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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

SES AI CEO Qichao Hu. Photo: Courtesy SES AI.

The Electric: Rebranded as Defense Manufacturers, Next-Gen Battery Startups Are Finally Earning Revenue

By Steve LeVine · Dec 29, 2025 4:30am PST

Drones, AI data centers and the power grid are almost all anyone in the battery industry can talk about. Drones, AI data centers and the power grid are almost all anyone in the battery industry can talk...

Ford has canceled the electric F-150 pickup and will reintroduce it as an extend-drive hybrid. Photo: Scott Olson/Getty

The Electric: Ford’s Leap Into Powering AI Data Centers Reflects an Industry Adrift

By Steve LeVine · Dec 22, 2025 4:30am PST

In Ford’s third-quarter earnings call in October, Ford CEO Jim Farley was typically optimistic about the company’s prospects for selling electric vehicles, predicting that a planned midsize electric pickup, to be released in 2027, would wow customers. In Ford’s third-quarter earnings call in October, Ford CEO Jim Farley was typically optimistic...

Beta's conventionally flying electric aircraft. Photo: Courtesy Beta

The Electric: The First Flying Electric Taxis Next Year Are Likely to Act More Like Planes Than Helicopters

By Steve LeVine · Dec 18, 2025 4:30am PST

For years, electric air taxi startups have flaunted prototypes of futuristic aircraft that look like space ships and fly like helicopters. They are supposed to fly streams of passengers from downtowns to airports and other nearby places quickly and quietly. For years, electric air taxi startups have flaunted prototypes of futuristic aircraft that look...

A Nokia drone. Photo: Courtesy Nokia

The Electric: Nokia’s Battery Choice Reflects a Sudden Lifeline to Battery Startups

By Steve LeVine · Dec 15, 2025 4:30am PST

A Nokia drone. Photo: Courtesy Nokia

The Electric: Nokia’s Battery Choice Reflects a Sudden Lifeline to Battery Startups

By Steve LeVine · Dec 15, 2025 4:30am PST

Thomas Eder, head of embedded wireless solutions at Nokia, was hunting for a better battery to power the Finnish company’s industrial drones, so they could stay in the air longer and be easier to recharge. Thomas Eder, head of embedded wireless solutions at Nokia, was hunting for a better battery to...

A stationary storage production line in Luoyang, China. Photo:VCG/Getty

The Electric: Batteries for AI Data Centers Have Dropped 45% In Price This Year

By Steve LeVine · Dec 11, 2025 4:30am PST

Last month, a senior Chinese government official told a gathering of a dozen of the country’s battery titans to scale back their “irrational” price war. One of the reasons: Their cutthroat competition had driven a startling 45% drop this year in the price of stationary storage batteries, used to back up electricity grids and AI data centers. The... Last month, a senior Chinese government official told a gathering of a dozen of the country’s...

A pre-commercial version of Archer's Midnight. Photo: Courtesy Archer

The Electric: How Archer Aviation Has Ceded the Lead to Air Taxi Rival Joby Aviation

By Steve LeVine · Dec 8, 2025 4:30am PST

Archer Aviation has been on a roll. It has cut electric air taxi deals in Japan and with Florida billionaire investor Stephen Ross. Last month, it received its first revenue from Abu Dhabi as part of plans to begin commercial air taxi flights next year there, too. Archer Aviation has been on a roll. It has cut electric air taxi deals in Japan and with Florida...

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ordered a halt to the price wars in batteries, electric vehicles and solar. Photo: Xie Huanchi/Xinhua/Getty

The Electric: The Winners and Losers in China's Crackdown on the Battery Price War

By Steve LeVine · Dec 4, 2025 4:30am PST

In July, Beijing ordered a halt to a brutal price war that was roiling China’s electric vehicle industry. Now China’s leaders have told cutthroat battery makers to knock it off, too. In July, Beijing ordered a halt to a brutal price war that was roiling China’s electric vehicle...

