CATL & BYD are eating the world

Hi,

Thought the world couldn’t get stranger? Well, of all people, Kanye West has now been tweeting (a lot) about a bevy of energy generation and storage technology. Based on a lot of his actions in recent years, I have a hard time separating art from artist, as much as some of his older albums mean to me. On this front, however, I’ll take it, I guess:

Here’s all the (other) news from last week across the space that caught my attention:

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ONE STORY IN A SENTENCE AND A CHART

• Methane remains a primary focus of mine, even if not so much in these pages at present – this is one of the more holistic overviews I’ve seen (from the stellar team at Visualizing Energy) of global methane emissions by source, where there has historically been an absence of a single source of truth (which continues to be a gap to fill!). Link.

LEAD STORY: BIG BEEF IN THE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE RACE

Before we get into the beef, here are the bulleted updates:

• Wayve (staying out of the beef for now), plans to expand to Japan with a new testing and development center in Yokohama, following its first major commercial deal with Japanese carmaker Nissan (which we covered last week). Japan is the fourth-largest auto market in the world; Wayve is another player looking to sell its self-driving car software and incorporate training data from new roads into its autonomous driving foundational models. Link.

• VW and Uber (also staying out of the beef) unveiled a plan to launch a commercial robotaxi service using autonomous electric VW ID BUZZ vehicles in multiple U.S. cities over the next decade, starting in Los Angeles by late 2026. The service will initially have human safety operators before going fully driverless in 2027. Link.

So, here’s the beef (or tea, if you prefer):

As I’ve been harping on this year, Waymo is crushing autonomous, electric light-duty ride share service in the U.S.. Tesla has long wanted and said it will offer robotaxi services, and its cars are capable of full-self driving mode, but it has yet to deliver a single paid robotaxi ride (Musk has been discussing the business model for a decade). Claiming future advantage, in Tesla’s (abysmal) Q1 earnings call, Musk noted (w/r/t Waymo’s vehicles):

As ardent readers of these pages will know, Waymo already provides massive amounts (250,000+ now) of electric, self-driving rides per week. Tesla says it plans to launch a limited "10 to 20-car" fleet in Austin in June. TBD. Musk isn’t entirely wrong in saying Waymos are likely more expensive to produce than Teslas are. But his figures are probably off (at least a bit, if not substantially).

Here’s where it gets spicy. Musk claims that medium-term, Tesla will claim “90%” share of this market (for a variety of reasons I won’t dive too deep on here). He also says “millions” of Teslas will be driving autonomously by the latter half of 2026 (I definitely call BS on that). John Krafcik, Waymo's founder and former CEO, clapped back in epic fashion:

Of course, the stakes are super high here. And who knows what the Chinese will deliver; they’re already crushing the rest of the world on batteries, EVs, EV charging (more on that below), battery swapping, etc… Domestically things are TBD, but I’ll keep my chips on the company scaling towards a million real rides per month for now. Link. Link. Link. Link.

MORE STORIES ACROSS CLIMATE AND ENERGY TECH

THE GOOD

• China successfully reloaded fuel into a working thorium molten salt reactor in Mongolia, making it the world's first stable, operable reactor of its type. The experimental unit generates 2 megawatts of thermal power and uses thorium as fuel and molten salt as carrier and coolant, considered by some to be safer forms of nuclear fission. China is basically winning on all cleaner energy fronts at this point, and its lead will only widen based on what our federal administration is up to. Link.

• China is also generating more clean electrons than ever (and any other country, as it hit a record 951 terawatt hours in Q1 2025, up 19% from the same period last year), though it also remains the world’s largest emitter of both CO₂ and methane. Link.

• Per Enerwrap (great resource), EV sales were 115,309 in March, up 23.7% compared to last month and up 23.4% compared with March last year. Much more here → Link.

• A global study of 130,000 people across 125 countries found that 89% are in favor of stronger government action on climate change but feel trapped in a "spiral of silence" due to mistakenly believing they're in the minority. Breaking this misperception could trigger a social tipping point for climate action. Yale professor Anthony Leiserowitz noted:

The Guardian also launched "The 89 Percent Project" in collaboration with dozens of other global newsrooms to highlight this silent majority ahead of COP30. Link. Link.

