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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

Flynt CEO Daniel Kirchert. Photo: Steve LeVine/The Electric
The Electric

The Electric: An EV Developer Urges Rivals to Capitalize on China's Cheap Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 11, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment
Batteries made in China are dirt cheap. So are a slew of other electric vehicle components manufactured there. So if you’re a shrewd Western entrepreneur, why not embrace these cut-rate prices, and make valuable products from them for U.S. and European customers? How about a low-priced delivery van, for instance? Batteries made in China are dirt cheap. So are a slew of other electric vehicle components...
Lingbo Zhu, chief technology officer of CATL’s international business unit. Photo: Courtesy CATL
The Electric

In Munich, a Bolder CATL Doubles Down on Good-Enough Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 8, 2025 4:30am PDT
For years, Western battery startups using exotic materials have promised outsize driving range and charging speed, all at a good price. None has reached commercial production, and an increasing number have failed.Not to fret, China’s battery colossus, CATL, seemed to say on Sunday. CATL is steadily improving its tried-and-true battery, which... For years, Western battery startups using exotic materials have promised outsize driving range...
Nickel processing and smelting plant in North Maluku, Indonesia. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: In a Geopolitics Hack, EV Makers Use Indonesia to Obtain Chinese Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 4, 2025 4:30am PDT
Two years ago, Indonesia’s president came to the White House and offered then-President Joe Biden a deal. Indonesia would supply all of the nickel the U.S. needed to build a competitive electric vehicle battery industry, if Biden made the mineral-rich country eligible for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act. Two years ago, Indonesia’s president came to the White House and offered then-President Joe Biden...
The Beta Alia in Norway in August. Photo: Courtesy Beta
The Electric: The Startup Betting That Electric Flying Taxis Will First Carry Cargo
By Steve LeVine · Sep 1, 2025 4:30am PDT
The Beta Alia in Norway in August. Photo: Courtesy Beta
The Electric

The Electric: The Startup Betting That Electric Flying Taxis Will First Carry Cargo

By Steve LeVine · Sep 1, 2025 4:30am PDT
Leading electric air taxi startups have stepped up a campaign of public exploits as they move closer to carrying paid passengers, including recent showy flights by test pilots in California, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere. But they may be outdone by a group of less-flashy electric aviation companies: cargo startups that will ferry no... Leading electric air taxi startups have stepped up a campaign of public exploits as they move...
Sila Nano's new silicon anode plant in Moses Lake, Wash. Photo: Courtesy Sila
The Electric

The Electric: Silicon's Malaise Reflects an Auto Industry Ceding Momentum to China

By Steve LeVine · Aug 28, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment
In May 2022, two rival U.S. battery startups announced similar coups.Group14 Technologies, a developer of silicon anodes that promised greater driving range and faster charging in electric vehicles, said that within two years—in 2024—its product would be powering EVs made by Porsche. It was big news because, despite years of trying, no Western... In May 2022, two rival U.S. battery startups announced similar coups.Group14 Technologies, a...
The Electric Newsletter
An exclusive publication covering the nascent battery and electric vehicle revolutions.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
Musk in Qatar. Win McNamee/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Is One of Tesla's Key Battery Innovations Worth It?

By Steve LeVine · Aug 25, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment
In 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised to completely rework his processes and release a cheap electric vehicle for the masses. That sent rivals scurrying, especially to keep up with his vow to stop making batteries “wet,” the expensive conventional way, requiring toxic solvents, massive drying ovens and cavernous factories. Instead, Tesla would... In 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised to completely rework his processes and release a cheap...
Mohamad Yassine, CEO of Predictive Horizons. Photo: Vanessa Harp
The Electric

Exclusive From The Electric: In a Startup, Tesla Veterans Attack Detroit's Warranty Crisis

By Steve LeVine · Aug 21, 2025 4:30am PDT
Last year, Ford paid out $5.8 billion in warranty claims on its vehicles, a 22% increase over 2023. General Motors spent $4.5 billion on such claims, 12% more than its 2023 number. And Tesla paid $1.45 billion, a 19% year-on-year increase.Detroit has a car repair problem going back to the 1970s. It was one reason Japanese carmakers managed to... Last year, Ford paid out $5.8 billion in warranty claims on its vehicles, a 22% increase over...
Lyten CEO Dan Cook. Photo: Courtesy Lyten
Exclusive From The Electric: Cash Will Be Lyten's Biggest Challenge in its Northvolt Takeover
By Steve LeVine · Aug 18, 2025 4:30am PDT
Lyten CEO Dan Cook. Photo: Courtesy Lyten
The Electric

