Good morning and welcome to our daily digest of automotive news from around the globe, starting with…

Panasonic To Build World’s Largest EV Battery Factory For Tesla In Kansas

Panasonic aims to establish a new EV battery facility in Kansas, where it will manufacture and supply Tesla’s new 4680 cells. Panasonic plans to invest $4 billion in the factory and triple or quadruple the output of EV batteries by the 2028 fiscal year. Likewise, many battery and auto manufacturers, including LG, General Motors, and CATL, have made plans to establish new plants around the United States.

Honda ZR-V Debuts In Japan With Hybrid Option, Looks Like The US-Spec HR-V

Honda debuted the new ZR-V for the Japanese market, a visually improved version of the US- and Chinese-spec HR-V. In addition to a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine, the ZR-V is available with a 2.0-liter hybrid AWD system. The images show that it has a different grille, body-colored exterior trim, and Honda badging with blue accents. Japanese customers may choose from a number of cabin options as well.

2024 BMW Z4 Facelift Spied For The First Time Hiding Almost Indistinguishable Updates

It’s about time the original BMW Z4 received a facelift, and BMW is doing just that as the Z4 approaches its fourth birthday. Our spies spotted a camouflaged prototype of a Z4, hinting at mild changes to the front fascia. The interior is likely to sport improved tech, and the engines from the previous models are expected to be carried over.

Nissan To Unveil All-New Electrified SUV For Japanese Market On July 20

The all-new Nissan SUV will be unveiled on July 20 for the Japanese market, according to the automaker. The title card for an associated video implies that the SUV will be equipped with e-Power and e-4orce technologies. Nissan provided very little to no information on the car; however, on July 20 we’ll have the full reveal.

2024 Kia EV9 Three-Row Flagship Electric SUV Spied On Public Roads

Kias’ next flagship SUV was sighted testing after the three-row SUV was revealed at the LA Auto Show with the EV9 prototype. The clamshell hood, a sharp point above the front wheel, sharp side mirrors, and solid roof are notable under the extensive camouflage. According to Kia, it delivers 336 miles of range and achieves 0-62 mph (0–100 km/h) in 5.0 seconds.

Watch In Awe As The Peugeot 9X8 Makes Endurance Racing Debut At Monza

Behold the Peugeot 9X8, powered by a 2.6-liter twin-turbocharged V6 that yields 697 hp and an electric motor that feeds an additional 268 hp. It was a breathtaking sight to watch when this head-turner debuted at the 6 Hours of Monza. Peugeot has said that the 9X8 would compete in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

What Else Is Making The News

Suzuki Officially Ends MotoGP Participation After 2022

https://twitter.com/SuzukiOfficial/status/1547145714559582208?s=20&t=p7Ww8Q0JoLPYkofvW0Y1SQ

Suzuki and Dorna have officially announced that they will stop competing in MotoGP after 2022. Fortunately for both of its riders, Joan Mir and Alex Rins have hopes of continuing to compete in 2023 with both expected to join Honda. “This is decided in the face of the need to re-allocate resources on other initiatives for sustainability,” said Toshihiro Suzuki.

Twitter Briefly Hit By Outage Impacting Many Users

On Thursday morning, Twitter had a significant outage for a brief duration, and thousands of users reported having trouble accessing the social platform. Following a spike in service outages at about 8:00 a.m., service was restored by 9:00 a.m. According to the firm, the incident was brought on by a fault in Twitter’s internal systems.