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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

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The Electric

Exclusive From The Electric: Tesla Plans to Soon Introduce Long-Awaited Battery Innovation in Cybertrucks

By Steve LeVine · Mar 20, 2025 5:33am PDT
In one of the most closely watched projects in the global battery industry, Tesla plans this year to introduce an innovation in its Cybertruck batteries that could sharply decrease battery manufacturing costs, a senior executive said Wednesday.Bonne Eggleston, senior director of the battery program, said Tesla would introduce dry cathodes later... In one of the most closely watched projects in the global battery industry, Tesla plans this year...
The Xiaomi SU7 sedan. Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Xiaomi's Latest EV Will Make It Harder for Tesla To Grow This Year

By Steve LeVine · Mar 17, 2025 4:30am PDT
Over the past year, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has shown up two formidable U.S. brands: First, it released an electric car, something that Apple failed to do, despite spending an estimated $10 billion and a decade trying. Over the past year, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has shown up two formidable U.S. brands:...
Photo via Harbinger Motors
The Electric

The Electric: EV Truck Startup Harbinger Says Some Rivals Took Money and ‘Lit It on Fire’

By Steve LeVine · Mar 13, 2025 4:30am PDT
Perhaps no segment of the nascent electric vehicle industry has had a sorrier few years than commercial trucking. Since 2022, at least six electric van and truck startups have filed for bankruptcy, and a seventh seems to be just hanging on.In January, though, electric truck startup Harbinger Motors raised a $100 million Series B round, which it... Perhaps no segment of the nascent electric vehicle industry has had a sorrier few years than...
Gotion's cylindrical EV batteries. Photo: Getty
The Electric: The Chinese Companies That Want to Show Americans How to Make First-Rate EV Batteries
By Steve LeVine · Mar 10, 2025 4:30am PDT
Gotion's cylindrical EV batteries. Photo: Getty
The Electric

The Electric: The Chinese Companies That Want to Show Americans How to Make First-Rate EV Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Mar 10, 2025 4:30am PDT
Late next year, Massachusetts-based electrode developer 6K plans to deliver iron-based cathodes to a surprising customer—Chinese battery maker Gotion, which will turn the dark powder into batteries at an Illinois factory carved out of a former Kmart. Late next year, Massachusetts-based electrode developer 6K plans to deliver iron-based cathodes...
Musk at Tesla's Berlin gigafactory. Photo: Christian Marquardt. Pool/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Why Elon Musk Should Step Down at Tesla

By Steve LeVine · Mar 6, 2025 4:30am PST · 3 comments
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promised to release a new affordable electric vehicle by the end of June, less than four months from now. Investors hope the car will provide a spark for the company, which otherwise looks likely to mark a second consecutive year of declining sales. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promised to release a new affordable electric vehicle by the end of June,...
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
Ionic Minerals will use halloysite mined in these hills in Utah to make silicon anodes. Photo: Courtesy Ionic.
The Electric

The Electric: Four New EV Battery Startups That Are Ignoring the Gloom Around Them

By Steve LeVine · Mar 3, 2025 4:30am PST
A bloodbath is happening in the electric vehicle battery industry: Most of the next-generation Western startups that gained favor in 2020 and 2021 are struggling to survive, and some have either filed for bankruptcy or shut down. But a new wave of battery startups, unfazed by the rubble around them, has raised millions of dollars from venture... A bloodbath is happening in the electric vehicle battery industry: Most of the next-generation...
Peter Rawlinson, who resigned Tuesday as CEO of Lucid Motors. Photo: Jose Sarmento Matos/Bloomberg/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: After Peter Rawlinson's Sudden Exit, Investors Doubt Lucid's Plans

