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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

Our Next Energy CTO Mujeeb Ijaz. Photo: Courtesy ONE
The Electric

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
The Electric

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

By · 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
The Electric

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

By · 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

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

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...
The Electric Newsletter
An exclusive publication covering the nascent battery and electric vehicle revolutions.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
At a nickel smelter in Sorowako, Indonesia. Photo: Hariandi Hafid/SOPA/LightRocket/Getty
The Electric

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

By · 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
The Electric

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

By · 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
The Electric

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

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

The Electric: Albemarle Cuts Lithium Production to Reduce Global Surplus

By · 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...
The Electric Newsletter
An exclusive publication covering the nascent battery and electric vehicle revolutions.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
An Albemarle lithium brine pool in Calama, Chile. Photo: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg/Getty
The Electric

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

By · 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

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

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

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

By · 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

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

By · 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...
The Electric Newsletter
An exclusive publication covering the nascent battery and electric vehicle revolutions.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
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

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 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

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

By · 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 Electric: The World of Potemkin Solid-State Batteries

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

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...