Battery Insiders Reflection - Holiday Special

0:00Transcript

0:00Welcome to Battery Insiders, your podcast providing you insights in the fascinating world of batteries. Hosted by Bhavya Jha and Simon Engelke. And we're back one last time for 2021. How's it going, Simon? It's going well, and it's crazy to think about that it has been a year. I'm 44 sessions of battery revolution. I don't know how many battery insights we've been doing, but like, I mean, at least more than half, I think about 25 or so. Yeah. How about yourself, Bhavya? I know. Thinking about where we started and where we are now, I think you've really built something out of the Battery Associates community and the community that we have created on Clubhouse. Yeah, I know. And it was really nice to hear that enthusiasm. I feel like everyone has gotten super into it. I think we've got a fan club going. I think you have a fan club going. And I think really we've dug into a lot of information and just really better understood the battery market as it currently stands and where it's headed.

1:15What did you think about the conversation we just had with everybody? Yeah. No, I think it's quite a bit of heartwarming as well to just realize, as you say, that actually people listen to this. They enjoy it. I'm very fortunate. Also, I mean, I talked to quite a few people who have been listening to the podcast before, so it's very nice to also then meet one-to-one and have these chats and just really see how people appreciate it. And also for us to, I think when we started out with this idea, like, let's put something up and have also some free resources where people can listen to and they can learn from each other. I think we have covered so many topics from top of management to production and things. And of course, there's always a limit on what you can do in audio only compared to what we do in the BatteryMBA also with slides and things. And it was also nice to see that there are people who, I mean, I think we actually have quite some people in Battery Evolution who are coming from the BatteryMBA and other way around, which is quite nice as well.

2:10But in the end, it's also a free resource, right? I mean, there's a few people who tell me, you know, they cannot afford a program like this. And just to say, look, go on the Battery Evolution or Clubhouse or on the podcast Battery Insiders and try to absorb as much information as you can because now we have quite a library of content and very happy we have this and very excited where this is going. How about you, Bavia? Yeah, absolutely. Speaking of that library of content, I'm curious, what are our favorite topics we've discussed? I, for one, know that I started out working with you as like policy girl. I think I was all about policy and standards and standardization and end of life. But I think I've really leaned into like other parts of the battery life cycle, like supply chain and what's the upstream really look like? And what is like, you know, before you even talk about recycling and reuse, the question that you have, it like begs the question of, well, should we be making better batteries?

3:11And how, what does that mean? Should we be thinking more about going all EV versus, you know, what does an actual transition look like? And should we be talking about plugins more? I think these are like some of the questions I've walked away with this year through some of our conversations. I fondly remember our conversation with James Frith, I believe from Bloomberg. That was a really interesting one for me personally, especially as I look to grow in this space and like build my career. So that, that, that, that, those things resonated with me, but what about you? I would also, yeah, I was also thinking about James. I think there's, there's something I really like this. Also, I think it was quite timely, right? I think often these discussions, it's not really, often it was really about the discussions, right? And who kind of was joining and the action we had. And, you know, I think there was this, there's a lot of quotes, you know, I would love to, it'd be better to write them all down.

4:05But like, you know, for example, say, you know, lithium is the new oil. And then looking at these things, you know, this was something from James Session, but also I think we had some great session on manufacturing. It was Christopher. We had some nice sessions also with Maggie on Second Life, for example. And then, yeah, battery internalization was Benedict and battery policy was Julia also, which was really nice as well. We enjoyed that too. Also like the battery den, I think that was so much fun. I mean, it's also something we did, you know, just like having this pitch and having a bit of fun music and, you know, really getting people hyped up. And I think this was also really nice, but also like other timely topics. Such as, you know, Fit for 55, which from this battery regulation, you know, European regulations coming and really having like a commentary. We also did this, I think we did this with Rogers. We did one on the Volkswagen power day and, you know, all these.

