masias, cell technology research supervisor at Ford Motor, said the batteries won't be "cost-competitive in the near-term."

South Korea-based LG Energy Solution plans to invest $3 billion to expand its plant in Michigan to supply Toyota with batteries for electric vehicles. LG agreed to supply 20 gigawatt hours of batteries annually to the automaker starting in 2025.

Several major investments by self-driving vehicle companies point to the coming reality of autonomous delivery truck fleets, such as Kodiak Robotics' first East Coast truckport in August and Volvo Autonomous Solutions established an office for activities in Texas freight corridors. This comes after the 2021 news from Daimler Truck AG that it's developing a SAE Level 4 autonomous truck platform, which will include key redundancy systems for safety such as self-monitoring of the braking system, steering system, low-voltage power net and network communications.

Join us on Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. ET for a LinkedIn Live event. Mark Pickett will moderate a conversation on Advanced/Additive Manufacturing, one of the nine pillars of Industry 4.0, with special guest Ingrid Tighe, president of Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center. Industry 4.0 is transforming US manufacturing, allowing manufacturers to design, model and validate products in a virtual world. Advanced/Additive Manufacturing plays a pivotal role in this transformation. Register using your LinkedIn account.