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

Jeff Dahn. Photo: Courtesy Dalhousie University

The Electric: A New Way to Save Water, and Money, in Making Cathodes

By Steve LeVine · Jul 13, 2023 4:30am PDT

Three years ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk pledged to halve the cost of batteries and produce a $25,000 electric vehicle for the mass market. Much of the savings was to come from changing how the batteries’ electrodes were produced, using a dry process that would eliminate thousands of gallons of chemicals, solvent and water.Now, in a new paper, Jeff... Three years ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk pledged to halve the cost of batteries and produce a $25,000...

China's Byd, manufacturer of the Han (above), uses only iron-based batteries. Photo: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Recycling Changes the Economics for Iron-Based Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Jul 10, 2023 4:30am PDT

As major Western automakers have struggled to make the transition to electric vehicles, they have stubbornly favored nickel-based batteries, even though they are costlier and subject to more supply chain snarls than the iron-based batteries used by market leaders Tesla and China’s Byd. A primary objection to iron-based batteries has been... As major Western automakers have struggled to make the transition to electric vehicles, they have...

Battery making in Yichun, China. Photo: Deng Longhua/VCG/Getty

The Electric: The U.S. EV Industry is in the Line of Fire in China’s Trade Retaliation

By Steve LeVine · Jul 6, 2023 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

Chinese restrictions on the export of two key materials for the high-tech and defense industries could be a harbinger of problems for Western makers of electric vehicles. China’s Commerce Ministry on Monday said it would require permits for the export of gallium and germanium beginning next month. The timing of the announcement, just ahead... Chinese restrictions on the export of two key materials for the high-tech and defense industries...

A nickel mining operation run by Harita Nickel in Indonesia's North Moluku province. Photo: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: The IRA Has Triggered a Nickel War

By Steve LeVine · Jul 3, 2023 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

A nickel mining operation run by Harita Nickel in Indonesia's North Moluku province. Photo: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: The IRA Has Triggered a Nickel War

By Steve LeVine · Jul 3, 2023 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

In December 2021, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) killed one of President Joe Biden’s signature initiatives—an extension of the $7,500-a-vehicle consumer tax credit on the sale of electric vehicles, which he said did not need public subsidies. Months later, though, Manchin said he would go along with the subsidies—if they were tied to a robust effort... In December 2021, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) killed one of President Joe Biden’s signature...

Amid "production hell," Tesla built a gigantic tent outside its Fremont, Calif. headquarters for Model 3 manufacturing overflow. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: The EV Industry Confronts the Valley of Death

By Steve LeVine · Jun 29, 2023 4:30am PDT

Two years ago, a wave of electric vehicle, battery and mining companies went public with boasts of coming profits. Today, things look very different. Just this week, Lordstown Motors filed for bankruptcy protection, the U.K.’s Cornish Lithium warned that it might go bust, and Ford, whose EV division will lose $3 billion this year, reportedly... Two years ago, a wave of electric vehicle, battery and mining companies went public with boasts...

Several mining companies are seeking to produce lithium from the Salton Sea in California. Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

The Electric: Inside the White House Plan to Speed Battery Metals Mining

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

U.S. auto and battery makers are racing to build battery assembly plants for the transition to electric vehicles. But mining companies and metals processors have moved excruciatingly slowly to establish a domestic supply chain of raw materials and finished electrodes for those batteries. They blame regulators who stretch out permit approvals,... U.S. auto and battery makers are racing to build battery assembly plants for the transition to...

The Ultium Cells plant near Lordstown, Ohio. Photo: Courtesy Ultium

The Electric: Union Negotiations for a U.S. Battery Plant Are Likely to Take a Year

By Steve LeVine · Jun 22, 2023 5:30am PDT

The United Auto Workers’ contract talks with Ultium Cells, General Motors’ joint venture for electric vehicle batteries, could take as long as a year as the union also attempts to hammer out a new national four-year agreement with the big three U.S. automakers, according to a union official.Six months after workers at the Ultium plant in... The United Auto Workers’ contract talks with Ultium Cells, General Motors’ joint venture for...

President Joe Biden has championed his administration's $250 billion program to build a U.S. battery industry. But, in a recent House vote, all but four Republicans supported repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act, the core of the battery effort. Photo: Oliver Contreras/Getty

The Electric: The U.S. Battery Program Spreads the Wealth. Will That Save It?

