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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

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

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 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

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

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

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, 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...

Metals-laden nodules off the coast of the southeastern U.S. Photo: NOAA.

The Electric: The U.S. Races China and Russia to Mine the Ocean for Battery Metals

By Steve LeVine · Jan 8, 2024 4:30am PST

Welcome back to The Electric!For years, a new breed of mining companies has been heavily lobbying around the world for the right to extract battery metals from the depths of the ocean. Until now, their chances of succeeding seemed an extreme long shot. But this week we report on the probability of a breakthrough in Norway, and the chance of... Welcome back to The Electric!For years, a new breed of mining companies has been heavily...

The Byd Dolphin. Photo: Bob Henry/UCG/Universal Images/Getty

The Electric: A Miscalculation by Elon Musk Clouds Tesla’s Growth Story

By Steve LeVine · Jan 4, 2024 4:30am PST · 10 comments

Two years ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told investors he had made a strategic decision: He would bet the company’s growth on a fully autonomous robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals, and delay the creation of a long-promised, traditionally designed $25,000 electric vehicle for mainstream customers. Two years ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told investors he had made a strategic decision: He would bet...

In October, Toyota President Koji Sato, left, and Idemitsu CEO Shunichi Kito announced a partnership to commercialize solid state EVs by 2028. Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: The World of Potemkin Solid-State Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Jan 1, 2024 4:30am PST · 3 comments

In October, Toyota President Koji Sato, left, and Idemitsu CEO Shunichi Kito announced a partnership to commercialize solid state EVs by 2028. Photo: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: The World of Potemkin Solid-State Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Jan 1, 2024 4:30am PST · 3 comments

In an industry known for braggadocio, Toyota has a decadeslong reputation for tight-lipped reserve, divulging little publicly about what it’s working on before a snazzy new feature or car appears in its showrooms. But it’s made a notable exception. Since 2012, Toyota has routinely touted “breakthrough” progress in an industrywide race to develop... In an industry known for braggadocio, Toyota has a decadeslong reputation for tight-lipped...

Musk appears Dec. 16 at a gathering of Italy's right-wing party Brothers of Italy. Photo: Marco Ravagli/Future Publishing/Getty

The Electric: Has Elon Musk Lost his Nerve?

By Steve LeVine · Dec 21, 2023 4:30am PST · 2 comments

In 2006, the auto industry ridiculed Tesla CEO Elon Musk when he said that over the next few years, he would mass-produce three models of electric vehicles, including a midpriced car. In 2013, with two of those promised EVs in production and the third on the way, Musk drew a new round of skepticism when he doubled down and said he also intended... In 2006, the auto industry ridiculed Tesla CEO Elon Musk when he said that over the next few...

Battery developer Enovix has replaced almost all its senior managers as part of an effort to right itself. Photo: Shutterstock

The Electric: As 2024 Nears, Are Next-Gen Battery Companies on the Verge of a Culling?

By Steve LeVine · Dec 18, 2023 4:30am PST

In the 1920s, more than 700 U.S. manufacturers vied in a brutal competition to sell a new product—electric washing machines. Cheap electricity had reached urban homes, and American households snapped up the labor-saving washers, which quickly became ubiquitous. But just five U.S. washing machine manufacturers survive. It’s the same with... In the 1920s, more than 700 U.S. manufacturers vied in a brutal competition to sell a new product...

In February, Ford CEO Jim Farley announced the company would make inexpensive iron-based batteries in Marshall, MI. But the batteries would use Chinese technology, igniting criticism. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty

The Electric: Five Proposed Western Gigafactories Are Now Unlikely to Be Built

By Steve LeVine · Dec 14, 2023 4:30am PST

In September, Ford halted construction of a $3.5 billion gigafactory meant to produce the batteries to power 2 million electric vehicles a year, explaining that it was reassessing the economics of the plant. As a result, we lowered our assessment of the Marshall, Mich., plant’s likelihood of being built; in our Gigafactory Database, we listed... In September, Ford halted construction of a $3.5 billion gigafactory meant to produce the...

Battery production in China's Jiangxi province, where lithium is mined from lepidolite. Photo: by VCG/Getty

The Electric: Plunging Lithium Prices Could Herald Cheaper EVs

By Steve LeVine · Dec 11, 2023 4:30am PST

Battery production in China's Jiangxi province, where lithium is mined from lepidolite. Photo: by VCG/Getty

The Electric: Plunging Lithium Prices Could Herald Cheaper EVs

By Steve LeVine · Dec 11, 2023 4:30am PST

In a May 2022 note titled, “The End of the Beginning,” Goldman Sachs analyst Nicholas Snowdon said high lithium prices had ignited a surge of new production in Australia, Chile and China, creating a coming flood of supplies that would knock the metal’s price into a sharp decline. From $65 a kilogram at the time, he predicted lithium would fall... In a May 2022 note titled, “The End of the Beginning,” Goldman Sachs analyst Nicholas Snowdon...