The Electric by Steve LeVine — The Information

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The Electric

By Steve LeVine

The Electric is a publication from Steve LeVine and The Information focused on crucial industries for the energy transition, including next-generation batteries, electric vehicles and autonomous driving. The newsletter is only for subscribers of The Information.

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Recent Editions

The Electric: Why Tesla Veterans Dominate the EV and Battery Industries

The Electric: Why Tesla Veterans Dominate the EV and Battery Industries

By Steve LeVine · Mar 11, 2024 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

In 2013, Landon Mossburg, then 29, was hired by Tesla to work on its supply chain team. Tesla threw him into negotiations with the senior executives of cellphone, internet and tech companies to secure internet connectivity deals that would feed Tesla’s over-the-air software updates. Mossburg had a bachelor’s degree in business and had worked as... In 2013, Landon Mossburg, then 29, was hired by Tesla to work on its supply chain team. Tesla...

Battery making in Germany. Photo: Getty

Exclusive From The Electric: A Battery Startup Proposes Souped-Up CT Scans to Prevent Fires

By Steve LeVine · Mar 7, 2024 4:30am PST

Two Tesla veterans have formed a startup to apply X-ray technology to one of the biggest problems for the makers of electric vehicle batteries: finding defects in the batteries as they’re made—and before they cause bigger problems. Two Tesla veterans have formed a startup to apply X-ray technology to one of the biggest problems...

Cuberg founder and ex-CEO Richard Wang. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Why Next-Gen Battery CEOs Are Dropping Like Flies

By Steve LeVine · Mar 4, 2024 4:30am PST

On Feb. 16, Paolo Cerruti, co-founder of Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt, visited the company’s California-based subsidiary, lithium-metal battery developer Cuberg. In recent years, Northvolt had racked up $55 billion in orders for conventional electric vehicle batteries and broken ground on three gigafactories. But Cerruti was displeased... On Feb. 16, Paolo Cerruti, co-founder of Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt, visited the...

A CATL battery pack in a chassis at the Munich Motor Show. Photo: Getty

The Electric: China Digs In With Iron-Based Batteries, Wrong-Footing Western Automakers

By Steve LeVine · Feb 29, 2024 4:30am PST

A CATL battery pack in a chassis at the Munich Motor Show. Photo: Getty

The Electric: China Digs In With Iron-Based Batteries, Wrong-Footing Western Automakers

By Steve LeVine · Feb 29, 2024 4:30am PST

A new, ultracheap battery, a $233,000 electric supercar and a big five-year deal for iron-based batteries all deliver a single, pointed message—a fresh threat to Western auto and battery manufacturers already struggling to compete with their Chinese rivals. A new, ultracheap battery, a $233,000 electric supercar and a big five-year deal for iron-based...

Our Next Energy CTO Mujeeb Ijaz. Photo: Courtesy ONE

The Electric: Why ONE’s Pitch for a Cheap 600-Mile Battery Remains Compelling

By Steve LeVine · Feb 26, 2024 4:30am PST · 1 comment

For four years, Mujeeb Ijaz has argued that the world needs a mainstream-priced electric vehicle with 600 miles of driving range. While that seemed excessive to rivals—much greater than the 300 or so miles that most motorists consider sufficient—Ijaz argued that few were considering how people really drive and how EVs really perform. Real people... For four years, Mujeeb Ijaz has argued that the world needs a mainstream-priced electric vehicle...

Photo: Frank Molter/dpa/Getty

Exclusive From The Electric: Northvolt Fires the Top Leadership of Battery Subsidiary Cuberg

By Steve LeVine · Feb 23, 2024 8:38pm PST

Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt fired the senior leaders of its California-based lithium metal battery subsidiary, Cuberg. Those let go included Cuberg’s founder and CEO, Richard Wang, who sold the startup to Northvolt in 2021 as a spinout from Stanford University, chief operating officer Reza Nikfar and chief strategy officer... Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt fired the senior leaders of its California-based...

The DOE's David Howell. Photo: Courtesy David Howell

Exclusive From The Electric: David Howell, an Architect of the U.S. Battery Invention Machine, Is Retiring

By Steve LeVine · Feb 22, 2024 4:30am PST · 1 comment

In an unexpected move, David Howell, for two decades one of the most consequential behind-the-scenes players in U.S. battery development, will retire next week from the Department of Energy, where he helps to lead the multibillion-dollar U.S. challenge to China’s dominance of the battery industry. One of Howell’s most lasting legacies is... In an unexpected move, David Howell, for two decades one of the most consequential...

Northvolt's gigafactory in Skelleftea, Sweden. Photo: Getty.

