153. The Battery-coaster - Oct24

The battery infrastructure is currently growing 3x faster than the solar industry. Records are beaten daily: in August 2024, for the first time, Chinese battery factories passed the 100GWh production mark. We are seeing industry giants consolidate their leadership while hopes of alternative technologies or promising start ups are being squashed.

The prices are collapsing monthly, partly due to cheaper inputs, technological improvements and larger volumes, not dissimilar to what happened in recent years to the solar industry. Is LFP the winning chemistry or is there still a future for NMC?

Laurent and Gerard bring Dr Engelke, Chair of Battery Associates, to try to make sense of it all. This young German company has been developing a world class expertise and how uses it to train the future work force is how to build a Gigafactory and how to optimize it. With clients like Tesla, VW and CATL, Battery Associates is in the thick of it. GenZ is defying all politicians by creating a transnational spirit of collaboration between Continents to promote a faster and more efficient future.

Because in the end, it is all about Human Capital. China has benefited from our technology for decades, let’s not be shy and emulate their playbook. It will be more efficient in the long term than lobbying regulators, whine and ask for tariffs and subsidies. Despite the roller coaster, never forget that in a fast-growing market, short term demand is generally overstated, while long term demand is generally understated.  

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We don’t often recommend other podcasts/YouTube (I know we should). If you are interested in Batteries, please listen/view this interview of Robin Zheng, CEO of CATL.
Really fascinating 
https://youtu.be/5VIXjjw4u9A?si=enaf8fls2F82YxoX
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/catl-ceo-founder-robin-zeng-the-journey-to-market/id1614211565?i=1000669887553