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

Shredded and crushed batteries, otherwise known as black mass. Photo: Courtesy Li-Cycle.

The Electric: What’s the Right Price for Recycled EV Battery Metals?

By Steve LeVine · Apr 20, 2023 4:30am PDT

The rise of electric vehicles has spawned a small recycling industry to extract and sell nickel, cobalt and lithium from discarded EV batteries and prevent them from ending up in landfills. But recyclers and their customers have struggled with a vexing question: How much should recycled battery material cost?Metals have been widely traded for... The rise of electric vehicles has spawned a small recycling industry to extract and sell nickel,...

Biden signs the Inflation Reduction Act, reversing decades of policy and putting the U.S. in the game of state-led industrial development. Photo: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post/Getty

The Electric: Beware the Pitfalls of a Subsidized EV and Battery Industry

By Steve LeVine · Apr 17, 2023 4:30am PDT · 2 comments

For years, U.S. economists, politicians and pundits have denigrated China’s battery and electric vehicle industries, suggesting that because the government has subsidized them, they are somehow mere inventions and not real. Now the U.S. itself is aggressively pursuing the subsidy path to industrialization, arguably conceding that China has been... For years, U.S. economists, politicians and pundits have denigrated China’s battery and electric...

Moving salt at a lithium mine in the Salar de Atacama, Chile. Photo: Lucas Aguayo Araos/Anadolu/Getty

The Electric: Lithium Industry Veterans Are Forecasting a New Surge in the Metal’s Price

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

Lithium prices are down almost 70% since a peak in November, depressing shares of a number of mining companies, but many analysts and industry veterans say a shortfall of the metal will soon drive a new surge in prices. The Biden administration on Wednesday announced a plan to significantly accelerate the creation of a U.S. electric vehicle... Lithium prices are down almost 70% since a peak in November, depressing shares of a number of...

The sodium-ion powered JAC EX10, which is to go on sale in June in China. Photo: Courtesy JAC

The Electric: Do Western Car and Battery Companies Have a Sodium Blind Spot?

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

The sodium-ion powered JAC EX10, which is to go on sale in June in China. Photo: Courtesy JAC

The Electric: Do Western Car and Battery Companies Have a Sodium Blind Spot?

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

For all the talk of lithium as the driver behind the nascent electric vehicle industry, a second, much less-discussed battery metal has been attracting recent attention. It is sodium, a cheap ingredient of ordinary salt. Long derided as lithium’s poorer cousin in terms of battery value, it is surprisingly showing better performance in some... For all the talk of lithium as the driver behind the nascent electric vehicle industry, a second,...

In September 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, right, and his deputy, Drew Baglino, laid out a case for making battery electrodes in a completely dry process. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

The Electric: Tesla Recruits a Manufacturing Expert In a New Push for Cheap EVs

By Steve LeVine · Apr 6, 2023 3:30am PDT

In a fresh attempt to produce $25,000 electric vehicles, Tesla has hired manufacturing specialist Matt Tyler to jump-start its stalled efforts to cut the cost of making batteries. As Tesla’s “director of dry electrode development,” Tyler is taking on a key challenge of the EV battery industry, one that some experts jokingly compare to making a... In a fresh attempt to produce $25,000 electric vehicles, Tesla has hired manufacturing specialist...

Ford and Tesla have sought alliances with China's CATL in U.S. battery factories. Photo: Zhu Difeng/VCG/Getty

The Electric: With U.S. Rules in Place, a Non-Chinese Battery Supply Chain Takes Shape

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

Last week, the Biden administration released near-final rules governing how companies and consumers can tap hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. tax credits meant to spur the rise of a mine-to-factory electric vehicle battery industry. But companies including Ford and Tesla have rushed ahead of the rules, in the process helping to reveal what... Last week, the Biden administration released near-final rules governing how companies and...

Sen. Joe Manchin thinks the spirit of the Inflation Reduction Act is being violated. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty

The Electric: A Rift Over the Climate Law Bursts Into the Open

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

Tension over the $369 billion climate law boiled over Wednesday, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) threatening to sue to stop implementation of the legislation if he believes the White House is doing it the wrong way. His admonishment came ahead of the Biden administration’s scheduled release of guidance Friday for which electric vehicles will... Tension over the $369 billion climate law boiled over Wednesday, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)...

Mercedes will offer silicon anodes from Sila Nanotechnologies in its ultraluxury G-Class SUVs in 2025. Silicon Photo: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Electric: Will Next-Gen Batteries Break into Mass Market EVs This Decade?

