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

Graphite mining in Quebec, Canada. Photo:

The Electric: In Batteries, China Owns the 2020s—and Possibly the 2030s, Too

By Steve LeVine · Oct 26, 2023 4:30am PDT

A U.S. official said a new Chinese restriction on the export of graphite is a warning that Beijing could also crack down on other materials vital to the electric vehicle industry. Giulia Siccardo, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s office of manufacturing and energy supply chains, said U.S. auto companies should rethink their reliance... A U.S. official said a new Chinese restriction on the export of graphite is a warning that...

In 2021, SES AI founder Qichao Hu unveils the company's gigantic 107 ampere-hour cell. Photo: Courtesy SES AI

The Electric: Bunkers, Blasts and Production Hell—An Afternoon With SES AI Founder Qichao Hu

By Steve LeVine · Oct 23, 2023 4:30am PDT

In 2021, Qichao Hu began planning a pilot factory in South Korea to produce next-generation electric vehicle batteries for the startup he founded, SES AI, when a debate erupted among his staff scientists: Should the plant include explosion-proof bunkers? Some of the scientists argued that such fortifications were a waste of money—ordinarily the... In 2021, Qichao Hu began planning a pilot factory in South Korea to produce next-generation...

On Battery Day in 2020, Musk, right, and deputy Drew Baglino triggered a race to eliminate wet electrode production. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

Exclusive From The Electric: The Lead Inventor of Dry Electrode Coating Exits Tesla for a Startup

By Steve LeVine · Oct 19, 2023 4:30am PDT

Hieu Duong, lead inventor of a process touted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a way to sharply cut the carmaker’s battery costs, has left Tesla for a startup that’s pursuing the same advance using a different approach. In a surprising development, AM Batteries, a tiny Chelmsford, Mass., company with no revenue, hired Duong as chief manufacturing... Hieu Duong, lead inventor of a process touted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a way to sharply cut the...

Xiaomi founder Lei Jun began snapping up EV-related investments in 2014. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Xiaomi Is Likely to Upstage Apple With a Tech-Laden EV

By Steve LeVine · Oct 16, 2023 4:30am PDT

Xiaomi founder Lei Jun began snapping up EV-related investments in 2014. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Xiaomi Is Likely to Upstage Apple With a Tech-Laden EV

By Steve LeVine · Oct 16, 2023 4:30am PDT

Since 2014, Apple has worked on a quasi-secret project it calls Titan—an effort to create an electric vehicle worthy of the company’s name. The company has cycled through four Titan leaders, changed its vision for the car, changed it back again, spent more than $1 billion in some years on the project—and still produced no EV. Adding insult to... Since 2014, Apple has worked on a quasi-secret project it calls Titan—an effort to create an...

BMW will offer hands- and eye-free driving—within limits—in its electric i7 starting next year. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Photo

The Electric: Hands-Free Driving Inches Closer, With Moves by BMW and Mercedes

By Steve LeVine · Oct 12, 2023 4:40am PDT

Germany’s BMW will become the second major automaker to deploy a sensor and computer system allowing motorists to drive hands-free in bumper-to-bumper highway traffic while conversing with a passenger, watching a video or reading a book. Almost all driver-assist systems such as Tesla’s attempt to prevent such distractions by requiring drivers to... Germany’s BMW will become the second major automaker to deploy a sensor and computer system...

Mercedes-Benz plans to offer a silicon carbon electrode made by Sila Nanotechnologies as an option in some of its mid-decade ultra-luxury G-class electric cars. Photo: Courtesy Mercedes-Benz

The Electric: Fast-Charging Silicon Comes to EVs

By Steve LeVine · Oct 9, 2023 4:31am PDT

Engineers have improved lithium-ion batteries little by little since the debut of the first modern electric vehicles a decade and a half ago, making tweaks that together have tremendously reduced cell prices and boosted driving range. But a truly blockbuster breakthrough has evaded the industry, something that in a single stroke could make EVs... Engineers have improved lithium-ion batteries little by little since the debut of the first...

Enovix CEO Raj Talluri. Photo: Courtesy Enovix

The Electric: Enovix Lays Off 185 Employees and Shifts Most of Its Operations to Malaysia

By Steve LeVine · Oct 5, 2023 4:30am PDT

Silicon battery developer Enovix this week laid off 185 engineers and other staff at its Fremont, Calif., factory as it shifted the bulk of its operations to Asia, close to the smartphone manufacturers that it hopes will buy its cells.The moves, announced Tuesday, reflect a reality in the rapidly growing lithium-ion battery industry, which is... Silicon battery developer Enovix this week laid off 185 engineers and other staff at its Fremont,...