Exclusive From The Electric: Cash Will Be Lyten's Biggest Challenge in its Northvolt Takeover

By Steve LeVine · Aug 18, 2025 4:30am PDT
If everything goes well in the coming months, San Jose, Calif., startup Lyten will crank up the production of nickel-based batteries at its newly acquired plant in Sweden. It will then ship those batteries to another plant it’s just acquired in Poland, and make them into stationary storage systems for a list of waiting customers. If everything goes well in the coming months, San Jose, Calif., startup Lyten will crank up the...
Alan Clarke, right, head of Ford's secret skunkworks, with Doug Field, Ford's chief EV officer, middle, and Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson. Photo: Courtesy Long Beach Mayor's Office.
The Electric

Exclusive From The Electric: How Ford's EV Guru Plans to Beat Tesla and the Chinese

By Steve LeVine · Aug 14, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment
For years, it’s been clear that Detroit is behind China and Tesla in the global race to build electric and autonomous vehicles. So, in what it viewed as a mission to save itself, Ford poached Tesla veteran Alan Clarke, who had helped create most of the EV maker’s vehicles. Clarke’s marching orders: Create a line of EVs that could beat those of... For years, it’s been clear that Detroit is behind China and Tesla in the global race to build...
Aionics' office in Palo Alto, Calif. Photo: Courtesy Aionics
The Electric

The Electric: AI for Batteries Startups Don’t Earn Much. How They Hope to Make More

By Steve LeVine · Aug 11, 2025 4:30am PDT
Artificial intelligence startups like OpenAI are growing fast, generating multibillions of dollars in revenue. But the small industry of AI startups hoping to design better batteries is not sharing in the largesse. Artificial intelligence startups like OpenAI are growing fast, generating multibillions of...
The Electric Newsletter
An exclusive publication covering the nascent battery and electric vehicle revolutions.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
In May, Caltech successfully detected solar power produced in space and beamed to Earth. Photo: Ali Hajimiri/Caltech
The Electric

The Electric: Co-founder of Robinhood Launches a Space Startup

By Steve LeVine · Aug 7, 2025 4:30am PDT
In 1941, Isaac Asimov told the story of Solar Station No. 5, a space station that collected power from the Sun, converted it to microwaves, and beamed it to humans living on planets a vast distance away.A little over eight decades later, Baiju Bhatt, Robinhood’s billionaire co-founder and former co-CEO, has launched a new startup seeking to do... In 1941, Isaac Asimov told the story of Solar Station No. 5, a space station that collected power...
Joby's electric air taxi over New York City. Photo: Courtesy Joby
The Electric: A Surprising Acquisition Lets Electric Taxi Startup Joby Commercialize Early
By Steve LeVine · Aug 4, 2025 4:00am PDT
Joby's electric air taxi over New York City. Photo: Courtesy Joby
The Electric

The Electric: A Surprising Acquisition Lets Electric Taxi Startup Joby Commercialize Early

By Steve LeVine · Aug 4, 2025 4:00am PDT
Joby Aviation, a maker of electric flying taxis, is coming to the skies of New York sooner than expected, only with fuel-powered aircraft to start with. Joby said today it is buying Blade Air Mobility, known for its helicopter flights to the city’s airports and the Hamptons on Long Island. Joby Aviation, a maker of electric flying taxis, is coming to the skies of New York sooner than...
Testing Bedrock's autonomously driven excavator. Photo: Courtesy Bedrock
The Electric

The Electric: These Ex-Waymo Executives Are Automating Construction Equipment

By Steve LeVine · Jul 31, 2025 4:30am PDT
It’s taken a decade or so for companies like Tesla, Waymo and others to launch self-driving vehicles. Now a group of five former Waymo executives is aiming to produce giant excavators that operate autonomously in just two years. It’s taken a decade or so for companies like Tesla, Waymo and others to launch self-driving...
Amprius CEO Kang Sun. Photo: Courtesy Amprius
The Electric

The Electric: A Battery CEO on Robots—'They Need a Lot of Power'