By Steve LeVine · Mar 27, 2023 4:30am PDT

Mercedes will offer silicon anodes from Sila Nanotechnologies in its ultraluxury G-Class SUVs in 2025. Silicon Photo: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Electric: Will Next-Gen Batteries Break into Mass Market EVs This Decade?

By Steve LeVine · Mar 27, 2023 4:30am PDT

Vincent Pluvinage, CEO of silicon anode developer OneD Battery Sciences, is on a rant: His fellow next-generation battery makers, he says, are overpromising a future of cheap, faster-charging, long-distance electric vehicles. Pluvinage says automakers will be reluctant to adopt these technologies after sinking billions of dollars into factories... Vincent Pluvinage, CEO of silicon anode developer OneD Battery Sciences, is on a rant: His fellow...

Phosphate deposits in the Western Sahara near Morocco. Photo: Peter Turnley/Corbis/Getty

The Electric: A Phosphate Mine in Canada Could Feed a Rising U.S. Battery Industry

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

As auto manufacturers increasingly choose lithium-iron-phosphate batteries to power their electric vehicles, a phosphate project under development in Canada marks another step in building a U.S.-led battery metals industry to compete with China’s.The project, launched by Vancouver, British Columbia-based First Phosphate, appears to be the first... As auto manufacturers increasingly choose lithium-iron-phosphate batteries to power their...

Manganese-rich nodules on the seafloor 2.5 miles below the surface of the northeast Pacific Ocean. Photo: Courtesy The Metals Co.

The Electric: An Undersea Drama Could Roil the EV Industry

By Steve LeVine · Mar 19, 2023 2:00pm PDT

More than 30 countries including France, Spain, Singapore and Brazil fiercely oppose deep-sea mining, warning of irreversible damage to one of the world’s few remaining pristine areas. But they may not be able to overcome the wishes of the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru. The island country is sponsoring a bid by The Metals Co., a Canadian mining... More than 30 countries including France, Spain, Singapore and Brazil fiercely oppose deep-sea...

Electric vehicle and battery production may be speeded up by applying the lessons of semiconductor manufacturing. Photo: VCG/Getty

The Electric: The Chip Industry’s Production Hell Has Lessons for EVs

By Steve LeVine · Mar 14, 2023 4:51am PDT

The auto industry, beset by painful cost overruns and delays in its rollout of electric vehicles, is confronting some of the same problems that semiconductor companies had to overcome decades ago, industry executives say.On Live Chat With The Electric last week, Michael Yu, vice president of the advanced solution group of semiconductor analytics... The auto industry, beset by painful cost overruns and delays in its rollout of electric vehicles,...

On Investor Day on March 1, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he was giving up on nickel batteries for all but very long-range cars and trucks. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

The Electric: The Race to Make a Better Iron-Based Battery

By Steve LeVine · Mar 12, 2023 2:00pm PDT

On Investor Day on March 1, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he was giving up on nickel batteries for all but very long-range cars and trucks. Photo: Courtesy Tesla

The Electric: The Race to Make a Better Iron-Based Battery

By Steve LeVine · Mar 12, 2023 2:00pm PDT

Until 2020, Tesla only used batteries with nickel-based cathodes. Then the company began to equip some Model 3s it sold in China with an iron-based chemistry called lithium-iron-phosphate. Industry hands derided LFP as a cheap alternative that offered limited range—good only for entry-level economy cars. But Tesla CEO Elon Musk saw LFP as his... Until 2020, Tesla only used batteries with nickel-based cathodes. Then the company began to equip...

Tonopah Flats, NV, where American Battery Technology is mining lithium from claystone. Photo: Courtesy American Battery Technology Co.

The Electric: A Big New U.S. Source of Lithium? Maybe.

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

A new report claims that Nevada land leased by lithium developer American Battery Technology Co. could contain the largest lithium deposit in the U.S., enough to equip 1.5 million electric vehicle batteries a year. The claim carries two big caveats: American Battery must do more work to confirm the size of the deposit, and it must perfect a... A new report claims that Nevada land leased by lithium developer American Battery Technology Co....

Last month, Ford CEO Jim Farley describes the company's new battery-building association with Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd, China's largest battery manufacturer. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty

The Electric: How States And Companies Are Frustrating Efforts to Create a China-Free U.S. Battery Industry

By Steve LeVine · Mar 5, 2023 2:00pm PST

Over the last five months, Joshua Hundt and his Michigan negotiating team have outcompeted a dozen U.S. states to land two multibillion-dollar battery factories. But there’s a catch: Both plants involve Chinese companies, clashing with a new U.S. law that aims to exclude them from the U.S. battery industry. Hundt, chief projects officer for... Over the last five months, Joshua Hundt and his Michigan negotiating team have outcompeted a...

