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

Mixed hydroxide precipitate, the go-to feedstock for battery nickel sulfate, on a conveyor belt at Indonesia's Harita Group, which pioneered the process. Photo: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg

The Electric: Western Auto and Battery Makers’ Big Gamble on Indonesian Nickel

By Steve LeVine · May 29, 2023 4:30am PDT

For much of the last century, metals companies have made stainless steel from nickel mined in Russia or the Philippines and smelted at temperatures up to 2,900 degrees. But demand for nickel is outstripping supplies because the metal is a key component in most electric vehicle batteries. So metals producers have turned to a new supplier—... For much of the last century, metals companies have made stainless steel from nickel mined in...

Ford CEO Jim Farley got concrete about his plans for iron-based batteries. Photo: Courtesy Ford

The Electric: Ford EVs Will Use Iron-Based Batteries, but Not Many and Not for a While

By Steve LeVine · May 25, 2023 4:30am PDT

The world’s top-selling electric vehicle makers, Tesla and China’s Byd, have one thing in common—they largely use inexpensive iron-based batteries in their cars. By contrast, legacy Western car manufacturers have stuck almost entirely with more costly nickel-based EV batteries. Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis have said they will use... The world’s top-selling electric vehicle makers, Tesla and China’s Byd, have one thing in common—...

Zeng "Robin" Yuqun, CEO of CATL, the world's largest battery company. Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

The Electric: Welcome to CATL's World

By Steve LeVine · May 22, 2023 4:30am PDT

In April 2022, Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. announced a blockbuster deal in Indonesia: With local partners, it would spend $6 billion on a complex on North Maluku island that would mine nickel, process it into electrodes and then manufacture electric vehicle batteries. There would even be a factory to recycle... In April 2022, Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. announced a...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, fourth from left, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, fifth from left. Photo: Courtesy Office of Gov. Greg Abbott.

The Electric: Tesla’s Rivals Are Missing a Big Opportunity to Slash Battery Costs

By Steve LeVine · May 18, 2023 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, fourth from left, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, fifth from left. Photo: Courtesy Office of Gov. Greg Abbott.

The Electric: Tesla’s Rivals Are Missing a Big Opportunity to Slash Battery Costs

By Steve LeVine · May 18, 2023 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

Early this month in the Texan port city of Corpus Christi, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a phalanx of local officials shoveled dirt onto the site of the first commercial-scale factory of its kind: a $375 million lithium refinery using equipment that slashes operating costs by a third while processing enough of the metal to power 1 million electric... Early this month in the Texan port city of Corpus Christi, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a phalanx of...

GM's Lordstown, Ohio, auto assembly plant in 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

The Electric: U.S. Automakers Face Another Threat—Restive Battery Plant Workers

By Steve LeVine · May 15, 2023 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

In 1966, General Motors opened a new factory in a cornfield in Lordstown, Ohio, 210 miles southeast of Detroit, to manufacture top-selling Chevys and Pontiacs. When it opened, Lordstown was the most modern GM plant, to which the company soon added 26 robots. For workers, though, the plant was a brutal physical experience with a vastly... In 1966, General Motors opened a new factory in a cornfield in Lordstown, Ohio, 210 miles...

SES CEO Qichao Hu with the company's "A Sample" 100 ampere hour battery. Photo: Courtesy SES

The Electric: In the Battery Olympics, Startups Must Overcome Multiple Hurdles

By Steve LeVine · May 11, 2023 4:30am PDT

When lithium-metal battery developer SES AI held its first-quarter earnings call this week, executives were especially prepared for one question: When would the company complete its “A Sample”? And when that was done, when would SES finish its “B” and “C” samples? CEO Qichao Hu assured analysts that all three were on schedule, and the battery on... When lithium-metal battery developer SES AI held its first-quarter earnings call this week,...

Enovix Chair T.J. Rodgers. Photo: Courtesy Valeta Rodgers

The Electric: An Afternoon With Chip Tycoon T.J. Rodgers on His Latest Act—Batteries

By Steve LeVine · May 8, 2023 4:30am PDT

In the 1980s and 1990s, Silicon Valley revolved around semiconductors, and T.J. Rodgers stood out. The company he founded, Cypress Semiconductor, was relatively small, but a 1991 BusinessWeek cover story showcased him as “The Bad Boy of Silicon Valley,” and The New York Times declared him “Silicon Valley’s most flamboyant cowboy capitalist.”... In the 1980s and 1990s, Silicon Valley revolved around semiconductors, and T.J. Rodgers stood...