• Aurora Innovation, based out of Pittsburgh, plans to launch fully driverless trucks without backup safety drivers on I-45 between Dallas and Houston in the coming days, marking a key milestone for autonomous trucking after years of testing with safety drivers in the cab. The company will start with one truck and gradually expand the fleet over time. California is also mulling allowing heavier-duty AV companies to test their wares on its roadways. Kodiak Robotics, which plans to go public soon, claims to have surpassed 750 hours of driverless operations on private roads in West Texas' Permian Basin without human drivers on board as well (and 50,000 overall). Mind you, there’s little to no formal regulation to speak of in this space, though long-term, I have zero doubt autonomous vehicles will be safer than (notoriously awful, on average) human drivers. Link. Link. Link.

• VW and Uber (reiterated) unveiled a plan to launch a commercial robotaxi service using autonomous electric VW ID BUZZ vehicles in multiple U.S. cities over the next decade, starting in Los Angeles by late 2026. The service will initially have human safety operators before going fully driverless in 2027. Link.

• Paebbl started operating its demonstration plant for continuous CO₂ mineralization in Rotterdam, which it completed in just 18 months. The facility transforms CO₂ into supplementary cementitious materials using olivine rock, potentially providing a scalable solution for reducing the cement industry's 8% contribution to global emissions. Link.

• Slate Auto unveiled a slick, minimalist EV truck priced below $20,000 (after federal incentives, and who knows what’ll happen to those) with a stripped-down design featuring no paint, no infotainment system, and a (very limited) range of 150 miles. Basically, it’s designed for a) affordability and b) customization—there are over 100 accessories, including an SUV conversion kit, that customers can select from. The company has significant funding, and this release made very strong media, press, and general ‘vibe’ waves on the interwebs. Still, all but two American EV startups (Rivian and Tesla) have struggled mightily (and Tesla is struggling now [more on that below]), so there’s a lot to prove here yet. Plus, BYD makes EVs for <$10,000 (with more range). Anecdotally, my friend’s (wonderful) Brazilian parents told me they’re seeing BYD cars practically everywhere in Brazil, too, fwiw. You get where I’m goin’. Link. Link. Link.

• U.K. scientists will launch outdoor geoengineering experiments as part of a £50 million (~$67 million) government-funded program to research technologies that could reduce global temperatures by blocking out sunlight. As my homie Kiran expertly reminded folks on Twitter recently, “Most people don’t know this but we put enough SO₂ in the lower atmosphere to cool the entire planet half a degree Celsius!! Right now!! Meaning current human contributions to warming are actually represented as ~2 degrees Celsius + ~(-.5) degrees in aerosol cooling.” (second link). The tests, while still controversial, really shouldn’t be given the above, and will collect data on techniques like atmospheric particles and seawater sprays. Link. Link. For much more from us on geoengineering, see here, here, and here (there are others, too).

THE INBETWEENS

• This is the biggest story in here, really: CATL announced its second-generation Shenxing battery, which can add 520 km (323 miles) of driving range in five minutes of charging. That surpasses BYD's recent 400 km claim and Western competitors like Tesla (270 km in 15 minutes) / Mercedes-Benz (325 km in 10 minutes). The company also unveiled new sodium-ion batteries to reduce the EV industry's reliance on lithium. Suffice it to say, BYD and CATL are eating the world (as far as all things EVs are concerned). I’ve been on this beat for a while too, not to toot my horn too much (see here, here, here, here, you get the idea). These advances are very good for the world in terms of EV adoption. For all non-BYD and CATL auto manufacturers and EV charging hardware companies? Not so much. Link. Link.

• Further, Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco announced a partnership with BYD to develop "innovative technologies that enhance efficiency and environmental performance." While the U.S. shifts to competitive versus cooperative games (i.e., tariffs), our federal policymakers can congratulate themselves on pushing the rest of the world to cooperate without us (/s). Link.

• China has also "completely stopped" imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas, having last received a shipment from Corpus Christi on February 6. Beijing imposed a 49% tariff on U.S. LNG in retaliation for Trump's tariffs, and has turned to Russia to meet its energy needs. China’s a relatively small U.S. LNG reporter, but worth paying attention here. Link.

• California has become the world's fourth-largest economy with a nominal GDP of $4.1 trillion, surpassing Japan's $4.03 trillion. The state's economy is growing faster than the world's top three economies, with 6% year-over-year GDP growth outpacing the U.S. (5.3%), China (2.6%), and Germany (2.9%). Link.

