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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

Joby's air taxi, near its manufacturing facility in Marina, Calif. Photo; Courtesy Joby

The Electric: Toyota Took a Pass on EVs. But it Has Bet $1 Billion on this Flying Car Company

By Steve LeVine · Jul 21, 2025 4:30am PDT

Toyota Motors is one of the world’s most buttoned-up companies. But in 2017, an executive from the carmaker’s venture arm drove into the remote Santa Cruz, Calif., mountains to see a group of engineers living together in a 1960s-style commune. As he watched, they demonstrated a remote-controlled electric helicopter they predicted would usher in... Toyota Motors is one of the world’s most buttoned-up companies. But in 2017, an executive from...

China clamped export controls on LFP batteries, such as the CATL battery above. Photo: Zhou Chengfeng/VCG/Getty

The Electric: China Has Signaled that LFP Batteries are Strategic. Here's How Trump Should Respond

By Steve LeVine · Jul 17, 2025 4:30am PDT

China has imposed export controls on two items on which it holds an almost complete global monopoly: the world’s currently most popular electric vehicle battery, and the metal used in the most promising battery of the future.The moves come a week after the Pentagon acted in a very big way to weaken China’s grip on rare earth magnets, funding a... China has imposed export controls on two items on which it holds an almost complete global...

The stationary storage battery plant that Lyten acquired from Northvolt. Photo: Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Scrappy Lyten Sees Survival in Drones and Acquisitions

By Steve LeVine · Jul 10, 2025 4:30am PDT

Last November, European battery developer Northvolt was struggling and looking for a buyer for its state-of-the-art lithium-metal manufacturing subsidiary in Silicon Valley. When none of the industry’s big players were interested, battery startup Lyten snapped up the assets, including $25 million in equipment, much of it new, and the... Last November, European battery developer Northvolt was struggling and looking for a buyer for...

Tesla shows off its humanoid Optimus at an exhibition in Hangzhou, China. Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty

The Electric: How Trump Will Continue to Fund a Billion-Dollar Battery Buildout

By Steve LeVine · Jul 7, 2025 4:30am PDT

Tesla shows off its humanoid Optimus at an exhibition in Hangzhou, China. Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty

The Electric: How Trump Will Continue to Fund a Billion-Dollar Battery Buildout

By Steve LeVine · Jul 7, 2025 4:30am PDT

President Donald Trump doesn’t like electric vehicles, which he deems unworthy of U.S. strategic support. But he wants the government to spend on drones, humanoid robots, AI data centers and electric aircraft. The problem is, it is hard to have one without the other. President Donald Trump doesn’t like electric vehicles, which he deems unworthy of U.S. strategic...

House Speaker Mike Johnson in Congress on July 2. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty

The Electric: How Chinese Joint Ventures Backed by Trump Could Help Save U.S. Battery Makers

By Steve LeVine · Jul 3, 2025 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

In Donald Trump’s campaign for a second term as president, he repeatedly invited Chinese electric vehicle makers to set up factories in the U.S. as long as they hired American workers. No one knew whether the welcome mat was serious, a sort of political psy-war—or just empty talk.It seems Trump was serious, or at least Senate Republicans think... In Donald Trump’s campaign for a second term as president, he repeatedly invited Chinese electric...

In Natron Energy's Holland, Mich. factory. Photo: Courtesy Natron Energy

Exclusive From The Electric: The Battery Industry Crisis Catches Up To Natron, Until Now a Rare Winner

By Steve LeVine · Jun 30, 2025 4:30am PDT

Natron Energy’s unusual battery provides a jolt of electricity that boosts the performance of chips used in artificial intelligence data centers, an ability that made it appear to be a rare winner in the crisis-ridden U.S. battery industry. But right now, Natron is pretty much out of cash, according to people familiar with the situation. Natron Energy’s unusual battery provides a jolt of electricity that boosts the performance of...

The Electric: In the Budget Brawl, Ford Reminds Trump That He Risks Job Cuts

The Electric: In the Budget Brawl, Ford Reminds Trump That He Risks Job Cuts

By Steve LeVine · Jun 26, 2025 4:30am PDT

The effort to rewrite President Donald Trump’s budget bill gained a big public backer this week, and one that holds some real power over the members of Congress who are voting on the measure. Ford publicly joined the fight to save electric vehicle and battery tax credits that would be cut or sharply reduced in the bill under consideration.... The effort to rewrite President Donald Trump’s budget bill gained a big public backer this week,...