The 24-layer battery that QuantumScape will now concentrate on manufacturing. Photo: Courtesy QuantumScape

The Electric: QuantumScape Pivots to Small Batteries In a Bid to Stay Relevant

By Steve LeVine · May 4, 2023 4:30am PDT

The 24-layer battery that QuantumScape will now concentrate on manufacturing. Photo: Courtesy QuantumScape

The Electric: QuantumScape Pivots to Small Batteries In a Bid to Stay Relevant

By Steve LeVine · May 4, 2023 4:30am PDT

Trailing rivals in the U.S. and China, once high-flying electric vehicle battery developer QuantumScape is lowering its ambitions and aiming to make smartphone-size batteries, a pivot it hopes will restore its momentum and contain the damage from a delayed production ramp.Until now, the San Jose, Calif., company has sought to make a single... Trailing rivals in the U.S. and China, once high-flying electric vehicle battery developer...

Li Auto's booth at the Shanghai Auto Show. Photo: VCG via Getty

The Electric: A Wake-Up Call for the West at the Shanghai Auto Show

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

After three years of pandemic lockdowns that kept out most foreign visitors, China last week concluded a mobbed Shanghai Auto Show, and people returning from the event had a near-unanimous message: Chinese electric vehicle makers are coming to the West, and legacy auto and battery makers appear unready to defend their turf.The verdict seemed... After three years of pandemic lockdowns that kept out most foreign visitors, China last week...

The 2017 debut Chevy Bolt at the Brussels Expo. In Europe, the EV is called the Opel Ampera. Photo: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty

The Electric: GM’s Baffling Decision to Kill the Magnificently Priced Bolt EV

By Steve LeVine · Apr 27, 2023 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

General Motors’ decision this week to kill the electric Chevy Bolt brings to a close a turbulent chapter in the company’s foray into electric vehicles, including one of the past decade’s biggest battery scandals and a fire hazard that forced the recall of the entire Bolt fleet. It’s a mystifying decision—and a big mistake. General Motors’ decision this week to kill the electric Chevy Bolt brings to a close a turbulent...

The next big thing in batteries is to replace workhorse Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s with 100-seat, 700-mile electric planes. Photo: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Signs of Progress Toward Electric Airliners

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

In 2011, the U.S. Energy Department, building on advances in battery technology over the prior three decades, devised a road map for the development of cheap and powerful lithium-ion batteries that would make electric vehicles competitive with combustion ones. It set specific, super-stretch goals for cost and capacity. The resulting batteries... In 2011, the U.S. Energy Department, building on advances in battery technology over the prior...

Shredded and crushed batteries, otherwise known as black mass. Photo: Courtesy Li-Cycle.

The Electric: What’s the Right Price for Recycled EV Battery Metals?

By Steve LeVine · Apr 20, 2023 4:30am PDT

Shredded and crushed batteries, otherwise known as black mass. Photo: Courtesy Li-Cycle.

The Electric: What’s the Right Price for Recycled EV Battery Metals?

By Steve LeVine · Apr 20, 2023 4:30am PDT

The rise of electric vehicles has spawned a small recycling industry to extract and sell nickel, cobalt and lithium from discarded EV batteries and prevent them from ending up in landfills. But recyclers and their customers have struggled with a vexing question: How much should recycled battery material cost?Metals have been widely traded for... The rise of electric vehicles has spawned a small recycling industry to extract and sell nickel,...

Biden signs the Inflation Reduction Act, reversing decades of policy and putting the U.S. in the game of state-led industrial development. Photo: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post/Getty

The Electric: Beware the Pitfalls of a Subsidized EV and Battery Industry

By Steve LeVine · Apr 17, 2023 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

For years, U.S. economists, politicians and pundits have denigrated China’s battery and electric vehicle industries, suggesting that because the government has subsidized them, they are somehow mere inventions and not real. Now the U.S. itself is aggressively pursuing the subsidy path to industrialization, arguably conceding that China has been... For years, U.S. economists, politicians and pundits have denigrated China’s battery and electric...

Moving salt at a lithium mine in the Salar de Atacama, Chile. Photo: Lucas Aguayo Araos/Anadolu/Getty

The Electric: Lithium Industry Veterans Are Forecasting a New Surge in the Metal’s Price

By Steve LeVine · Apr 13, 2023 4:30am PDT

Lithium prices are down almost 70% since a peak in November, depressing shares of a number of mining companies, but many analysts and industry veterans say a shortfall of the metal will soon drive a new surge in prices. The Biden administration on Wednesday announced a plan to significantly accelerate the creation of a U.S. electric vehicle... Lithium prices are down almost 70% since a peak in November, depressing shares of a number of...

