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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

Keeping an EV in a city can be a struggle. Photo: Gary Hershorn/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Look for Gasoline Cars to be Crowding Roads for Decades Longer

By Steve LeVine · Nov 20, 2025 4:30am PST · 2 comments
On Tuesday, Paul Sankey, a longtime oil analyst based in Brooklyn, N.Y., dropped by a local dealer to turn in a traditional Audi sedan he had leased. But as he did so, a new subcompact SUV from the German automaker caught his eye—a white combustion model he thought his wife would like. Sankey signed a new lease for the SUV. On Tuesday, Paul Sankey, a longtime oil analyst based in Brooklyn, N.Y., dropped by a local...
Joby and L3's jointly made prototype hybrid electric aircraft, aimed at the Pentagon. Photo: Courtesy Joby Aviation.
The Electric

The Electric: Air Taxi Makers Are Seeking to be the Latest Defense Contractors

By Steve LeVine · Nov 17, 2025 4:30am PST · 1 comment
An aggressive new acquisition policy at the Pentagon appears to have strengthened the chances that electric air taxi startups Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation will win contracts to produce a new generation of hybrid aircraft for use in war zones. An aggressive new acquisition policy at the Pentagon appears to have strengthened the chances...
A concept flying car by XPeng, on display in China. Photo: Juro Osawa
The Electric

The Electric: Experts Cast Doubt on Musk's Tease of a Flying Roadster

By Steve LeVine · Nov 10, 2025 4:30am PST · 1 comment
Electric aviation experts are skeptical about Elon Musk’s latest promise—to demonstrate a flying Tesla Roadster in the next couple of months. “If you took all the James Bond cars and combined them, it’s crazier than that,” he said. Electric aviation experts are skeptical about Elon Musk’s latest promise—to demonstrate a flying...
Heron CEO Drew Baglino, left, with Elon Musk. Photo: Courtesy Tesla
The Electric: Tesla Veteran Seeks to Tackle the Problem of Powering Data Centers
By Steve LeVine · Nov 6, 2025 4:30am PST
Heron CEO Drew Baglino, left, with Elon Musk. Photo: Courtesy Tesla
The Electric

The Electric: Tesla Veteran Seeks to Tackle the Problem of Powering Data Centers

By Steve LeVine · Nov 6, 2025 4:30am PST
Drew Baglino spent 18 years as a key engineer at Tesla, most recently as Elon Musk’s right-hand man. Now chief executive of his own company, Baglino is trying to upend the business of powering data centers, much the way Tesla brought new technology to the auto industry. Drew Baglino spent 18 years as a key engineer at Tesla, most recently as Elon Musk’s right-hand...
Drone assembly at United Aircraft Group in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, home to about 1,700 drone industry companies. Photo: Li An/Xinhua/Getty.
The Electric

The Electric: China's Next Targets for Domination—Robots, Rockets and Low-Orbit Satellites

By Steve LeVine · Nov 3, 2025 4:30am PST
China’s dominance of the rare earth metals business—with a chokehold on Western militaries and key industries—has become a key geopolitical issue. Chinese companies make most of the parts that go into the world’s military drones and sell 70% of the commercial drones. China’s dominance of the rare earth metals business—with a chokehold on Western militaries and...
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
Mitra Chem's Mountain View, Calif. headquarters. Photo: Courtesy Mitra Chem
The Electric

The Electric: In a $350 Million Strategic Shift, Trump Backs an Iron-Based Battery Startup

By Steve LeVine · Oct 30, 2025 4:30am PDT
In a surprise challenge to China’s chokehold on the most popular type of lithium-ion batteries, the Trump administration and Japan said they will invest about $350 million in a small U.S. startup that’s developing the main component in such batteries. In a surprise challenge to China’s chokehold on the most popular type of lithium-ion batteries,...
The Pelican Spray, an electric autonomous cropduster. Photo: Courtesy Pyka
The Electric

