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

SK On's battery gigafactory in Commerce, GA. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: A Layoff Surge in EV Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Nov 30, 2023 4:30am PST

Traditional and next-generation electric vehicle battery companies have laid off hundreds of employees in the U.S. and Europe in the last couple of weeks, a symptom of a new industry malaise triggered by lower-than-expected EV sales growth. The layoffs are part of a broad move by the battery makers to conserve cash as costs have soared and... Traditional and next-generation electric vehicle battery companies have laid off hundreds of...

Ford's flagship electric Mustang Mach-E SUV. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Electric: In 2024, a New Reality for the EV and Battery Industries

By Steve LeVine · Nov 27, 2023 4:30am PST

For automakers, 2023 began with chronic shortages and soaring prices of key metals used in batteries. Electric vehicles were in short supply and consumers seemed prepared to buy any EV they could get their hands on almost regardless of the price.The year could hardly be ending more differently: The world is unexpectedly awash in battery-grade... For automakers, 2023 began with chronic shortages and soaring prices of key metals used in...

At Freyr's pilot plant in Mo i Rana, Norway. Photo: Courtesy Freyr

The Electric: Freyr Takes Drastic Action After Trouble Scaling Up 24M’s Battery

By Steve LeVine · Nov 20, 2023 4:30am PST

A surprising manufacturing setback by Freyr Battery has more than halved its share price and struck a blow at the reputation of 24M Technologies, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology spinoff that licenses a novel battery that Freyr has planned to manufacture in gigafactories in Norway and Georgia. A surprising manufacturing setback by Freyr Battery has more than halved its share price and...

ExxonMobil's Dan Amman. Courtesy: ExxonMobil

The Electric: After GM and Cruise, Dan Ammann’s New Adventure—Big-Time Lithium Mining

By Steve LeVine · Nov 16, 2023 4:30am PST

ExxonMobil's Dan Amman. Courtesy: ExxonMobil

The Electric: After GM and Cruise, Dan Ammann’s New Adventure—Big-Time Lithium Mining

By Steve LeVine · Nov 16, 2023 4:30am PST

Two years after abruptly exiting robotaxi developer Cruise, Dan Ammann is onto a new big thing—large-scale lithium mining. His employer is oil behemoth ExxonMobil, which—if Ammann is successful in an Arkansas drilling operation he announced this week—is poised to become a global player in lithium just as it is today in oil, gas and chemicals. Two years after abruptly exiting robotaxi developer Cruise, Dan Ammann is onto a new big thing—...

Ijaz, at company headquarters. Photo: Courtesy ONE

The Electric: Raising $1 Billion to Make Batteries in the U.S.—An Afternoon With Our Next Energy CEO Mujeeb Ijaz

By Steve LeVine · Nov 13, 2023 4:30am PST

In the 2000s, Mujeeb Ijaz—managing a team that made experimental electric vehicles for Ford—designed a sedan that would operate on two batteries rather than just one, like most EVs even today. One battery would be conventional lithium-ion, and the other a hydrogen fuel cell. The magic of the approach was that the car—a Ford Focus—could deliver... In the 2000s, Mujeeb Ijaz—managing a team that made experimental electric vehicles for Ford—...

Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford at the February 2023 announcement of a new $3.5 billion battery plant that has since been put on hold. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty

The Electric: UAW Battery Workers Will Earn Lower Pay Than Auto Workers

By Steve LeVine · Nov 9, 2023 4:30am PST

The United Auto Workers union won big pay raises for its members in recent negotiations with Detroit’s Big Three, but the accord will leave battery factory employees earning substantially less than co-workers who produce cars. The United Auto Workers union won big pay raises for its members in recent negotiations with...

24M CEO Naoki Ota. Photo: Courtesy 24M.

The Electric: 24M Fires a Shot Across the Bow of the Battery Industry

By Steve LeVine · Nov 6, 2023 4:30am PST

Massachusetts-based battery developer 24M Technologies claims it has significantly increased how tightly electrodes can be stacked in a battery pack, improving energy density and electric vehicle driving range. If 24M’s assertions are true, its new battery could outperform groundbreaking, roughly similar batteries made by China’s Byd and... Massachusetts-based battery developer 24M Technologies claims it has significantly increased how...