4:55And we had like, I think also talks about, you know, when we had CRTL sodium day and our own battery, battery sources, battery day. And just like, you know, EA mobility, what are our highlights and all these things. Just having a bit of time to reflect really. Because often I think for me, this was like a really nice thing, you know, once a week to just come down and just like, you know, try to reflect on one topic or like one event or something. So we enjoyed that. And yeah. It's definitely been a moment. It's been a good kind of like grounding moment every week to be able to have these conversations and just like kind of know that, okay, I can just join, have this community and not only gain community rather, and also kind of remember why we do everything else we do is because we're working on, you know, kind of tackling these problems and, and, uh, trying to make a dent or rather maybe make a dent, but like fill a gap somewhere in the, in the system, the larger energy system.

5:48And, you know, we always talk about clean energy transition and, you know, kind of revolutionizing whatever the current system is. But I think every week it's been really like humbling to be able to not only join people who are so smart and are thinking so critically about many of the different, many different things that are actually very much connected, but also just kind of reminds you why you do the work every day that we do outside of, um, that, those, that one and a half hour session. So I don't know, it's, it's definitely been, um, a very grounding experience for me to have this, uh, on a weekly basis with you all. Absolutely the same. And I think also some of these discussions we had also one of the later ones, right? It was Jill on intersection innovation, which I think also was really important, right? To really address some of these topics where it's not just about the technology itself, it's about the ecosystem, you know, how it can be, you know, really make it more inclusive, get more people in.

6:44And part of this, I think are these sessions, right. To really give everyone, you know, we had some heated discussion also with people from oil and gas, you know, was hearing some different opinions and things. And I think that's also good, right. I think to have these dialogue and, but of course, you know, I mean, really, you know, trying to create a platform where we can have direct discussions, right. And try and understand each other. Um, and then move on from there. Right. I think. Oh, it's critical. It's critical. We, we started working on this cause we wanted to break. Your favorite thing. And so actually my favorite thing, and you know, I, it's so true. Like when oil and gas talks to batteries, talks to hydrogen, talks to fuel cell talks to, you know, natural gas. That's when I think. We're actually making change. If we just keep talking to everyone on batteries, we're not, that's not really going to push the needle forward, or at least in the direction we want it to.

7:33And perhaps at the speed that we want it to. Um, and so I think ultimately this has just become like a very like collaborative forum for us. And, um, clearly we've had some great speakers and I am really excited to see what we've got lined up in 2022, but of course, after a little, little tiny break. Absolutely. Yeah. I'm very much looking forward also to this deserve break for everyone. And yeah, as you said, you know, next year, we're going to come back. We're going to be hopefully recharged after, you know, we also have a break now, but, um, um, so I think the ideas, and we spoke about this also in the session, right. To, to maybe have like, um, like kind of like have more moderators, essentially like bring in more people. Um, we have a few already who mentioned in the session, interested to support, but we're looking for more. So if you identify, you know, as someone identify yourself with someone who would like to be engaged more, like also be more interested and be on the moderation side.

8:23Also, as we discussed, you know, just described in the session, it's been a immense growth. Also, I think for everyone involved, you know, I think includes you as well, Bavia, you think, well, what's my podcast voice, you know, like, what's my, how do I, you know, run a session? So I think from this perspective, I think has been really rewarding for everyone involved. And hopefully we have more moderators joining us also from different backgrounds, maybe different nationalities, different locations, really, you know, at this on and also reduce the load for everyone because having every weekend work on this has been also a strain for strain for some. So I think it would be nice the next year to maybe have more moderators and then everyone has less kind of more time for, for the weekends. So for those of you listening, if you're interested, please reach out. We are growing. And of course, wishing everyone a very happy, very safe holiday and wonderful time bringing in a new year.

9:20Yes, it is a new year. Perhaps for some, it feels like a continuum. We are here to remind you time is still a thing. And we, we hope to see you in January when we're back. Sounds great. Yeah. And reach out to us, the email info at battery.associates, for example, going to be the show notes and hopefully speak to all of you very soon. Happy holidays. All right. See you in 2020. See you.