By Steve LeVine · Jul 28, 2025 4:30am PDT
Kang Sun is out to bust up a battery industry consensus. For years, battery startups have assumed that to succeed they needed to penetrate at least one of three big industries: electric vehicles, stationary storage or portable electronics.But Sun, CEO of silicon anode developer Amprius Technologies, notes that the pursuit of those industries... Kang Sun is out to bust up a battery industry consensus. For years, battery startups have assumed...
QuantumScape shares are up 203% over the last month. Photo: QuantumScape
The Electric

The Electric: Long-Suffering Battery Startups Are Among the Best-Performing Stocks

By Steve LeVine · Jul 24, 2025 4:30am PDT
Everyone has a different theory about why batteries are a thing again, and almost none of them overlap. What’s indisputable is that investors once again have battery fever. Everyone has a different theory about why batteries are a thing again, and almost none of them...
The Electric Newsletter
An exclusive publication covering the nascent battery and electric vehicle revolutions.
By providing your email, you agree to The Information’s Privacy Policy
Joby's air taxi, near its manufacturing facility in Marina, Calif. Photo; Courtesy Joby
The Electric: Toyota Took a Pass on EVs. But it Has Bet $1 Billion on this Flying Car Company
By Steve LeVine · Jul 21, 2025 4:30am PDT
Joby's air taxi, near its manufacturing facility in Marina, Calif. Photo; Courtesy Joby
The Electric

The Electric: Toyota Took a Pass on EVs. But it Has Bet $1 Billion on this Flying Car Company

By Steve LeVine · Jul 21, 2025 4:30am PDT
Toyota Motors is one of the world’s most buttoned-up companies. But in 2017, an executive from the carmaker’s venture arm drove into the remote Santa Cruz, Calif., mountains to see a group of engineers living together in a 1960s-style commune. As he watched, they demonstrated a remote-controlled electric helicopter they predicted would usher in... Toyota Motors is one of the world’s most buttoned-up companies. But in 2017, an executive from...
China clamped export controls on LFP batteries, such as the CATL battery above. Photo: Zhou Chengfeng/VCG/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: China Has Signaled that LFP Batteries are Strategic. Here's How Trump Should Respond

By Steve LeVine · Jul 17, 2025 4:30am PDT
China has imposed export controls on two items on which it holds an almost complete global monopoly: the world’s currently most popular electric vehicle battery, and the metal used in the most promising battery of the future.The moves come a week after the Pentagon acted in a very big way to weaken China’s grip on rare earth magnets, funding a... China has imposed export controls on two items on which it holds an almost complete global...
The stationary storage battery plant that Lyten acquired from Northvolt. Photo: Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Scrappy Lyten Sees Survival in Drones and Acquisitions

By Steve LeVine · Jul 10, 2025 4:30am PDT
Last November, European battery developer Northvolt was struggling and looking for a buyer for its state-of-the-art lithium-metal manufacturing subsidiary in Silicon Valley.  When none of the industry’s big players were interested, battery startup Lyten snapped up the assets, including $25 million in equipment, much of it new, and the... Last November, European battery developer Northvolt was struggling and looking for a buyer for...
Tesla shows off its humanoid Optimus at an exhibition in Hangzhou, China. Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: How Trump Will Continue to Fund a Billion-Dollar Battery Buildout

By Steve LeVine · Jul 7, 2025 4:30am PDT
President Donald Trump doesn’t like electric vehicles, which he deems unworthy of U.S. strategic support. But he wants the government to spend on drones, humanoid robots, AI data centers and electric aircraft. The problem is, it is hard to have one without the other. President Donald Trump doesn’t like electric vehicles, which he deems unworthy of U.S. strategic...
House Speaker Mike Johnson in Congress on July 2. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty
The Electric: How Chinese Joint Ventures Backed by Trump Could Help Save U.S. Battery Makers
By Steve LeVine · Jul 3, 2025 4:30am PDT · 2 comments
House Speaker Mike Johnson in Congress on July 2. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: How Chinese Joint Ventures Backed by Trump Could Help Save U.S. Battery Makers

By Steve LeVine · Jul 3, 2025 4:30am PDT · 2 comments
In Donald Trump’s campaign for a second term as president, he repeatedly invited Chinese electric vehicle makers to set up factories in the U.S. as long as they hired American workers. No one knew whether the welcome mat was serious, a sort of political psy-war—or just empty talk.It seems Trump was serious, or at least Senate Republicans think... In Donald Trump’s campaign for a second term as president, he repeatedly invited Chinese electric...