UAW President Shawn Fain. Photo: John J. Kim/Tribune News Service/Getty

The Electric: The Labor Fight Moves to Nonunion Plants

By Steve LeVine · Nov 2, 2023 4:30am PDT

UAW President Shawn Fain. Photo: John J. Kim/Tribune News Service/Getty

The Electric: The Labor Fight Moves to Nonunion Plants

By Steve LeVine · Nov 2, 2023 4:30am PDT

Moving fast with a pay bump for its U.S. employees and a new $8 billion investment in batteries, Toyota has offered a sign of how the next stage of the fight over auto industry pay and job security will play out: with a fierce struggle in dozens of nonunion electric vehicle and battery plants across the U.S. Moving fast with a pay bump for its U.S. employees and a new $8 billion investment in batteries,...

Biden praised GM CEO Mary Barra as the country's EV leader, even as the company badly trailed Tesla. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty

The Electric: From Big Auto to Big Oil, a Big Bet on a Long Tail for Combustion

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

For more than two years, Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen have followed a similar script: In just a few years, each company claimed, it would puncture Tesla’s dominance of electric vehicle sales and possibly overtake the industry leader. Now, though, all three have ripped up their talking points—and turned back the clock: In place of more... For more than two years, Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen have followed a similar script: In...

Graphite mining in Quebec, Canada. Photo:

The Electric: In Batteries, China Owns the 2020s—and Possibly the 2030s, Too

By Steve LeVine · Oct 26, 2023 4:30am PDT

A U.S. official said a new Chinese restriction on the export of graphite is a warning that Beijing could also crack down on other materials vital to the electric vehicle industry. Giulia Siccardo, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s office of manufacturing and energy supply chains, said U.S. auto companies should rethink their reliance... A U.S. official said a new Chinese restriction on the export of graphite is a warning that...

In 2021, SES AI founder Qichao Hu unveils the company's gigantic 107 ampere-hour cell. Photo: Courtesy SES AI

The Electric: Bunkers, Blasts and Production Hell—An Afternoon With SES AI Founder Qichao Hu

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

In 2021, Qichao Hu began planning a pilot factory in South Korea to produce next-generation electric vehicle batteries for the startup he founded, SES AI, when a debate erupted among his staff scientists: Should the plant include explosion-proof bunkers? Some of the scientists argued that such fortifications were a waste of money—ordinarily the... In 2021, Qichao Hu began planning a pilot factory in South Korea to produce next-generation...

On Battery Day in 2020, Musk, right, and deputy Drew Baglino triggered a race to eliminate wet electrode production. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

Exclusive From The Electric: The Lead Inventor of Dry Electrode Coating Exits Tesla for a Startup

By Steve LeVine · Oct 19, 2023 4:30am PDT

On Battery Day in 2020, Musk, right, and deputy Drew Baglino triggered a race to eliminate wet electrode production. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

Exclusive From The Electric: The Lead Inventor of Dry Electrode Coating Exits Tesla for a Startup

By Steve LeVine · Oct 19, 2023 4:30am PDT

Hieu Duong, lead inventor of a process touted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a way to sharply cut the carmaker’s battery costs, has left Tesla for a startup that’s pursuing the same advance using a different approach. In a surprising development, AM Batteries, a tiny Chelmsford, Mass., company with no revenue, hired Duong as chief manufacturing... Hieu Duong, lead inventor of a process touted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk as a way to sharply cut the...

Xiaomi founder Lei Jun began snapping up EV-related investments in 2014. Photo: Getty

The Electric: Xiaomi Is Likely to Upstage Apple With a Tech-Laden EV

By Steve LeVine · Oct 16, 2023 4:30am PDT

Since 2014, Apple has worked on a quasi-secret project it calls Titan—an effort to create an electric vehicle worthy of the company’s name. The company has cycled through four Titan leaders, changed its vision for the car, changed it back again, spent more than $1 billion in some years on the project—and still produced no EV. Adding insult to... Since 2014, Apple has worked on a quasi-secret project it calls Titan—an effort to create an...