The Electric: A Few Companies Raise Funds, a Bright Spot in the Gloomy EV Industry

By Steve LeVine · Feb 19, 2024 4:30am PST · 1 comment

Northvolt's gigafactory in Skelleftea, Sweden. Photo: Getty.

The Electric: A Few Companies Raise Funds, a Bright Spot in the Gloomy EV Industry

By Steve LeVine · Feb 19, 2024 4:30am PST · 1 comment

In 2021, Europe’s electric vehicle market was feverish. Seemingly every week, automakers announced new plans to spend billions developing EVs. Those EVs would require batteries, and Sweden’s Northvolt, the most ambitious of a small coterie of European battery manufacturing startups, made plans to triple the capacity of its new gigafactory near... In 2021, Europe’s electric vehicle market was feverish. Seemingly every week, automakers...

Outside the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, Calif. last March, protesting the proposed Rio Tinto copper mine in Arizona. Photo: Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/Getty

The Electric: Let’s Debate Before We Dig Up the Earth, Book Argues

By Steve LeVine · Feb 15, 2024 4:30am PST

In the 1870s, according to legend, a group of Apache warriors jumped to their deaths from a 4,700-foot cliff in Arizona rather than surrender to U.S. Army soldiers who were closing in on them. Today, descendants of the warriors return to the site—dotted with rock carvings and known as Apache Leap—for sacred rites. But in the early 2000s, Ernest... In the 1870s, according to legend, a group of Apache warriors jumped to their deaths from a...

At a nickel smelter in Sorowako, Indonesia. Photo: Hariandi Hafid/SOPA/LightRocket/Getty

The Electric: Why is the U.S. Snubbing Indonesian Nickel?

By Steve LeVine · Feb 12, 2024 4:30am PST · 1 comment

Last week, Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines and Singapore’s Trafigura signed a deal to ship cobalt and copper from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo west, on a 1,000-mile, U.S.-backed railroad, to an Angolan port on the Atlantic Ocean. With a $250 million loan for the rail project, Washington is attempting to break China’s grip on central Africa... Last week, Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines and Singapore’s Trafigura signed a deal to ship cobalt and...

Kurt Kelty, General Motors' incoming vice president of batteries. Photo: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg/Getty

Exclusive From The Electric: GM Poaches Next-Gen Battery Hand to Lead Its Battery Efforts

By Steve LeVine · Feb 8, 2024 4:30am PST · 2 comments

Shaking up its troubled battery development unit, General Motors has hired Kurt Kelty, a senior executive with silicon anode developer Sila Nanotechnologies, for a newly created position as vice president of batteries. Shaking up its troubled battery development unit, General Motors has hired Kurt Kelty, a senior...

Steven Kaye, chief scientific officer, Our Next Energy. Photo: Courtesy ONE

Exclusive From The Electric: In a New Blow, Chief Scientific Officer of Our Next Energy Resigns

By Steve LeVine · Feb 6, 2024 10:25am PST

Steven Kaye, chief scientific officer, Our Next Energy. Photo: Courtesy ONE

Exclusive From The Electric: In a New Blow, Chief Scientific Officer of Our Next Energy Resigns

By Steve LeVine · Feb 6, 2024 10:25am PST

Steven Kaye, chief scientific officer of embattled next-generation battery developer Our Next Energy, has resigned. The move is the latest blow to the Novi, Mich., startup, coming two months after company founder Mujeeb Ijaz stepped down as CEO and became chief technology officer. Kaye’s departure was announced at a company meeting Monday, a... Steven Kaye, chief scientific officer of embattled next-generation battery developer Our Next...

General Motors has discontinued the Chevy Bolt, but 2023 models remain on sale, including these at a Colma, Calif. dealership. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Is That Chill in the Air ‘EV Winter’?

By Steve LeVine · Feb 5, 2024 4:30am PST · 5 comments

In a 1950 paper, British mathematician Alan Turing posed the provocative question “Can machines think?”—firing up fellow computing experts to devise one that could. In 1958, researchers on contract with the U.S. Navy said they were just a year away from revealing a machine that would “walk, talk, see, write, reproduce itself and be conscious of... In a 1950 paper, British mathematician Alan Turing posed the provocative question “Can machines...

The Electric: Albemarle Cuts Lithium Production to Reduce Global Surplus

The Electric: Albemarle Cuts Lithium Production to Reduce Global Surplus

By Steve LeVine · Feb 1, 2024 4:30am PST

U.S. mining company Albemarle and China’s Tianqi Lithium will cut production up to 13% at Australia’s giant Greenbushes lithium mine, in which they are joint venture partners, responding to a massive, yearlong drop in the price of the metal. In addition to the cuts, the two companies plan not to process all the lithium they do mine at... U.S. mining company Albemarle and China’s Tianqi Lithium will cut production up to 13% at...