By Steve LeVine · Feb 27, 2025 4:30am PST
Provide your staff with insights on emerging trends in EV and AV, along with the context around new legislation and supply chains. Click here to learn more about The Information’s corporate access.Lucid Motors sold just over 10,000 electric vehicles last year, but on Feb. 5, CEO Peter Rawlinson boasted that that was only the beginning: Lucid, he... Provide your staff with insights on emerging trends in EV and AV, along with the context around...
BTR New Material's graphite anode factory in Indonesia at its launch in August 2024. Photo: by Xu Qin/Xinhua/Getty
Exclusive From The Electric: In Its Last Days, the Biden Administration Blacklisted China's Largest Battery Anode Maker
By Steve LeVine · Feb 24, 2025 4:30am PST
BTR New Material's graphite anode factory in Indonesia at its launch in August 2024. Photo: by Xu Qin/Xinhua/Getty
The Electric

Exclusive From The Electric: In Its Last Days, the Biden Administration Blacklisted China's Largest Battery Anode Maker

By Steve LeVine · Feb 24, 2025 4:30am PST
On its final workday in power, Joe Biden’s administration informed major carmakers of a new ruling making it significantly harder for their electric vehicles to qualify for the $7,500 consumer tax credit after 2026, according to three former Biden-era officials. On its final workday in power, Joe Biden’s administration informed major carmakers of a new...
In South 8's San Diego laboratory. Photo: Courtesy South 8
The Electric

The Electric: South 8 Finds One Escape From the Valley of Death—Profit

By Steve LeVine · Feb 20, 2025 4:30am PST
South 8 Technologies has raised about $9 million in a funding round that it expects to close next month toward manufacturing its innovative gas electrolyte. But CEO Tom Stepien said it took roughly six months to raise the money, with a lot of nos along the way. “I had one investor say, ‘If I bring a battery deal to my partners, they will fire... South 8 Technologies has raised about $9 million in a funding round that it expects to close next...
Byd founder Wang Chuanfu. Photo: Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Byd’s Driverless Aspirations Grasp a Big Thing—People Want Stuff That's Free

By Steve LeVine · Feb 17, 2025 4:30am PST · 5 comments
In a call with analysts last month, General Motors CEO Mary Barra predicted a terrific flow of new revenue within five years—$2 billion a year in recurring fees from customers using its autonomous driving system, Super Cruise. In a call with analysts last month, General Motors CEO Mary Barra predicted a terrific flow 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
The Archer Midnight at the Dubai Air Show, November 2023. Photo: Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Amid an Industry Bloodbath, Electric Aviation Startups Have Raised $2 Billion

By Steve LeVine · Feb 13, 2025 4:30am PST
Many electric vehicle and battery startups are in danger of running out of money before they can generate profits. By contrast, electric aviation startups are enjoying fundraising success that resembles the industry’s party days of 2020 and 2021, when investors were throwing money at EV and battery startups. Many electric vehicle and battery startups are in danger of running out of money before they can...
In December in Angola, Biden inaugurates U.S. funding for the Lobito railway corridor. With him, left to right: Tanzania Vice-President Philip Isdor Mpango; President Felix Tshisekedi of Democratic Republic of Congo; Angola President Joao Lourenco; and Zambia President Hakainde Hichilema. Photo: Getty.
The Electric: Trump May Be Jeopardizing a Critical Metals Win in Africa
By Steve LeVine · Feb 10, 2025 4:30am PST · 1 comment
In December in Angola, Biden inaugurates U.S. funding for the Lobito railway corridor. With him, left to right: Tanzania Vice-President Philip Isdor Mpango; President Felix Tshisekedi of Democratic Republic of Congo; Angola President Joao Lourenco; and Zambia President Hakainde Hichilema. Photo: Getty.
The Electric

The Electric: Trump May Be Jeopardizing a Critical Metals Win in Africa

By Steve LeVine · Feb 10, 2025 4:30am PST · 1 comment
In December, then-President Joe Biden traveled to Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito in a challenge to China’s grip on Africa’s rich supplies of metals used in electric vehicles, high-tech devices and weapons.With a flourish, Biden announced $560 million in funding to build projects along an 800-mile railway from the Democratic Republic of Congo... In December, then-President Joe Biden traveled to Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito in a challenge...
Musk has said Tesla doesn't need subsidies. Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Pool/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Plans Afoot to Make It Even Harder to Use Chinese Materials in U.S. EVs