By Steve LeVine · Jun 5, 2023 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

President Joe Biden has championed his administration's $250 billion program to build a U.S. battery industry. But, in a recent House vote, all but four Republicans supported repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act, the core of the battery effort. Photo: Oliver Contreras/Getty

The Electric: The U.S. Battery Program Spreads the Wealth. Will That Save It?

By Steve LeVine · Jun 5, 2023 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

As it has for decades, the U.S. this year will spend hundreds of billions of dollars on its military. Political support for that spending remains strong, through peace and war, in part because the Pentagon is careful to disburse it across virtually every Congressional district and through 200,000 defense contractors. Critics claim the system... As it has for decades, the U.S. this year will spend hundreds of billions of dollars on its...

The debt limit bill goes now to the Senate, where Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, above, said he will vote yes. Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg

The Electric: Congress’ Move on Permitting Reform Leaves Industry Wanting More

By Steve LeVine · Jun 1, 2023 4:30am PDT

Congress appears poised to shrink a key obstacle to the creation of a competitive U.S. electric vehicle battery industry—the agonizing, often yearslong wait to obtain permits to mine for battery metals such as lithium and nickel. On Wednesday night, the House approved small but important changes to the permitting process as part of a bill to... Congress appears poised to shrink a key obstacle to the creation of a competitive U.S. electric...

Mixed hydroxide precipitate, the go-to feedstock for battery nickel sulfate, on a conveyor belt at Indonesia's Harita Group, which pioneered the process. Photo: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg

The Electric: Western Auto and Battery Makers’ Big Gamble on Indonesian Nickel

By Steve LeVine · May 29, 2023 4:30am PDT

For much of the last century, metals companies have made stainless steel from nickel mined in Russia or the Philippines and smelted at temperatures up to 2,900 degrees. But demand for nickel is outstripping supplies because the metal is a key component in most electric vehicle batteries. So metals producers have turned to a new supplier—... For much of the last century, metals companies have made stainless steel from nickel mined in...

Ford CEO Jim Farley got concrete about his plans for iron-based batteries. Photo: Courtesy Ford

The Electric: Ford EVs Will Use Iron-Based Batteries, but Not Many and Not for a While

By Steve LeVine · May 25, 2023 4:30am PDT

The world’s top-selling electric vehicle makers, Tesla and China’s Byd, have one thing in common—they largely use inexpensive iron-based batteries in their cars. By contrast, legacy Western car manufacturers have stuck almost entirely with more costly nickel-based EV batteries. Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis have said they will use... The world’s top-selling electric vehicle makers, Tesla and China’s Byd, have one thing in common—...

Zeng "Robin" Yuqun, CEO of CATL, the world's largest battery company. Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

The Electric: Welcome to CATL's World

By Steve LeVine · May 22, 2023 4:30am PDT

Zeng "Robin" Yuqun, CEO of CATL, the world's largest battery company. Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

The Electric: Welcome to CATL's World

By Steve LeVine · May 22, 2023 4:30am PDT

In April 2022, Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. announced a blockbuster deal in Indonesia: With local partners, it would spend $6 billion on a complex on North Maluku island that would mine nickel, process it into electrodes and then manufacture electric vehicle batteries. There would even be a factory to recycle... In April 2022, Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. announced a...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, fourth from left, and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, fifth from left. Photo: Courtesy Office of Gov. Greg Abbott.

The Electric: Tesla’s Rivals Are Missing a Big Opportunity to Slash Battery Costs

By Steve LeVine · May 18, 2023 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

Early this month in the Texan port city of Corpus Christi, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a phalanx of local officials shoveled dirt onto the site of the first commercial-scale factory of its kind: a $375 million lithium refinery using equipment that slashes operating costs by a third while processing enough of the metal to power 1 million electric... Early this month in the Texan port city of Corpus Christi, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a phalanx of...

GM's Lordstown, Ohio, auto assembly plant in 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

The Electric: U.S. Automakers Face Another Threat—Restive Battery Plant Workers

By Steve LeVine · May 15, 2023 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

In 1966, General Motors opened a new factory in a cornfield in Lordstown, Ohio, 210 miles southeast of Detroit, to manufacture top-selling Chevys and Pontiacs. When it opened, Lordstown was the most modern GM plant, to which the company soon added 26 robots. For workers, though, the plant was a brutal physical experience with a vastly... In 1966, General Motors opened a new factory in a cornfield in Lordstown, Ohio, 210 miles...

