The Electric: China Steals a Manufacturing March on Another American-Made Technology

The BYD Denza Z9GT, on display at the Beijing Auto Show, with a silicon carbon anode. Photo: Adek Berry/AFP/Getty

For 15 years, Gene Berdichevsky, CEO of silicon carbon battery developer Sila Nanotechnologies, has been working to commercialize a battery that would charge much faster and power electric vehicles much further than conventional batteries. In September, Berdichevsky, a Tesla veteran, finally began test production at his first commercial plant, built in Washington state.