The sodium-ion powered JAC EX10, which is to go on sale in June in China. Photo: Courtesy JAC

The Electric: Do Western Car and Battery Companies Have a Sodium Blind Spot?

By Steve LeVine · Apr 10, 2023 4:30am PDT

For all the talk of lithium as the driver behind the nascent electric vehicle industry, a second, much less-discussed battery metal has been attracting recent attention. It is sodium, a cheap ingredient of ordinary salt. Long derided as lithium’s poorer cousin in terms of battery value, it is surprisingly showing better performance in some... For all the talk of lithium as the driver behind the nascent electric vehicle industry, a second,...

In September 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, right, and his deputy, Drew Baglino, laid out a case for making battery electrodes in a completely dry process. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

The Electric: Tesla Recruits a Manufacturing Expert In a New Push for Cheap EVs

By Steve LeVine · Apr 6, 2023 3:30am PDT

In September 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, right, and his deputy, Drew Baglino, laid out a case for making battery electrodes in a completely dry process. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

The Electric: Tesla Recruits a Manufacturing Expert In a New Push for Cheap EVs

By Steve LeVine · Apr 6, 2023 3:30am PDT

In a fresh attempt to produce $25,000 electric vehicles, Tesla has hired manufacturing specialist Matt Tyler to jump-start its stalled efforts to cut the cost of making batteries. As Tesla’s “director of dry electrode development,” Tyler is taking on a key challenge of the EV battery industry, one that some experts jokingly compare to making a... In a fresh attempt to produce $25,000 electric vehicles, Tesla has hired manufacturing specialist...

Ford and Tesla have sought alliances with China's CATL in U.S. battery factories. Photo: Zhu Difeng/VCG/Getty

The Electric: With U.S. Rules in Place, a Non-Chinese Battery Supply Chain Takes Shape

By Steve LeVine · Apr 3, 2023 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

Last week, the Biden administration released near-final rules governing how companies and consumers can tap hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. tax credits meant to spur the rise of a mine-to-factory electric vehicle battery industry. But companies including Ford and Tesla have rushed ahead of the rules, in the process helping to reveal what... Last week, the Biden administration released near-final rules governing how companies and...

Sen. Joe Manchin thinks the spirit of the Inflation Reduction Act is being violated. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty

The Electric: A Rift Over the Climate Law Bursts Into the Open

By Steve LeVine · Mar 30, 2023 4:30am PDT

Tension over the $369 billion climate law boiled over Wednesday, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) threatening to sue to stop implementation of the legislation if he believes the White House is doing it the wrong way. His admonishment came ahead of the Biden administration’s scheduled release of guidance Friday for which electric vehicles will... Tension over the $369 billion climate law boiled over Wednesday, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)...

Mercedes will offer silicon anodes from Sila Nanotechnologies in its ultraluxury G-Class SUVs in 2025. Silicon Photo: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Electric: Will Next-Gen Batteries Break into Mass Market EVs This Decade?

By Steve LeVine · Mar 27, 2023 4:30am PDT

Vincent Pluvinage, CEO of silicon anode developer OneD Battery Sciences, is on a rant: His fellow next-generation battery makers, he says, are overpromising a future of cheap, faster-charging, long-distance electric vehicles. Pluvinage says automakers will be reluctant to adopt these technologies after sinking billions of dollars into factories... Vincent Pluvinage, CEO of silicon anode developer OneD Battery Sciences, is on a rant: His fellow...

Phosphate deposits in the Western Sahara near Morocco. Photo: Peter Turnley/Corbis/Getty

The Electric: A Phosphate Mine in Canada Could Feed a Rising U.S. Battery Industry

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

Phosphate deposits in the Western Sahara near Morocco. Photo: Peter Turnley/Corbis/Getty

The Electric: A Phosphate Mine in Canada Could Feed a Rising U.S. Battery Industry

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

As auto manufacturers increasingly choose lithium-iron-phosphate batteries to power their electric vehicles, a phosphate project under development in Canada marks another step in building a U.S.-led battery metals industry to compete with China’s.The project, launched by Vancouver, British Columbia-based First Phosphate, appears to be the first... As auto manufacturers increasingly choose lithium-iron-phosphate batteries to power their...