Apptronik co-founders Nick Paine, left, and Jeff Cardenas, along with Apollo, their humanoid robot. Photo: Courtesy Apptronik.

The Electric: Tesla's Optimus Hype Has Pumped Up the Nascent U.S. Humanoid Battery Industry

By Steve LeVine · Jun 23, 2025 4:30am PDT

Apptronik co-founders Nick Paine, left, and Jeff Cardenas, along with Apollo, their humanoid robot. Photo: Courtesy Apptronik.

The Electric: Tesla's Optimus Hype Has Pumped Up the Nascent U.S. Humanoid Battery Industry

By Steve LeVine · Jun 23, 2025 4:30am PDT

U.S. researchers invented the electric vehicle battery, but Chinese companies have swallowed up the business of making them. Now a new technological race has emerged, this time in humanoid robots: As in batteries and EVs, U.S. companies are in tough competition with Chinese rivals that already control much of the supply chain for motors and... U.S. researchers invented the electric vehicle battery, but Chinese companies have swallowed up...

Solar array atop an AI data center in Centennial, Colo. Photo: RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty

The Electric: Fear of Trump's Wrath Kept Industry From Lobbying to Save AI Data Center Subsidies—Until Now

By Steve LeVine · Jun 12, 2025 4:30am PDT

After sitting on the political sidelines for months, tech, utility and energy companies—panicked that the repeal of tax credits threatens the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers—have gone on a massive, late lobbying campaign to persuade Congress to preserve the subsidies.But with President Donald Trump at the spearpoint of the... After sitting on the political sidelines for months, tech, utility and energy companies—panicked...

LG Energy Solution's LFP battery plant in Holland, Mich. Photo: Courtesy LGES

The Electric: South Korea's LG Challenges China's Grip On Iron-Based Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Jun 9, 2025 4:30am PDT

The battery that would go on to power most Western electric vehicles was first produced 15 years ago in a plant in Holland, Mich., run by South Korea’s LG Chem.Last month at the same factory, the company began the West’s first commercial-scale production of the lithium-iron-phosphate battery that’s behind China’s dominance of the global... The battery that would go on to power most Western electric vehicles was first produced 15 years...

Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Photo: Getty

Exclusive From The Electric: A Critical Minerals War Game Signals How China May React to Trump

By Steve LeVine · Jun 5, 2025 4:30am PDT

Fast-forward to November, five months from now. The U.S. and China have escalated their tit-for-tat attacks in the trade war ignited by President Donald Trump. Trump has reimposed 145% tariffs on Chinese goods and China has tightened its choke hold on rare earth minerals and magnets, barring their reexport from third countries to the U.S. Fast-forward to November, five months from now. The U.S. and China have escalated their...

One possible target for the new LMR battery is GM's electric Cadillac Escalade. Photo: Courtesy GM.

The Electric: With a Manganese War, GM and Ford Take Aim at China’s Battery Grip

By Steve LeVine · May 15, 2025 4:30am PDT

One possible target for the new LMR battery is GM's electric Cadillac Escalade. Photo: Courtesy GM.

The Electric: With a Manganese War, GM and Ford Take Aim at China’s Battery Grip

By Steve LeVine · May 15, 2025 4:30am PDT

In a surprising dual strike at China’s grip on the global electric vehicle battery industry, General Motors and Ford have both unveiled manganese-led batteries that could shoulder aside incumbent chemistries dominated by China’s behemoths. In a surprising dual strike at China’s grip on the global electric vehicle battery industry, ...

Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory, run in partnership with Panasonic. Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty

The Electric: Three Gigafactory Experts Weigh In on What the West Needs to Do

By Steve LeVine · May 12, 2025 4:30am PDT

In 2014, Tesla CEO Elon Musk contracted with Japan’s Panasonic to make batteries for his next electric vehicle, the Model 3, at a new plant outside Reno, Nev. It was a big get for a relatively unproven automaker: Panasonic had been making lithium-ion batteries for two decades and was one of the world’s top producers. In 2014, Tesla CEO Elon Musk contracted with Japan’s Panasonic to make batteries for his next...

