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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

Enovix's Penang, Malaysia factory. Photo: Courtesy Enovix

Enovix Next-Gen Batteries Are Terrific. Are They Also Obsolete?

By Steve LeVine · Aug 19, 2026 12:01pm PDT

In August 2022, Ananda Baruah, a technology analyst with Loop Capital, doubled his price target for next-generation battery developer Enovix to $100 a share. At the time the stock was trading around $20. Other leading analysts were less bullish, but Baruah argued that the startup was on the cusp of a windfall in sales to some of the biggest... In August 2022, Ananda Baruah, a technology analyst with Loop Capital, doubled his price target...

A kamikaze drone being tested in Ukraine. Photo: Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/Future Publishing/Getty

A Slew of Deals Appears to End the Malaise for Battery Startups

By Steve LeVine · Aug 16, 2026 2:00pm PDT

In 2022, next-generation battery startup SES AI debuted on the New York Stock Exchange and announced the big news that its lithium-metal battery was undergoing validation tests with three major automakers—General Motors, Honda and Hyundai, all three of which were investors in the Massachusetts startup. In 2022, next-generation battery startup SES AI debuted on the New York Stock Exchange and...

In Ukraine, a battery-powered first-person-view attack drone. Photo: Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/Future Publishing/Getty

After Years Looking For a Market, Lithium Metal Battery Startups Find One in Ukraine

By Steve LeVine · Aug 12, 2026 12:36pm PDT

Many of the drone startups competing for expected massive Pentagon contracts are using Western-made next-generation batteries that power the aircraft further and charge faster. And over the last six months, Ukraine has also begun to use such exotic battery chemistries to power interceptor drones that require quick maneuvers to bring down Russian... Many of the drone startups competing for expected massive Pentagon contracts are using...

Sila Nanotechnologies' plant in Moses Lake, Washington. Photo: Courtesy Sila.

Trump Puts Pentagon Loan Behind Next-Generation Batteries to Leapfrog China

By Steve LeVine · Aug 10, 2026 9:03am PDT

Sila Nanotechnologies' plant in Moses Lake, Washington. Photo: Courtesy Sila.

Trump Puts Pentagon Loan Behind Next-Generation Batteries to Leapfrog China

By Steve LeVine · Aug 10, 2026 9:03am PDT

Chinese companies dominate the world’s supply of the “good enough” batteries used to power AI data centers, electricity grids and electric vehicles. Now the Trump administration, wary of growing Chinese export controls on these batteries and some of the key materials that go into them, is pouring funds into efforts to cut U.S. dependence on... Chinese companies dominate the world’s supply of the “good enough” batteries used to power AI...

In Harbinger Motors' Garden Grove, Calif. assembly factory. Photo: Courtesy Harbinger.

Amid the EV Wreckage, Harbinger Motors Says Unsexy Van Chassis Pay Off

By Steve LeVine · Aug 6, 2026 9:01am PDT

Amid the electric vehicle frenzy at the beginning of the decade, U.S. and European carmakers rushed into EV development programs costing tens of billions of dollars each, while EV startups raised additional billions from investors expecting a bonanza in returns. Amid the electric vehicle frenzy at the beginning of the decade, U.S. and European carmakers...

Boxing robots made by China's Unitree. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty

What Thomas Edison Says About Who Will Win the AI and Battery Race

By Steve LeVine · Aug 3, 2026 9:01am PDT

In the 1880s, Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse launched a savage industrial war over who would dominate the era’s powerful new innovation—electricity. In the 1880s, Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse launched a savage industrial war over who...

EHang's autonomous two-seat eVTOL. Photo: Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu/Getty

CEOs Say Future Electric Flying Taxis Will Be Pilotless. Will Passengers Go Along?

By Steve LeVine · Jul 30, 2026 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

If electric flying taxis crowd the low-altitude skies in the coming years, as startups predict, how will they manage not to crash into one another? If electric flying taxis crowd the low-altitude skies in the coming years, as startups predict,...