• The U.S. finalized tariffs on solar imports from Southeast Asia, setting duties as high as 3,521% for Cambodia, 395.9% for Vietnam, 375.2% for Thailand, and 34.4% for Malaysia. The decision follows a trade case brought by American manufacturers that accused overseas rivals of flooding the market with unfairly cheap goods. Good for American solar manufacturing capacity long-term… maybe? TBD, too much up in the air. Link.

• President Trump signed an executive order aiming to quickly develop U.S. capabilities to harvest and process minerals from the ocean floor, despite concerns from environmentalists and scientists about the ecological risks of commercial-scale harvesting. The order directs Commerce to expedite exploration and recovery permits and calls on the Department of the Interior to develop a permitting process for projects in U.S. waters. Ultimately, this will almost certainly end up being a bad thing. We need the metals and minerals, but there are better sources (no shortage, really) outside the ocean. Link.

THE BAD

• U.S. sustainable fund flows experienced record-high outflows of $8.6 billion in Q1 2025, given all the geopolitical upheaval and ESG backlash. Europe suffered its first quarter of net outflows since at least 2018; the U.S. saw a tenth consecutive quarter of withdrawals. Morningstar has a much more detailed report here → Link.

• Nearly half of Americans (46% of the population) are now purportedly exposed to potentially dangerous levels of air pollution (like ozone), according to the American Lung Association's 2025 State of the Air report, 25 million more than last year and the highest number recorded over the past decade. Contributing factors in addition to pollution from power plants and cars include extreme heat, wildfires, and drought. Remember, it’s not all about global warming and greenhouse gasses, folks! Air pollution alone would be sufficient reason to phase out fossil fuels, as it contributes to millions of excess deaths annually (second link). Link. Link.

• The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 50.8 in April, the second-lowest reading since the survey began in 1952. Consumers anticipate prices will climb 6.7% in the coming year, the highest expected change since 1981. The share of consumers expecting unemployment to rise has more than 2xd since November. Link.

• The Interior Department will fast-track approvals for (predominantly fossil fuel) energy and mining projects on public lands, reducing environmental review timelines from years to just 14-28 days. Secretary Doug Burgum cited Trump's energy emergency declaration, stating, "We are cutting through unnecessary delays." Too bad they left out solar, wind, and battery energy storage projects… Link.

• German offshore wind developer RWE has "stopped our offshore activities for the time being" in the U.S., basically because of Trump, and almost certainly his administration’s decision to force Equinor to halt construction on its Empire Wind project (it received a stop-work order from Interior Secretary Burgum). Not that offshore wind wasn’t already in deep trouble years ago, especially in the U.S. (which I wrote about in 2023). GE Vernova's wind is also vulnerable; its onshore segment posted its fifth straight profitable quarter, but the company expects its entire wind division to report a loss as offshore challenges drag the whole segment down. It specifically identified offshore wind as most vulnerable to Trump's tariffs, saying "that's a business that we're not going to invest money into to reallocate supply chain at this point." Link. Link.

• LG Electronics is exiting the EV charger business just three years after entering the market, citing prolonged stagnation in demand and intensifying price competition. The company will liquidate its HiEV Charger subsidiary but reassign employees to other divisions and continue providing maintenance services to existing clients. It seems the Koreans see the Chinese writing on the wall, too. Link.

• GM is also shifting production at its Toledo facility away from EV drive units toward transmissions for gasoline vehicles to meet "current market demand." The plant, which GM had previously announced would be transformed into a drive unit production hub with a $760 million investment, has yet to produce any retail EV drive units. Link.

• The Trump administration quietly released climate change data without expert analysis from NOAA scientists, minimizing findings that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels jumped by a record amount in 2024. Instead of issuing a public-facing web story (as would be the norm), the (gutted) NOAA released the data on social media with a link to its CO₂ data-tracking page. Woof. So I might as well offer some of the data here again: CO₂ still goin’ up (faster than ever, really)! Link.

• Tesla's profit (not revenue) dropped 71% year-over-year in Q1, with automotive revenue down 20%. Musk promised to spend less time in Washington and more on Tesla ahead of its robotaxi launch in Austin, which will start small with 10-20 vehicles and is slated to kick off in June (we’ll see, also discussed above). The company also warned that new tariffs will have an "outsized impact" on its energy storage business, which happens to be the only part of the business I still like (I’m skeptical re: the robotaxis, given they’ve been touted for a decade). See below on the BESS front. Link. Link.