A direct lithium extraction pilot in Amboy, CA. There is no commercial-scale DLE production anywhere in the world. Photo: David McNew/Getty

The Electric: The Rock Inside the Debate Over the Future Price of Lithium

By Steve LeVine · Mar 1, 2023 5:01am PST

A crackdown on illegal lithium mining and pollution in the Southern Chinese province of Jiangxi, the source of about 10% of the world’s supply of the metal, adds fresh drama to a raging debate in the battery industry and on Wall Street: Is lithium in a decadelong shortage or a surplus?Last week, Chinese authorities shut down most lithium mining... A crackdown on illegal lithium mining and pollution in the Southern Chinese province of Jiangxi,...

Tesla invited the media into its new Nevada gigafactory in July 2016, six months before production began. Photo: Troy Harvey/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: A Fear of Fire and a Hunt for Profit Trigger an Effort to Make Defect-Free Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Feb 26, 2023 2:00pm PST

Tesla invited the media into its new Nevada gigafactory in July 2016, six months before production began. Photo: Troy Harvey/Bloomberg/Getty

The Electric: A Fear of Fire and a Hunt for Profit Trigger an Effort to Make Defect-Free Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Feb 26, 2023 2:00pm PST

Three years ago, General Motors began receiving worrying reports about the Chevy Bolt, its flagship electric vehicle, which had made a mark by beating the Tesla Model 3 to the market in 2016. Bolts were erupting in flames in people’s driveways, in their garages and on the street for no apparent reason. Ultimately, about a dozen of the vehicles... Three years ago, General Motors began receiving worrying reports about the Chevy Bolt, its...

Lithium miner Albemarle received a $149 million federal grant for a lithium processing plant. Pictured above, the company's brine operation in Silver Peak, Nev. Photo: The Electric

The Electric: U.S. Battery Subsidies Go Far but Perhaps Not Far Enough

By Steve LeVine · Feb 23, 2023 4:30am PST

New U.S. subsidies have begun to attract investments in electric vehicle batteries, including a decision announced Wednesday by Tesla to relocate some of its battery cell manufacturing from Germany to the U.S. But a public-private group linked to the U.S. Department of Energy says the $250 billion U.S. effort still falls substantially short, and... New U.S. subsidies have begun to attract investments in electric vehicle batteries, including a...

On the cusp of the EV age, public charging remains unreliable. Photo: George Rose/Getty

The Electric: With the Future of EV Sales on the Line, Vehicle Charging Is Getting Worse

By Steve LeVine · Feb 19, 2023 2:00pm PST

For a frigid few late-night hours just before Christmas, Kyle Conner shuttled among electric vehicle fast-charge stations in a 50-mile corridor north of Denver to check their performance in a cold snap. It was 6 below zero and he had heard that fast-charge units newly installed by Volkswagen’s Electrify America network were malfunctioning.... For a frigid few late-night hours just before Christmas, Kyle Conner shuttled among electric...

Some Ford F-150 Lightning pickups will be equipped with batteries made by China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. Photo: Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty.

The Electric: Ford Risks Political Heat With a Deal to Make Chinese Batteries on U.S. Soil

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

In a risky move that’s already creating political waves, Ford on Monday plans to announce a deal with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technologies Ltd. to build electric vehicle batteries in Michigan. In a display of the thorny politics, President Joe Biden declined an invitation to join Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Ford CEO Jim Farley at the... In a risky move that’s already creating political waves, Ford on Monday plans to announce a deal...

Byd displays its electric Tang SUV at the Brussels Expo in Belgium in January. Photo: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty

The Electric: Is the EV Race Already Over?

By Steve LeVine · Feb 12, 2023 2:00pm PST

Byd displays its electric Tang SUV at the Brussels Expo in Belgium in January. Photo: Sjoerd van der Wal/Getty

The Electric: Is the EV Race Already Over?

By Steve LeVine · Feb 12, 2023 2:00pm PST

As the world’s automakers intensify their scramble to go electric, Tesla and China’s Byd have run away from the pack with sales of millions of electric vehicles, and seem likely to maintain the lead through the end of the decade. The game isn’t over. But other auto manufacturers could be relegated to fighting over relative crumbs of EV sales... As the world’s automakers intensify their scramble to go electric, Tesla and China’s Byd have run...