A model of the hybrid electric cargo aircraft that Beta Technologies hopes to sell to the Pentagon, on display last week at the Farnborough International Airshow. Photo: Carl Court/Getty

Hybrid Electric Flying Taxis May Be in Combat Zones Before Ferrying Civilian Passengers

By Steve LeVine · Jul 27, 2026 9:01am PDT · 1 comment

A model of the hybrid electric cargo aircraft that Beta Technologies hopes to sell to the Pentagon, on display last week at the Farnborough International Airshow. Photo: Carl Court/Getty

Hybrid Electric Flying Taxis May Be in Combat Zones Before Ferrying Civilian Passengers

By Steve LeVine · Jul 27, 2026 9:01am PDT · 1 comment

For years, electric flying taxi startups have sold their aircraft as quiet, safe and sort of cuddly vehicles that in the future will carry passengers at low cost to the airport and elsewhere, soaring enviably over cars stuck in traffic. For years, electric flying taxi startups have sold their aircraft as quiet, safe and sort of...

Sila Nanotechnologies' silicon anode plant in Moses Lake, Washington. Photo: Courtesy Sila Nanotechnologies.

In a Recovery, Next-Gen Battery Makers See Big Demand in the AI Boom

By Steve LeVine · Jul 23, 2026 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

U.S. developers of next-generation batteries have struggled to raise new funds and land large orders—or any commercial orders—since the electric vehicle mania of the early 2020s. U.S. developers of next-generation batteries have struggled to raise new funds and land large...

Windrose founder Wen Han. Photo by Windrose via PR Newswire

China’s Windrose Needed U.S. ID Numbers. So It Borrowed a Georgia Address

By Steve LeVine · Jul 20, 2026 7:30am PDT

The last thing a consumer pondering the purchase of a new electric truck might think about is the origin of the 17-digit vehicle identification number that vehicle authorities everywhere use to keep track of cars and trucks. For Chinese long-haul truck startup Windrose Technology, though, the VIN numbers put on a handful of its trucks shipped to... The last thing a consumer pondering the purchase of a new electric truck might think about is the...

Windrose Technology's long-haul electric truck, parked outside Laredo, Texas. Photo: Harold Keller

Exclusive: The Time Trevor Milton Made a Low-Ball Offer to Windrose Technology

By Steve LeVine · Jul 13, 2026 9:00am PDT

Windrose Technology's long-haul electric truck, parked near Laredo, Texas. Photo: Harold KellerIn 2023, when Jason Roycht, then a senior executive with Nikola, first spoke with Wen Han, the founder of a new Chinese electric long-haul truck startup called Windrose Technology, his eyes widened. At the time, Nikola was struggling to commercialize... Windrose Technology's long-haul electric truck, parked near Laredo, Texas. Photo: Harold KellerIn...

Windrose employees working on an electric truck assembly line. Photo via Getty Image

Electric Truck Startup Windrose Has Stiffed a Slew of People

By Steve LeVine · Jul 12, 2026 11:00am PDT · 4 comments

Windrose employees working on an electric truck assembly line. Photo via Getty Image

Electric Truck Startup Windrose Has Stiffed a Slew of People

By Steve LeVine · Jul 12, 2026 11:00am PDT · 4 comments

Since its launch in 2022, Belgium-based electric long-haul truck startup Windrose Technology has raised some $400 million from Chinese banks and other investors, according to CEO Wen Han, who also says he plans to take the company public in the U.S. and Europe this year at a $2 billion valuation. Windrose has also sponsored a professional... Since its launch in 2022, Belgium-based electric long-haul truck startup Windrose Technology has...

XPeng's robot Iron. Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty

Carmakers Seek a New Revenue Stream in Hot Technologies

By Steve LeVine · Jul 6, 2026 9:00am PDT

Consumers are putting a strain on automakers almost everywhere by buying fewer new cars, instead fixing up and holding on to the wheels they have or buying used vehicles. Now, to make up for the shortfall in demand, carmakers are falling back on a traditional strength that has turned out to be in rare global supply—the ability to manufacture... Consumers are putting a strain on automakers almost everywhere by buying fewer new cars, instead...