Golan. Photo: Courtesy Gil Golan

Exclusive from The Electric: GM’s New CTO Exits After One Month In the Job

By Steve LeVine · Oct 4, 2023 12:15pm PDT · 2 comments

Golan. Photo: Courtesy Gil Golan

Exclusive from The Electric: GM’s New CTO Exits After One Month In the Job

By Steve LeVine · Oct 4, 2023 12:15pm PDT · 2 comments

General Motors’ chief technology officer, Gil Golan, is leaving the job after one month, according to an internal company memo distributed today, parts of which were seen by The Electric. Golan’s departure, effective Nov. 1, comes one week after a profile in The Electric in which he described a plan to aggressively expand the company’s work in... General Motors’ chief technology officer, Gil Golan, is leaving the job after one month,...

GOP presidential candidates lashed out at electric vehicle subsidies in last week's debate. Photo: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Some Republicans Want to Kill the IRA. The Industry Isn’t Worried. That’s a Big Risk

By Steve LeVine · Oct 2, 2023 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have united around a vow to gut President Joe Biden’s landmark laws supporting electric vehicles, which marshal more than $500 billion to build a U.S. battery industry. Industry hands foresee little threat to the nascent industry, even in a Republican landslide that wins the White House and... Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have united around a vow to gut President Joe...

Ford CEO Jim Farley announcing the company's now-embattled $3.5 billion LFP plant licensing technology from China's CATL in February 2023. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty

The Electric: Ford’s Planned $3.5 Billion Battery Plant in Michigan May Be in Jeopardy

By Steve LeVine · Sep 28, 2023 4:30am PDT

Ford’s plans for a $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan may be in jeopardy amid fierce political criticism of a licensing agreement between the automaker and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd., the world’s largest battery manufacturer. Ford’s plans for a $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan may be in jeopardy amid fierce...

General Motors CTO Gil Golan. Photo: Courtesy Gil Golan

Exclusive from The Electric: GM’s New CTO Says the Company Should Make Its Own Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 25, 2023 4:30am PDT · 3 comments

In 2003, General Motors killed the EV1, its first electric vehicle, and it has been branded a Luddite ever since. Gil Golan, who worked on the car as a young engineer, argues that the rap is unfair. Golan, named this month as GM’s chief technology officer and vice president of research and development, says canceling the EV1 was not a knock... In 2003, General Motors killed the EV1, its first electric vehicle, and it has been branded a...

A lithium brine operation in Chile's Salar de Atacama. Photo: Lucas Aguayo Araos/Anadolu/Getty

The Electric: Lower Metals Costs Invite Risky Forecasts of More-Robust EV Sales

By Steve LeVine · Sep 21, 2023 4:49am PDT

A lithium brine operation in Chile's Salar de Atacama. Photo: Lucas Aguayo Araos/Anadolu/Getty

The Electric: Lower Metals Costs Invite Risky Forecasts of More-Robust EV Sales

By Steve LeVine · Sep 21, 2023 4:49am PDT

Recent declines in the cost of batteries have persuaded some analysts to significantly increase their forecasts of electric vehicle sales later this decade. But the sales projections partly depend on the prices of battery metals like lithium and nickel staying comparatively low, a considerable risk given wild price swings over the last two... Recent declines in the cost of batteries have persuaded some analysts to significantly increase...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, right, and Drew Baglino, Tesla's senior vice president of power train, on Battery Day on Sept. 22, 2020. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

The Electric: Musk Promised a $25,000 EV by This Week. Why It’s Still Urgent He Produces It

By Steve LeVine · Sep 18, 2023 4:30am PDT

Three years ago this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk presided over a spirited outdoor event that he called “Battery Day.” For years, Musk had teased plans to eventually introduce an affordable mass-market electric vehicle, and now, speaking to a parking lot full of honking fans sitting in Teslas, he explained how he would do it. For more than two... Three years ago this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk presided over a spirited outdoor event that he...

Albemarle's Silverpeak, Nev. lithium brine operation. Photo: Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Getty

The Electric: Albemarle Will Continue to Refine Most of Its Lithium in China in 2030

By Steve LeVine · Sep 14, 2023 4:30am PDT

North Carolina-based Albemarle, the world’s most valuable lithium producer by market cap, hopes to boost its global production of the metal more than threefold by the end of the decade. But the company expects just 30% of its output to qualify for subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act, Eric Norris, the company’s president for lithium, said... North Carolina-based Albemarle, the world’s most valuable lithium producer by market cap, hopes...