The Electric: This Startup Has Commercialized An Autonomous Electric Cropduster

By Steve LeVine · Oct 27, 2025 4:30am PDT
Michael Norcia’s passion for building aircraft started when he was a kid making model planes. After college, he worked for electric aircraft startups but never got to build anything commercial. Michael Norcia’s passion for building aircraft started when he was a kid making model planes....
GM CEO Mary Barra. Photo: Emily Elconin/Bloomberg/Getty
The Electric: GM CEO Takes Some Swipes at Tesla and Chinese Cars
By Steve LeVine · Oct 23, 2025 4:30am PDT
GM CEO Mary Barra. Photo: Emily Elconin/Bloomberg/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: GM CEO Takes Some Swipes at Tesla and Chinese Cars

By Steve LeVine · Oct 23, 2025 4:30am PDT
General Motors CEO Mary Barra presided over a big show of tech prowess on Wednesday, promising a pioneering autonomous electric Cadillac that will fully navigate highways while the driver zones out, and a battery that will beat the Chinese. General Motors CEO Mary Barra presided over a big show of tech prowess on Wednesday, promising a...
DeepRoute CEO Maxwell Zhou, in Seoul in April. Photo: Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: A Chinese AI Expert On What It Will Take For Cars To Go Completely Autonomous

By Steve LeVine · Oct 20, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment
Global automakers agree that very soon consumers will expect all new cars to function autonomously, requiring little or no attention from the driver. But they are sharply divided about how to get there. Global automakers agree that very soon consumers will expect all new cars to function...
Peak Energy's sodium ion battery system in Watkins, Colo. Photo: Courtesy Peak
The Electric

The Electric: The Defiant Startup That's Ignoring Lithium and Making Grid Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Oct 16, 2025 4:30am PDT
Two of Cameron Dales’ rivals went out of business this year, and skeptics say his novel battery technology is too expensive to beat conventional Chinese products. But Dales, co-founder of Colorado-based Peak Energy, is pushing ahead with grid-scale batteries that use a form of ordinary table salt as a base chemistry instead of the... Two of Cameron Dales’ rivals went out of business this year, and skeptics say his novel battery...
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
Photo: Courtesy Morgan Stanley.
The Electric

The Electric: Morgan Stanley's Uber Bull on Why Investors Should Be Looking at Humanoids, Flying Cars and Brain Implants

By Steve LeVine · Oct 13, 2025 4:30am PDT · 2 comments
“Look up in the sky,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said, speaking on Zoom from his office in a mid-Manhattan high-rise. “How many airplanes do you see?” None, I said. Jonas said he didn’t see any either—and that was wasted space. “Look up in the sky,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said, speaking on Zoom from his office in...
These metals-rich nodules carpet the Pacific seafloor 800 miles southeast of Hawaii. Photo: William West/AFP/Getty
Exclusive From The Electric: On the Hunt for More Equity Stakes, Trump May Have Seafloor Mining in His Sights
By Steve LeVine · Oct 9, 2025 4:30am PDT
These metals-rich nodules carpet the Pacific seafloor 800 miles southeast of Hawaii. Photo: William West/AFP/Getty
The Electric

Exclusive From The Electric: On the Hunt for More Equity Stakes, Trump May Have Seafloor Mining in His Sights

By Steve LeVine · Oct 9, 2025 4:30am PDT
In August, more than 100 investors in The Metals Co., a developer of metals found on the seafloor, gathered for a daylong meeting at Manhattan’s luxury Whitby Hotel that extended to evening karaoke. There was a buzz in the crowd because, 14 years after its launch, The Metals Co. says it may finally get to mine the seabed floor in the Pacific... In August, more than 100 investors in The Metals Co., a developer of metals found on the...
Iron, XPeng's humanoid robot. Photo: Sven Hoppe/Picture Alliance/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: In a Big Month, China's XPeng Will Unveil a Humanoid Robot and a Flying Car

By Steve LeVine · Oct 6, 2025 4:30am PDT
China’s XPeng is best known for its electric vehicles, which have begun to take off in Europe. But later this month, the company also plans to introduce a new version of its humanoid robot, Iron, to be deployed in its factories and showrooms. China’s XPeng is best known for its electric vehicles, which have begun to take off in Europe....
Wildfires triggered blackouts in successive years in California. Above, the town of Sausalito in October 2019. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Sunrun and Tesla Residential Batteries Could Help Power Data Centers

