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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

Mitra Chem's Mountain View, Calif. headquarters. Photo: Courtesy Mitra Chem

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: 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

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: 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

DeepRoute CEO Maxwell Zhou, in Seoul in April. Photo: Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Getty

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 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...

Photo: Courtesy Morgan Stanley.

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

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: 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

Iron, XPeng's humanoid robot. Photo: Sven Hoppe/Picture Alliance/Getty

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: 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 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 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

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

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

By Steve LeVine · Sep 22, 2025 4:00am PDT

A SunPower project in Utah. Photo: Courtesy SunPower

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: 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

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

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...

Flynt CEO Daniel Kirchert. Photo: Steve LeVine/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

Flynt CEO Daniel Kirchert. Photo: Steve LeVine/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

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: 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

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

By Steve LeVine · Aug 28, 2025 4:30am PDT · 1 comment

Sila Nano's new silicon anode plant in Moses Lake, Wash. Photo: Courtesy Sila

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...