Chinese battery giant CATL's aggressive price cuts have forced U.S. startups to seek manufacturing partnerships in China. Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Failing to Score Big Sales in the West, U.S. Battery Startups Are Going to China

By Steve LeVine · Dec 1, 2025 4:30am PST

Chinese battery giant CATL's aggressive price cuts have forced U.S. startups to seek manufacturing partnerships in China. Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Failing to Score Big Sales in the West, U.S. Battery Startups Are Going to China

By Steve LeVine · Dec 1, 2025 4:30am PST

In the U.S. battery industry’s go-go days in 2021, Sepion Technologies raised an $18.7 million Series A round, sufficient capital to build a pilot manufacturing line and ship sample cells that seemed to garner a promising reception from multiple potential customers. In the U.S. battery industry’s go-go days in 2021, Sepion Technologies raised an $18.7 million...

A Base Power home battery. Photo: Courtesy Base.

The Electric: Zach Dell Joins a Group of Tech Scions Seeking to Shake Up Big Industries

By Steve LeVine · Nov 24, 2025 4:30am PST

Zach Dell’s father, Michael Dell, is one of his era’s most disruptive entrepreneurs—a visionary who shook up the personal computer business four decades ago. But that’s not who Zach speaks of emulating with Base Power, a Texas startup he co-founded to lease home backup batteries to consumers. Zach Dell’s father, Michael Dell, is one of his era’s most disruptive entrepreneurs—a visionary...

Keeping an EV in a city can be a struggle. Photo: Gary Hershorn/Getty

The Electric: Look for Gasoline Cars to be Crowding Roads for Decades Longer

By Steve LeVine · Nov 20, 2025 4:30am PST · 2 comments

On Tuesday, Paul Sankey, a longtime oil analyst based in Brooklyn, N.Y., dropped by a local dealer to turn in a traditional Audi sedan he had leased. But as he did so, a new subcompact SUV from the German automaker caught his eye—a white combustion model he thought his wife would like. Sankey signed a new lease for the SUV. On Tuesday, Paul Sankey, a longtime oil analyst based in Brooklyn, N.Y., dropped by a local...

Joby and L3's jointly made prototype hybrid electric aircraft, aimed at the Pentagon. Photo: Courtesy Joby Aviation.

The Electric: Air Taxi Makers Are Seeking to be the Latest Defense Contractors

By Steve LeVine · Nov 17, 2025 4:30am PST · 1 comment

An aggressive new acquisition policy at the Pentagon appears to have strengthened the chances that electric air taxi startups Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation will win contracts to produce a new generation of hybrid aircraft for use in war zones. An aggressive new acquisition policy at the Pentagon appears to have strengthened the chances...

A concept flying car by XPeng, on display in China. Photo: Juro Osawa

The Electric: Experts Cast Doubt on Musk's Tease of a Flying Roadster

By Steve LeVine · Nov 10, 2025 4:30am PST · 1 comment

A concept flying car by XPeng, on display in China. Photo: Juro Osawa

The Electric: Experts Cast Doubt on Musk's Tease of a Flying Roadster

By Steve LeVine · Nov 10, 2025 4:30am PST · 1 comment

Electric aviation experts are skeptical about Elon Musk’s latest promise—to demonstrate a flying Tesla Roadster in the next couple of months. “If you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that,” he said. Electric aviation experts are skeptical about Elon Musk’s latest promise—to demonstrate a flying...

Heron CEO Drew Baglino, left, with Elon Musk. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

The Electric: Tesla Veteran Seeks to Tackle the Problem of Powering Data Centers

By Steve LeVine · Nov 6, 2025 4:30am PST

Drew Baglino spent 18 years as a key engineer at Tesla, most recently as Elon Musk’s right-hand man. Now chief executive of his own company, Baglino is trying to upend the business of powering data centers, much the way Tesla brought new technology to the auto industry. Drew Baglino spent 18 years as a key engineer at Tesla, most recently as Elon Musk’s right-hand...