An Albemarle lithium brine pool in Calama, Chile. Photo: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg/Getty

Exclusive From The Electric: Amid a Lithium Industry Bloodbath, Albemarle Lays Off 300 Employees

By Steve LeVine · Jan 29, 2024 4:30am PST

Charlotte, N.C.-based Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium producer, has laid off more than 300 employees in its U.S. and global operations as the lithium industry navigates an 81% drop in prices for the central metal in the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries, according to people familiar with the matter. The layoff amounts to 4% of the... Charlotte, N.C.-based Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium producer, has laid off more than 300...

On Jan. 12 in Japan, Toyota chair Akio Toyoda announces the development of a new combustion engine. Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/ Getty

The Electric: Toyota’s Wrong-Way Bet That EVs Will Never Dominate Vehicle Sales

By Steve LeVine · Jan 25, 2024 4:30am PST · 4 comments

On Jan. 12 in Japan, Toyota chair Akio Toyoda announces the development of a new combustion engine. Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/ Getty

The Electric: Toyota’s Wrong-Way Bet That EVs Will Never Dominate Vehicle Sales

By Steve LeVine · Jan 25, 2024 4:30am PST · 4 comments

For years, Toyota has diverged from the auto industry’s mostly all-in attitude toward electric vehicles—it would build what its customers said they wanted, the company said, and was in no rush to produce EVs. In fact, chair Akio Toyoda said earlier this month, the Japanese company was developing a new combustion engine because they “are... For years, Toyota has diverged from the auto industry’s mostly all-in attitude toward electric...

At a lithium evaporation pond in Golmud, China, a billboard promotes the production of battery metals and minerals. Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty.

The Electric: How China's Massive Over-Production of Cathodes Is Driving Down Battery Costs

By Steve LeVine · Jan 22, 2024 4:30am PST

Even as large inventories piled up through 2023, Chinese makers of cathodes for electric vehicles continued to run their factories at high volume, ending the year with a surplus of some 2.5 million EVs’ worth of iron-based electrodes, according to CRU Group, a U.K.-based metals research firm. The overproduction—which exceeded demand by 54%—helps... Even as large inventories piled up through 2023, Chinese makers of cathodes for electric vehicles...

Group14 Technologies CTO Rick Costantino, left, and CEO Rick Luebbe in the company’s factory in Woodinville, Wash. Photo: Courtesy Group14

The Electric: Silicon Anodes and an Emerging U.S. Hub for Next-Gen Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Jan 18, 2024 4:30am PST · 1 comment

A third U.S. silicon anode maker says it is building a battery materials plant at Moses Lake, Wash., which is fast becoming a major hub for the production of next-generation silicon anodes. California-based OneD Battery Sciences said Wednesday that by the middle of 2027 it will begin manufacturing enough silicon-based anodes to equip 500,000... A third U.S. silicon anode maker says it is building a battery materials plant at Moses Lake,...

CATL displays sodium-ion batteries at an exposition in Beijing in November. Photo: VCG/Getty

The Electric: Are Western Companies Surrendering Sodium-Ion Batteries to China?

By Steve LeVine · Jan 15, 2024 4:30am PST

In recent weeks, two Chinese automakers have released sodium-ion–powered electric vehicles that eliminate lithium, the metal that has powered the EV revolution, a head-spinning signal of a new age in the industry. In recent weeks, two Chinese automakers have released sodium-ion–powered electric vehicles that...

Freyr Battery's factory in Mo-i-Rana, Norway. Photo: Courtesy Freyr.

The Electric: Struggling Freyr Pins its Hopes on the IRA in an Uncertain Election Year

By Steve LeVine · Jan 11, 2024 4:30am PST · 1 comment

Freyr Battery's factory in Mo-i-Rana, Norway. Photo: Courtesy Freyr.

The Electric: Struggling Freyr Pins its Hopes on the IRA in an Uncertain Election Year

By Steve LeVine · Jan 11, 2024 4:30am PST · 1 comment

Freyr Battery, struggling to manufacture its next-generation battery, hopes to right itself by temporarily producing and selling a different battery technology, and obtaining federal subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act to make it in Georgia. But election-year politics cloud the plan’s future, with Republican front-runner Donald Trump and... Freyr Battery, struggling to manufacture its next-generation battery, hopes to right itself by...