SES CEO Qichao Hu with the company's "A Sample" 100 ampere hour battery. Photo: Courtesy SES

The Electric: In the Battery Olympics, Startups Must Overcome Multiple Hurdles

By Steve LeVine · May 11, 2023 4:30am PDT

When lithium-metal battery developer SES AI held its first-quarter earnings call this week, executives were especially prepared for one question: When would the company complete its “A Sample”? And when that was done, when would SES finish its “B” and “C” samples? CEO Qichao Hu assured analysts that all three were on schedule, and the battery on... When lithium-metal battery developer SES AI held its first-quarter earnings call this week,...

Enovix Chair T.J. Rodgers. Photo: Courtesy Valeta Rodgers

The Electric: An Afternoon With Chip Tycoon T.J. Rodgers on His Latest Act—Batteries

By Steve LeVine · May 8, 2023 4:30am PDT

Enovix Chair T.J. Rodgers. Photo: Courtesy Valeta Rodgers

The Electric: An Afternoon With Chip Tycoon T.J. Rodgers on His Latest Act—Batteries

By Steve LeVine · May 8, 2023 4:30am PDT

In the 1980s and 1990s, Silicon Valley revolved around semiconductors, and T.J. Rodgers stood out. The company he founded, Cypress Semiconductor, was relatively small, but a 1991 BusinessWeek cover story showcased him as “The Bad Boy of Silicon Valley,” and The New York Times declared him “Silicon Valley’s most flamboyant cowboy capitalist.”... In the 1980s and 1990s, Silicon Valley revolved around semiconductors, and T.J. Rodgers stood...

The 24-layer battery that QuantumScape will now concentrate on manufacturing. Photo: Courtesy QuantumScape

The Electric: QuantumScape Pivots to Small Batteries In a Bid to Stay Relevant

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

Trailing rivals in the U.S. and China, once high-flying electric vehicle battery developer QuantumScape is lowering its ambitions and aiming to make smartphone-size batteries, a pivot it hopes will restore its momentum and contain the damage from a delayed production ramp.Until now, the San Jose, Calif., company has sought to make a single... Trailing rivals in the U.S. and China, once high-flying electric vehicle battery developer...

Li Auto's booth at the Shanghai Auto Show. Photo: VCG via Getty

The Electric: A Wake-Up Call for the West at the Shanghai Auto Show

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

After three years of pandemic lockdowns that kept out most foreign visitors, China last week concluded a mobbed Shanghai Auto Show, and people returning from the event had a near-unanimous message: Chinese electric vehicle makers are coming to the West, and legacy auto and battery makers appear unready to defend their turf.The verdict seemed... After three years of pandemic lockdowns that kept out most foreign visitors, China last week...

The 2017 debut Chevy Bolt at the Brussels Expo. In Europe, the EV is called the Opel Ampera. Photo: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty

The Electric: GM’s Baffling Decision to Kill the Magnificently Priced Bolt EV

By Steve LeVine · Apr 27, 2023 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

General Motors’ decision this week to kill the electric Chevy Bolt brings to a close a turbulent chapter in the company’s foray into electric vehicles, including one of the past decade’s biggest battery scandals and a fire hazard that forced the recall of the entire Bolt fleet. It’s a mystifying decision—and a big mistake. General Motors’ decision this week to kill the electric Chevy Bolt brings to a close a turbulent...

The next big thing in batteries is to replace workhorse Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s with 100-seat, 700-mile electric planes. Photo: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Signs of Progress Toward Electric Airliners

By Steve LeVine · Apr 24, 2023 4:30am PDT

The next big thing in batteries is to replace workhorse Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s with 100-seat, 700-mile electric planes. Photo: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: Signs of Progress Toward Electric Airliners

By Steve LeVine · Apr 24, 2023 4:30am PDT

In 2011, the U.S. Energy Department, building on advances in battery technology over the prior three decades, devised a road map for the development of cheap and powerful lithium-ion batteries that would make electric vehicles competitive with combustion ones. It set specific, super-stretch goals for cost and capacity. The resulting batteries... In 2011, the U.S. Energy Department, building on advances in battery technology over the prior...