UAW Shawn Fain threatens to strike Thursday at midnight if there is no contract. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty

The Electric: In Contract Talks, Detroit Avoids the Real Issue: Making Desirable EVs

By Steve LeVine · Sep 11, 2023 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

Detroit’s Big Three carmakers and the United Auto Workers union are slugging it out over higher wages, pensions and shorter workdays as a deadline looms this week in their latest four-year round of contract negotiations. But the unseen driver in the strategies of the two sides is survival amid the shift to electric vehicles, the most fundamental... Detroit’s Big Three carmakers and the United Auto Workers union are slugging it out over higher...

China's Huayou Cobalt is trying to figure out how to supply battery nickel to the U.S. market despite U.S.-China tensions. Photo: VCG/Getty

Exclusive from The Electric: A Leading Chinese Nickel Producer Tries Its Luck in the U.S.

By Steve LeVine · Sep 7, 2023 4:30am PDT

China's Huayou Cobalt is trying to figure out how to supply battery nickel to the U.S. market despite U.S.-China tensions. Photo: VCG/Getty

Exclusive from The Electric: A Leading Chinese Nickel Producer Tries Its Luck in the U.S.

By Steve LeVine · Sep 7, 2023 4:30am PDT

The Inflation Reduction Act was meant to keep companies like Huayou Cobalt, a leading Chinese supplier of battery-grade nickel to Western carmakers including Tesla, Ford and Volkswagen, out of the U.S. battery supply chain. But the company is attempting to break into the U.S. market anyway and qualify for IRA tax credits.In a conversation this... The Inflation Reduction Act was meant to keep companies like Huayou Cobalt, a leading Chinese...

Nikola Tesla's alternating current illuminated the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. Photo: Chicago History Museum/Getty

The Electric: The U.S.-French Race to Electrify the Skies Above the Olympics

By Steve LeVine · Sep 4, 2023 4:31am PDT

In 1876, millions of visitors to the World’s Fair in Philadelphia saw the first typewriter, the largest steam engine ever, and arguably the showstopper—the telephone, demonstrated by Alexander Graham Bell. Seventeen years later, visitors to the Chicago World’s Fair witnessed Nikola Tesla’s system of alternating electric current and the “City of... In 1876, millions of visitors to the World’s Fair in Philadelphia saw the first typewriter, the...

When they crash, like the Tesla above, EVs take an average of 58 days to be repaired and cost $6,587 to fix. Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty

The Electric: The Nightmare Cost of Repairing Your Wrecked EV

By Steve LeVine · Aug 31, 2023 4:30am PDT

When considering an electric vehicle, a motorist will typically focus on its looks, how fast it accelerates and how far the vehicle will go on a charge. What the motorist will almost certainly not contemplate: the average of 58 days they will have to wait for repairs should they wreck that brand-spanking-new car, and the average $6,587 it will... When considering an electric vehicle, a motorist will typically focus on its looks, how fast it...

A battery oversupply from CATL and other major Chinese companies may flood the West this decade, according to Goldman Sachs. Photo: CFOTO/Future/Getty

The Electric: A Coming Chinese Battery Deluge?

By Steve LeVine · Aug 28, 2023 4:30am PDT · 4 comments

On Aug. 15, a California-based executive of Chinese battery company Gotion posted a message on LinkedIn, offering lithium-ion batteries at a “significant” markdown. “If you are interested in cells, modules, packs, or systems and would like to take deliveries in the next 6 months—let’s talk,” wrote Vikash Venkataramana, Gotion’s vice president of... On Aug. 15, a California-based executive of Chinese battery company Gotion posted a message on...

Gotion's facility in Fremont, Calif. Photo: Courtesy Gotion

Exclusive From The Electric: China’s Gotion Expects U.S. Tax Credits for Its U.S. Battery Production

By Steve LeVine · Aug 24, 2023 4:30am PDT

Gotion's facility in Fremont, Calif. Photo: Courtesy Gotion

Exclusive From The Electric: China’s Gotion Expects U.S. Tax Credits for Its U.S. Battery Production

By Steve LeVine · Aug 24, 2023 4:30am PDT

For the first time, Chinese battery manufacturer Gotion has said it expects lithium-ion batteries it plans to make in the U.S. to qualify for millions of dollars in U.S. tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act, a law designed to create a U.S.-led battery supply chain. For the first time, Chinese battery manufacturer Gotion has said it expects lithium-ion batteries...