By Steve LeVine · Oct 2, 2025 4:30am PDT
At 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, California-based solar and battery provider Sunrun received an urgent email from Puerto Rico. Starting in just an hour, the U.S. territory needed a big infusion of electricity or it would have to initiate rolling blackouts across the island. At 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, California-based solar and battery provider Sunrun received an urgent...
A Mercedes-Benz team drove an EV powered with a solid state battery 750 miles on a single charge. Photo: Courtesy Mercedes-Benz.
The Electric

The Electric: The Gimmickry Around Coming Solid State Batteries

By Steve LeVine · Sep 29, 2025 4:30am PDT
For a half century, scientists have agreed that pure lithium metal—the lightest metal on the periodic table and jam-packed with energy—would be the best material for a battery. Since lithium is explosive when exposed to moisture, they have tried to make the battery using a solid-state structure, using no liquid. But no one has managed to make... For a half century, scientists have agreed that pure lithium metal—the lightest metal on the...
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 Thacker Pass lithium deposit in Nevada. Photo: Courtesy Lithium Americas
Exclusive From The Electric: The Trump Administration Is Seeking Stakes in More Critical Minerals Companies
By Steve LeVine · Sep 25, 2025 4:30am PDT
The Thacker Pass lithium deposit in Nevada. Photo: Courtesy Lithium Americas
The Electric

Exclusive From The Electric: The Trump Administration Is Seeking Stakes in More Critical Minerals Companies

By Steve LeVine · Sep 25, 2025 4:30am PDT
President Donald Trump’s administration is in talks to take stakes in multiple critical minerals companies, according to industry consultants, solidifying a playbook where government support comes in exchange for payments or equity. President Donald Trump’s administration is in talks to take stakes in multiple critical minerals...
A SunPower project in Utah. Photo: Courtesy SunPower
The Electric

Exclusive: With an Acquisition, SunPower's T.J. Rodgers Leads New Solar Industry Consolidation

By Steve LeVine · Sep 22, 2025 4:00am PDT
In a sign of a new wave of renewable energy industry consolidation, SunPower has agreed to acquire solar power sales company Sunder Energy for $55 million in cash and stock. It’s the latest deal in the industry, which was already struggling before President Donald Trump slashed subsidies. In a sign of a new wave of renewable energy industry consolidation, SunPower has agreed to...
The Luxeed R7 extended-range electric vehicle, produced by China's Chery. Photo: VCG/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: With the Clock Running Out on EV Subsidies, Carmakers Offer Up a New Idea

By Steve LeVine · Sep 18, 2025 4:30am PDT
In less than two weeks, the clock will run out on the $7,500 consumer tax credit on the purchase of electric vehicles in the U.S., killed by Congress as part of President Donald Trump’s energy policy. Carmakers expect EV sales to fall off a cliff, since most consumers think the vehicles still cost too much, don’t go far enough on a charge, and... In less than two weeks, the clock will run out on the $7,500 consumer tax credit on the purchase...
CATL's Lingbo Zhu announces the Shenxing Pro last week in Munich. Photo: Courtesy CATL
The Electric

Exclusive From The Electric: How China's CATL Keeps Trouncing Its Battery Rivals

By Steve LeVine · Sep 15, 2025 4:30am PDT
Lingbo Zhu was scribbling on a sheet of paper last week, sketching out a lineup of batteries that no other company could match. Zhu is international chief technology officer of China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd., the world’s largest battery maker, which took another leap forward last week. Lingbo Zhu was scribbling on a sheet of paper last week, sketching out a lineup of batteries that...
A stationary storage facility in Houston, Texas. Photo: Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle/Getty
The Electric: Chinese Stationary Storage Batteries Are All the Rage in the U.S.
By Steve LeVine · Sep 11, 2025 4:30am PDT
A stationary storage facility in Houston, Texas. Photo: Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle/Getty
The Electric

The Electric: Chinese Stationary Storage Batteries Are All the Rage in the U.S.

By Steve LeVine · Sep 11, 2025 4:30am PDT
Pushed by a surge of electricity demand, stationary battery companies have been on a tear, making the U.S. the second-fastest growing battery market in the world behind China. Further juicing demand for batteries and components is a rush to build stockpiles ahead of possible new tariffs and the loss of subsidies. Pushed by a surge of electricity demand, stationary battery companies have been on a tear, making...