A 70th anniversary for electric vehicles, a technology sharing agreement, and a plan for vehicle development through 2030 were among the items promoted by automakers recently.

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[naviga:li]Nissan is celebrating 70 years since the launch of its first electric vehicle. The Tama launched in 1947 as a four-seat electric vehicle available as a van or passenger car. The vehicle was developed by the Tokyo Electro Automobile Company, which was later acquired by Nissan. The automaker has charted a number of electric vehicle developments since then, mostly in the years since 2010, including the debut of the electric sports car model BladeGlider at the Goodwood Festival of Speed exactly 70 years after the Tama's introduction.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Volvo has announced a technology sharing agreement with Geely Holding, a Chinese car group. The companies will have joint ownership of the newly formed GV Automobile Technology (Ningbo) Company as well as a separate LYNK & CO company to oversee this Chinese auto brand. Volvo says the agreement expands an existing cooperative relationship with Geely and will focus on areas such as improving vehicle architecture, powertrains, and electrification.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Mazda has announced its "Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030" plan for technology development over the next 13 years. The automaker expects to introduce the SKYACTIV-X, the first commercial gasoline engine to use compression ignition, in 2019. It also plans to continue efforts to begin testing autonomous driving technologies in 2020 and make the system standard on all models by 2025.[/naviga:li]

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