Coreshell Technologies headquarters in San Leandro, Calif. Photo: Courtesy Coreshell

Exclusive From The Electric: With a Poached Gigafactory Veteran, Coreshell Looks for Manufacturing Street Cred

By Steve LeVine · May 8, 2025 4:30am PDT

Asia’s battery powerhouses have frightened many next-generation Western startups into abandoning their ambitions to manufacture electric vehicle batteries. But California-based silicon anode developer Coreshell Technologies is pushing ahead with a well-tested survival strategy: It has poached a key South Korean gigafactory expert to help take on... Asia’s battery powerhouses have frightened many next-generation Western startups into abandoning...

Rendering of Epsilon's planned synthetic graphite plant in North Carolina. Photo: Courtesy Epsilon.

The Electric: These U.S. Battery Companies Think Full-Throttle Tariffs Are Great

By Steve LeVine · May 5, 2025 4:30am PDT

A lot of companies and investors are predicting a bottom-line disaster if President Donald Trump doesn’t seriously scale back or—better yet—eliminate the double- and triple-digit tariffs he has tacked onto imports. But Vikram Handa, managing director of Epsilon Carbon, isn’t one of them. Handa, whose India-based company is building a $650... A lot of companies and investors are predicting a bottom-line disaster if President Donald Trump...

Polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific. Photo: Courtesy The Metals Co.

The Electric: In His First Months, Trump Has Built on Biden’s Battery Policy

By Steve LeVine · May 1, 2025 4:30am PDT

Polymetallic nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific. Photo: Courtesy The Metals Co.

The Electric: In His First Months, Trump Has Built on Biden’s Battery Policy

By Steve LeVine · May 1, 2025 4:30am PDT

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has denigrated electric vehicles and imposed tariffs on EV and battery parts that will make it far harder for carmakers to earn profits on the sale of the vehicles. But his first 100 days in power have been a clear winner for one segment of the industry—the miners and processors of the handful of... Since taking office, President Donald Trump has denigrated electric vehicles and imposed tariffs...

Ford's electric F-150 Lightning. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty

The Electric: With a Big Battery Claim, Ford Tries to Compete With the Chinese

By Steve LeVine · Apr 28, 2025 4:30am PDT

Ford has thrown its hat into the high-stakes global contest to shake up the electric vehicle industry, unveiling a battery that in just a few years’ time—if it can be scaled up cheaply—would challenge the primacy of nickel-based batteries that power most EVs in the West. Ford has thrown its hat into the high-stakes global contest to shake up the electric vehicle...

Elon Musk and his son X Æ walk off Marine One. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty

The Electric: A Reset for Tesla? Musk Pledges Focus But Robotaxi Remains Fuzzy

By Steve LeVine · Apr 24, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

The market-moving news from Tesla’s earnings call was Elon Musk promising to spend more time at the car company and less in Washington. It helped send the stock up nearly 8% on Wednesday, and it turned the outlook of even recently critical analysts positive again. Among them was Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives, who said the damage Musk had... The market-moving news from Tesla’s earnings call was Elon Musk promising to spend more time at...

Bedrock Materials headquarters, Chicago. Photo: Courtesy Bedrock

The Electric: Why Bedrock Materials Returned Its Seed Funding to Investors

By Steve LeVine · Apr 21, 2025 6:22am PDT

In a Linkedin post early this month, Bedrock Materials CEO Spencer Gore announced he was shutting down less than two years after launching the sodium-ion battery startup. He will return most of the $9 million in seed round funds he had raised back to investors. In a Linkedin post early this month, Bedrock Materials CEO Spencer Gore announced he was shutting...

Tesla's Robotaxi. Photo: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty

The Electric: Inside Tesla, Analysts Predicted the Robotaxi Could Lose Money

By Steve LeVine · Apr 17, 2025 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

Tesla's Robotaxi. Photo: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty

The Electric: Inside Tesla, Analysts Predicted the Robotaxi Could Lose Money

By Steve LeVine · Apr 17, 2025 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

A little over a year ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk killed the mainstream $25,000 crossover SUV for families and pivoted the company to driverless Robotaxis and other artificial intelligence products. That decision has continued relevance for investors who are looking for Tesla—its share price down 36% this year amid declining vehicle sales—to release... A little over a year ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk killed the mainstream $25,000 crossover SUV for...