By Steve LeVine · Feb 6, 2025 4:30am PST
Auto and battery makers are bracing for the impact of potential U.S. tariffs. Now they may be facing another challenge: a move in Congress to make it significantly harder for companies that use Chinese-made battery material to get subsidies. Auto and battery makers are bracing for the impact of potential U.S. tariffs. Now they may be...
Inside Natron Energy's Holland, Mich. factory. Photo: Courtesy Natron.
The Electric

The Electric: Why This Next-Gen Battery Startup Isn’t Afraid of DeepSeek

By Steve LeVine · Feb 3, 2025 4:30am PST
The DeepSeek earthquake shook developers of nuclear and natural gas power plants, pummeling their share prices and triggering doubts about billions of dollars of existing and planned investments to power artificial intelligence data centers. The DeepSeek earthquake shook developers of nuclear and natural gas power plants, pummeling their...
Photo: Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Musk Confirms His Mission Has Changed—Make Tesla a Lot More Valuable

By Steve LeVine · Jan 30, 2025 4:30am PST · 4 comments
In 19 minutes of remarks to analysts Wednesday evening, Tesla CEO Elon Musk enthused about his favorite topics—artificial intelligence-powered driverless cars and humanoid robots, which he predicted would make Tesla the most valuable company on Earth. In 19 minutes of remarks to analysts Wednesday evening, Tesla CEO Elon Musk enthused about his...
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
Digit, Agility Robotics' humanoid. Photo: Getty
The Electric: Humanoid Robots Are Cool—but How Will Their Battery Problem Be Solved?
By Steve LeVine · Jan 27, 2025 4:30am PST · 3 comments
Digit, Agility Robotics' humanoid. Photo: Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Humanoid Robots Are Cool—but How Will Their Battery Problem Be Solved?

By Steve LeVine · Jan 27, 2025 4:30am PST · 3 comments
Adam Jonas made his name as one of the biggest Tesla bulls. These days, people are flooding the Morgan Stanley analyst with questions about humanoid robots. The volume of calls has exceeded “the entirety of our [automaker], dealer and supplier coverage combined,” he said in a note Friday. Adam Jonas made his name as one of the biggest Tesla bulls. These days, people are flooding the...
With an executive order this week. Photo: Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Battery Makers Scramble to Save Their Federal Grants and Loans

By Steve LeVine · Jan 23, 2025 4:30am PST
U.S. auto and battery makers are scrambling to safeguard more than$100 billion in loans, grants and tax credits that President Donald Trump froze this week in a crackdown against what he called the “green new deal. U.S. auto and battery makers are scrambling to safeguard more than$100 billion in loans, grants...
Jigar Shah, head of the Energy Department's Loan Programs Office. Photo by Getty
The Electric

The Electric: The Biden Team Awards Battery Loans to the Last Minute

By Steve LeVine · Jan 16, 2025 4:30am PST
In the final days of a four-year campaign to reindustrialize the U.S., the Biden administration on Wednesday announced a conditional $1.3 billion loan to a lithium extraction project at the Salton Sea in California.The loan to California-based EnergySource Minerals was the 39th made by the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office under... In the final days of a four-year campaign to reindustrialize the U.S., the Biden administration...
Archer Aviation's future commercial air taxi, Midnight. Photo: Getty
The Electric

The Electric: A Bet on Hybrid Fighter Aircraft and a Friendship With Trump

By Steve LeVine · Jan 13, 2025 4:30am PST
Electric air-taxi startups, with their billions of dollars of development costs, have seemed like a long shot: In the next year or two, regulators will likely certify one or more of the startups to carry passengers, but no one knows how many people will want to fly in them, or whether they will be willing to pay enough and use them often enough... Electric air-taxi startups, with their billions of dollars of development costs, have seemed like...
Photos: Getty
The Electric: China Wants to Block the West From Catching Up in Batteries
By Steve LeVine · Jan 9, 2025 4:30am PST
Photos: Getty
The Electric

The Electric: China Wants to Block the West From Catching Up in Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Jan 9, 2025 4:30am PST
Less than two weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, the U.S. and China have escalated their tit-for-tat battery war, part of their rivalry to dominate the next generation of strategic technologies. Less than two weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, the U.S. and China...