BMW will offer hands- and eye-free driving—within limits—in its electric i7 starting next year. Photo: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Photo

The Electric: Hands-Free Driving Inches Closer, With Moves by BMW and Mercedes

By Steve LeVine · Oct 12, 2023 4:40am PDT

Germany’s BMW will become the second major automaker to deploy a sensor and computer system allowing motorists to drive hands-free in bumper-to-bumper highway traffic while conversing with a passenger, watching a video or reading a book. Almost all driver-assist systems such as Tesla’s attempt to prevent such distractions by requiring drivers to... Germany’s BMW will become the second major automaker to deploy a sensor and computer system...

Mercedes-Benz plans to offer a silicon carbon electrode made by Sila Nanotechnologies as an option in some of its mid-decade ultra-luxury G-class electric cars. Photo: Courtesy Mercedes-Benz

The Electric: Fast-Charging Silicon Comes to EVs

By Steve LeVine · Oct 9, 2023 4:31am PDT

Engineers have improved lithium-ion batteries little by little since the debut of the first modern electric vehicles a decade and a half ago, making tweaks that together have tremendously reduced cell prices and boosted driving range. But a truly blockbuster breakthrough has evaded the industry, something that in a single stroke could make EVs... Engineers have improved lithium-ion batteries little by little since the debut of the first...

Enovix CEO Raj Talluri. Photo: Courtesy Enovix

The Electric: Enovix Lays Off 185 Employees and Shifts Most of Its Operations to Malaysia

By Steve LeVine · Oct 5, 2023 4:30am PDT

Enovix CEO Raj Talluri. Photo: Courtesy Enovix

The Electric: Enovix Lays Off 185 Employees and Shifts Most of Its Operations to Malaysia

By Steve LeVine · Oct 5, 2023 4:30am PDT

Silicon battery developer Enovix this week laid off 185 engineers and other staff at its Fremont, Calif., factory as it shifted the bulk of its operations to Asia, close to the smartphone manufacturers that it hopes will buy its cells.The moves, announced Tuesday, reflect a reality in the rapidly growing lithium-ion battery industry, which is... Silicon battery developer Enovix this week laid off 185 engineers and other staff at its Fremont,...

Golan. Photo: Courtesy Gil Golan

Exclusive from The Electric: GM’s New CTO Exits After One Month In the Job

By Steve LeVine · Oct 4, 2023 12:15pm PDT · 2 comments

General Motors’ chief technology officer, Gil Golan, is leaving the job after one month, according to an internal company memo distributed today, parts of which were seen by The Electric. Golan’s departure, effective Nov. 1, comes one week after a profile in The Electric in which he described a plan to aggressively expand the company’s work in... General Motors’ chief technology officer, Gil Golan, is leaving the job after one month,...

GOP presidential candidates lashed out at electric vehicle subsidies in last week's debate. Photo: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Some Republicans Want to Kill the IRA. The Industry Isn’t Worried. That’s a Big Risk

By Steve LeVine · Oct 2, 2023 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have united around a vow to gut President Joe Biden’s landmark laws supporting electric vehicles, which marshal more than $500 billion to build a U.S. battery industry. Industry hands foresee little threat to the nascent industry, even in a Republican landslide that wins the White House and... Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have united around a vow to gut President Joe...

Ford CEO Jim Farley announcing the company's now-embattled $3.5 billion LFP plant licensing technology from China's CATL in February 2023. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty

The Electric: Ford’s Planned $3.5 Billion Battery Plant in Michigan May Be in Jeopardy

By Steve LeVine · Sep 28, 2023 4:30am PDT

Ford’s plans for a $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan may be in jeopardy amid fierce political criticism of a licensing agreement between the automaker and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd., the world’s largest battery manufacturer. Ford’s plans for a $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan may be in jeopardy amid fierce...

General Motors CTO Gil Golan. Photo: Courtesy Gil Golan

Exclusive from The Electric: GM’s New CTO Says the Company Should Make Its Own Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 25, 2023 4:30am PDT · 3 comments

General Motors CTO Gil Golan. Photo: Courtesy Gil Golan

Exclusive from The Electric: GM’s New CTO Says the Company Should Make Its Own Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 25, 2023 4:30am PDT · 3 comments

In 2003, General Motors killed the EV1, its first electric vehicle, and it has been branded a Luddite ever since. Gil Golan, who worked on the car as a young engineer, argues that the rap is unfair. Golan, named this month as GM’s chief technology officer and vice president of research and development, says canceling the EV1 was not a knock... In 2003, General Motors killed the EV1, its first electric vehicle, and it has been branded a...