Volkswagen's new electric ID.Unyx.08, designed with China's XPeng for the Chinese market. Photo: Johannes Neudecker/picture alliance/Getty

In China, Volkswagen Decides It Already Knows How to Make EVs As Fast as the Locals

By Steve LeVine · Jul 2, 2026 9:00am PDT · 1 comment

In Beijing recently, Lan Shanbin, a China-based senior manager of strategy and planning for Volkswagen, was showing off the company’s plush new electric vehicle, which went on sale in mid-April. Dubbed the ID.Unyx 08, it was the first product of a joint venture between VW and a local Chinese startup it had cozied up to—premium EV maker XPeng. In Beijing recently, Lan Shanbin, a China-based senior manager of strategy and planning for...

BYD's premium Denza Z9 GT, which charges to 98% of capacity in 9 minutes. Photo: Anadolu/Getty

How China Got EVs That Charge in 5 Minutes, and Why the U.S. Likely Won’t

By Steve LeVine · Jun 29, 2026 9:01am PDT · 1 comment

As carmakers around the world have attempted to persuade motorists to give up their gas guzzlers and buy electric vehicles, one of the primary hesitations among consumers has been range anxiety. That is, drivers worry they will run out of juice on the road late at night. EV makers have mostly addressed that concern with widely available 300-mile... As carmakers around the world have attempted to persuade motorists to give up their gas guzzlers...

Lithium refining equipment at Lithium Americas' Thacker Pass mine. Photo: Courtesy Lithium Americas.

A Coming Lithium Mine Breaks the Logjam in U.S. Metals Production

By Steve LeVine · Jun 22, 2026 9:01am PDT

Lithium refining equipment at Lithium Americas' Thacker Pass mine. Photo: Courtesy Lithium Americas.

A Coming Lithium Mine Breaks the Logjam in U.S. Metals Production

By Steve LeVine · Jun 22, 2026 9:01am PDT

As the U.S. seeks to reverse the country’s long aversion to mining and reduce its reliance on Chinese materials, Jon Evans is in the rare position of sitting on a large deposit of metals used in high tech, defense and industrial products. As the U.S. seeks to reverse the country’s long aversion to mining and reduce its reliance on...

A BYD car carrier offloads vehicles in Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty

Chinese EV Makers Are Profiting From the Iran War

By Steve LeVine · Jun 15, 2026 9:01am PDT

Australians have a reputation for favoring big, tough-guy combustion pickups and SUVs. Not recently, though. In May, for the first time, Australia’s top-selling car was an electric vehicle—the Tesla Model Y, whose sales grew 57% year on year, soaring past ordinarily favored combustion vehicles. Australians have a reputation for favoring big, tough-guy combustion pickups and SUVs. Not...

Photo: Jeff Kowalsky/Getty

GM Doubles Down on Next-Gen Batteries in a Move on AI Data Centers

By Steve LeVine · Jun 9, 2026 2:00pm PDT

For a year, General Motors has been talking up plans to commercialize a next-generation manganese-based battery that would help it bypass China’s dominance of the electric vehicle and battery industries. For a year, General Motors has been talking up plans to commercialize a next-generation...

Beta Technologies' eVTOL. Photo: Courtesy Beta.

A Bit of Moxie Helps to Push Beta Technologies to the Lead in Flying Cars

By Steve LeVine · Jun 8, 2026 9:00am PDT

Last week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy boarded an early-stage helicopter-like aircraft ordinarily accessible only to test pilots. He went on to fly as a passenger for 22 minutes in the noncertified electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle. Last week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy boarded an early-stage helicopter-like aircraft...

The new electric Chevy Bolt, released after its prior cancellation. Photo: Josh Lefkowitz/Getty

Exclusive: With Some 100 Rehired Cruise Employees, GM Pursues Eyes-Off Autonomous Cars

By Steve LeVine · Jun 4, 2026 9:00am PDT

The new electric Chevy Bolt, released after its prior cancellation. Photo: Josh Lefkowitz/Getty

Exclusive: With Some 100 Rehired Cruise Employees, GM Pursues Eyes-Off Autonomous Cars

By Steve LeVine · Jun 4, 2026 9:00am PDT

Eighteen months after killing off Cruise, its independent robotaxi subsidiary, General Motors has hired back more than 100 members of the unit’s former team, including senior managers who have moved back into their old roles. Eighteen months after killing off Cruise, its independent robotaxi subsidiary, General Motors has...