• The Earth is currently experiencing the largest coral bleaching event in history, with ~84% of the world's coral reefs exposed to conditions that cause bleaching, exceeding the 2014-2017 event that impacted 69% of reef areas. Heat stress is driving marine invertebrates to expel symbiotic algae, threatening reef ecosystems worldwide. Link.

CURATED DEALS

Larger funding rounds:

• Electra, based out of Boulder, CO, raised $186 million in Series B funding co-led by Capricorn Investment Group and Temasek Holdings for its patented process that uses renewable energy to transform iron ore into 99% pure iron to decarbonize steel production and reduce emodied emissions everywhere else steel and iron are used (e.g., in cars and batteries). It has a demonstration plant in Colorado, and construction is supposed to start later this year. Link.

• Electra.aero, based out of Manassas, VA, raised $115 million in Series B funding for its hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing aircraft. Lockheed Martin Ventures, Honeywell, Safran, Statkraft Ventures, and the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation participated. Link.

• Verne (formerly Project 3 Mobility), based out of Zagreb, Croatia, raised €100 million (~$114 million) in Series A funding to develop an urban autonomous mobility ecosystem centered around fully autonomous electric robotaxis designed for urban environments. Yet another competitor in the AV mix to track! Link.

• Omnidian, based out of Seattle, WA, raised $87+ million in Series C funding led by B Capital for its solar energy monitoring and maintenance business. It also noted it aims to reach profitability and possibly IPO by 2027. Omnidian's subscription software monitors residential and commercial solar energy systems. It manages about 2 GW of solar energy systems, predominantly in the U.S., at present. It plans to expand into new markets now, including Europe and Latin America. Link.

Medium-sized funding rounds:

• Exowatt, based out of Miami, FL, raised $35 million in Series A funding led by Felicis and $35 million in debt to build modular energy systems that store solar heat and convert it into electricity for data centers. Andreessen Horowitz, 8090 Industries, Starwood Capital, Thrive Capital, and MCJ Collective also participated. Link.

• UbiQD, based out of Los Alamos, NM, raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Phoenix Venture Partners to scale its cadmium-free quantum dot technology for agriculture and solar applications - say more. Link.

• Irrigreen, based out of Edina, MN, raised ~$19 million in Series A funding led by Natural Ventures and Burnt Island Ventures for its precision irrigation technology that uses robotic sprinkler heads and digital mapping to reduce water usage by up to 50% compared to traditional systems. Link. We wrote about the business more than two years ago here. Lots of Keep Cool “Alumni” are crushing it 😉 (still need to migrate this page).

• Node.energy, based out of Frankfurt, Germany, raised €15 million (~$17.1 million) in Series B funding led by DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF) for its energy management SaaS solution for renewable energy systems. Link.

• RepAir Carbon, based out of Tel Aviv, Israel, raised $15 million in Series A extension for its electricity-driven direct air capture technology. Link.

• Arnergy, based out of Lagos, Nigeria, raised $15 million in Series B funding for its lease-to-own solar model. Breakthrough Energy Ventures, British International Investment, Norfund, EDFI MC, and All On participated. Link.

Smaller funding rounds:

• Hexium, based out of Austin, TX, emerged from stealth with $12 million in funding across an $8 million seed raise co-led by MaC Venture Capital and Refactor and $4 million in non-dilutive funding to develop laser-based technology to separate lithium-6 from lithium-7 to make fuel for advanced nuclear fusion reactors. Link.

• MirSense, based out of Orsay, France, raised €7M (~8 million) in Series A funding led by Safran Corporate Ventures for its “quantum laser tech” toxic gas sensors. Link.

• 51toCarbonZero, based out of London, raised £3 million (~$4 million) in equity funding led by Fuel Ventures for its B2B emissions management platform. Link.

• Durin, based in El Segundo, CA, raised $3.4 million in pre-seed funding led by 8090 Industries to develop autonomous drilling systems (both hardware and software) for mining companies to explore for critical minerals faster and more efficiently. Link. Congrats, Ted and co!

• PHNX Materials, based out of San Francisco, CA, raised $2.5 million in seed funding co-led by Divergent Capital, KdT Ventures, and Overture to develop technology to use fly ash from coal plants for use in lower-carbon concrete and to extract valuable byproducts like sulphur and aluminium. Link.