Drone assembly at United Aircraft Group in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, home to about 1,700 drone industry companies. Photo: Li An/Xinhua/Getty.

The Electric: China's Next Targets for Domination—Robots, Rockets and Low-Orbit Satellites

By Steve LeVine · Nov 3, 2025 4:30am PST

China’s dominance of the rare earth metals business—with a chokehold on Western militaries and key industries—has become a key geopolitical issue. Chinese companies make most of the parts that go into the world’s military drones and sell 70% of the commercial drones. China’s dominance of the rare earth metals business—with a chokehold on Western militaries and...

Mitra Chem's Mountain View, Calif. headquarters. Photo: Courtesy Mitra Chem

The Electric: In a $350 Million Strategic Shift, Trump Backs an Iron-Based Battery Startup

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

In a surprise challenge to China’s chokehold on the most popular type of lithium-ion batteries, the Trump administration and Japan said they will invest about $350 million in a small U.S. startup that’s developing the main component in such batteries. In a surprise challenge to China’s chokehold on the most popular type of lithium-ion batteries,...

The Pelican Spray, an electric autonomous cropduster. Photo: Courtesy Pyka

The Electric: This Startup Has Commercialized An Autonomous Electric Cropduster

By Steve LeVine · Oct 27, 2025 4:30am PDT

The Pelican Spray, an electric autonomous cropduster. Photo: Courtesy Pyka

The Electric: This Startup Has Commercialized An Autonomous Electric Cropduster

By Steve LeVine · Oct 27, 2025 4:30am PDT

Michael Norcia’s passion for building aircraft started when he was a kid making model planes. After college, he worked for electric aircraft startups but never got to build anything commercial. Michael Norcia’s passion for building aircraft started when he was a kid making model planes....

GM CEO Mary Barra. Photo: Emily Elconin/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: GM CEO Takes Some Swipes at Tesla and Chinese Cars

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

General Motors CEO Mary Barra presided over a big show of tech prowess on Wednesday, promising a pioneering autonomous electric Cadillac that will fully navigate highways while the driver zones out, and a battery that will beat the Chinese. General Motors CEO Mary Barra presided over a big show of tech prowess on Wednesday, promising a...

DeepRoute CEO Maxwell Zhou, in Seoul in April. Photo: Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty

The Electric: A Chinese AI Expert On What It Will Take For Cars To Go Completely Autonomous

By Steve LeVine · Oct 20, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

Global automakers agree that very soon consumers will expect all new cars to function autonomously, requiring little or no attention from the driver. But they are sharply divided about how to get there. Global automakers agree that very soon consumers will expect all new cars to function...

Peak Energy's sodium ion battery system in Watkins, Colo. Photo: Courtesy Peak

The Electric: The Defiant Startup That's Ignoring Lithium and Making Grid Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Oct 16, 2025 4:30am PDT

Two of Cameron Dales’ rivals went out of business this year, and skeptics say his novel battery technology is too expensive to beat conventional Chinese products. But Dales, co-founder of Colorado-based Peak Energy, is pushing ahead with grid-scale batteries that use a form of ordinary table salt as a base chemistry instead of the... Two of Cameron Dales’ rivals went out of business this year, and skeptics say his novel battery...

Photo: Courtesy Morgan Stanley.

The Electric: Morgan Stanley's Uber Bull on Why Investors Should Be Looking at Humanoids, Flying Cars and Brain Implants

By Steve LeVine · Oct 13, 2025 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

Photo: Courtesy Morgan Stanley.

The Electric: Morgan Stanley's Uber Bull on Why Investors Should Be Looking at Humanoids, Flying Cars and Brain Implants

By Steve LeVine · Oct 13, 2025 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

“Look up in the sky,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said, speaking on Zoom from his office in a mid-Manhattan high-rise. “How many airplanes do you see?” None, I said. Jonas said he didn’t see any either—and that was wasted space. “Look up in the sky,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said, speaking on Zoom from his office in...