Other funding rounds

• EQT Corporation (not the Swedish PE giant), based out of Pittsburgh, announced plans to buy the upstream and midstream assets of oil-and-gas producer Olympus Energy (also PA-based) for $1.8 billion to expand its presence in the Marcellus natural gas field. Link.

• E2Companies, based out of Bonita Springs, FL, signed a $500 million to $1 billion term sheet with Corscale Data Centers (Virginia-based) to supply battery and energy management systems to help level out power spikes and enable hyperscalers (data centers) to ingest intermittent renewable energy sources more seamlessly. Link.

• Silicon Ranch, based out of Nashville, TN, closed a $500 million equity investment from Danish fund AIP Management without even launching a formal fundraise. The solar developer's strategy of buying domestic solar panels has insulated it from Trump's recent tariff disruptions. Link.

• Mati Carbon, based out of Houston, won Elon Musk's $50 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal grand prize for its carbon removal approach that spreads crushed basalt rock on farmers' fields to draw down atmospheric carbon while improving soil quality (enhanced rock weathering). The process accelerates natural weathering, where CO₂ in rainwater breaks down rock and converts to bicarbonate that eventually washes back out to oceans via rivers and such. Runner up to Mati Carbon, NetZero, based out of Paris, received $15 million. Link. Link.

• Other XPRIZE reward recipients include companies like Aircapture, based out of Berkeley, CA, and 44.01, based out of Muscat, Oman, which received a $1 million XFACTOR recognition for “Project Hajar,” a carbon removal and mineralization project in the UAE that integrates Aircapture's modular DAC units with 44.01's mineralization technology to sequester CO2 underground permanently. Link.

Funds

• The New York State Common Retirement Fund says it will commit another $2 billion to the FTSE Russell TPI Climate Transition Index fund as part of its goal to have a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions portfolio by 2040. Link.

• Hedosophia, based out of London, raised a dedicated secondaries fund of $200-300 million with plans to back growth-stage companies in the U.S. and Europe. Not a pure-play climate tech or energy tech investor, but it definitely invests in those categories. Link.

• CIV, based out of Venice, CA, raised a $210+ million debut fund targeting investments in startups focused on “critical” infrastructure (manufacturing, energy, etc). Link.

• Kompas, based out of Copenhagen, raised €150 million (~$171 million) for its second fund to invest in industrial technology across Europe, the U.S., and Israel. It focuses on decarbonization, productivity, and resilience. Link.

• TDK Ventures, based out of San Jose, CA, launched its third fund, a $150 million initiative to support early-stage deep tech startups across five sectors: “AI, Compute, Connectivity…, Materials…, Climate-Tech…, Robotics, Manufacturing, [and] Mobility…, AgTech…, [and the] Digital Economy…including electrification of mobility, agriculture and aquaculture, and emerging economy decarbonization.” Link.

• First Momentum, based out of Karlsruhe, Germany (close to my Grandma!), raised €35 million (~$40 million) for its second fund to invest in pre-seed deep tech startups in areas like novel materials, automation, grid infrastructure, and energy storage. Link.

OTHER ‘COOL’ STUFF

RIP to an immaculate badass who understood that environmental stewardship and social justice aren't optional add-ons to spirituality. They’re the essential expressions of it.

Pope Francis was a genuinely refreshing force in the Catholic Church. Yes, the institution has its massively complicated history and problems. No, he did not (nor could one Pope ever, change everything). But Francis did bring something different to the table. As the first Latin American pope, he pushed the millennia-old establishment toward social progressivism in ways that actually mattered (to me and many others, at least).

"I see clearly that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful," he once said back in 2013. I believe he walked the walk on that, to the extent he could, welcoming LGBTQ+ Catholics, elevating women in leadership (to an extent; the Catholic Church has its woeful limits), and prioritizing mercy and inclusion. Perhaps most salient is the fact that he pissed off many of the more conservative Catholics’ feathers (many global Catholic factions are moving much further towards ‘traditional’ Catholicism, as opposed to more inclusive versions of it).

His environmental stances were also pretty obvious and are germane to these pages:

&

Further, he even used his final easter address to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Plus, he was a cool ass dude; before priesthood, he worked as a janitor & a bouncer.

Therefore, rip papa <345

Nos vemos,

Nick