Battery Insiders Reflection - Battery News and Outlook 2022

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. Welcome back, everybody. Hey, Simon. How's it going? Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Yeah, doing well. You know, another year, another battery evolution, Battery Insiders. Not just any. I think we might be coming up on our one year. Or maybe we have hit our one year. I think we've been doing this for since January of 2021. I think it could be. Definitely around that. I mean, 45th session. So yeah, definitely close to a year, even if it wasn't the entire year. But yeah, you know, at least second year for sure. Yeah. And what a community we have built. I think just had some really nice conversations looking forward to the coming year. We saw some familiar faces. Some new names have joined us. Those of you listening, we hope you'll join us this year as well. But yeah, there's a lot going on in the battery world, as per usual.

1:08I think the conversation was pretty lively. What did you think? Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it has been, you know, I mean, I think one of our ways to start the year was to look at, you know, what is kind of the latest news in the battery space. And of course, there's been quite a bit, you know, I think about Hyundai. And I think also, yeah, you know, from different companies, different investments, different acquisitions. So I don't want to go into all the detail because if you want to look it up, you know, feel free to listen to the long recording or go on battery.associates. You can find some of the newsletters there. We have been discussing some of the news. But yeah, I think just really, you know, and then also looking ahead of into the coming year, I think, I mean, the last year has been exciting, but I'm bullish about 2022. You know, I think it's going to be a big year. And I think everyone who's listening, who's kind of participating in this, you know, I have big hopes on everyone that we're all making big things happen.

2:01And this year is going to be even more exciting and even more filled with announcements and breakthroughs than last year. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You know, sometimes I find that being in this battery world, it makes it seem like batteries are like the biggest thing ever, which for us they are. But when I joined the world and really started digging into it, I felt like I was, you know, kind of in a corner doing my own thing, kind of learning about this very niche topic. And I think 2022 and honestly, like a bit of last year as well, it's, it's just made me realize the more I talk to people about it, who I'm, you know, I may not think know as much about batteries, even they're tuning in and saying, yo, what you're working on is like a really big deal or these topics around batteries, X, Y, and Z, recycling, end of life supply chain, everyone, everyone is tapped into this right now. And I think that is the really exciting part.

3:00It's everyone's kind of watching to see what is it going to be? Where does fuel cell go? Where does hydrogen go? Where does battery, where do batteries go? In my case, quite literally, where are they ending up? Um, and there's just a lot to keep track of and it's super, super fast paced. So all I can really say right now is hang on tight and brace yourselves because I think we're coming up, um, in 2022 with, uh, it's going to be a big, big year for batteries and will be a lot of, you know, is it going to not so much break it, but definitely is it going to make it or is some next generation technology going to, um, out, out, outpace it? I don't think that that actually will be the case, but it is interesting. It's going to be interesting to see what goes electric and how, how things, how the electric transition really like continues, um, and how these new technologies that are also coming up and kind of like increasing competition in the market will either be integrated with batteries or, you know, take over in, uh, in, uh, in some ways, um, whether it's through electricity, thermal transportation and what have you.

4:08Absolutely. And I think it will just be here, you know, of, um, yeah, maybe also technology advancements and things like this, but also from policy. I'm really excited to see, you know, like European battery relation, you know, it's just going to go through this year or this kind of, you know, um, then of course it sets up a new timeline, which is quite exciting, but also around the world, you know, I mean, last year also heard some, you know, in Asia, but also I think in the US, I think that's quite a few things we can, we can expect to see. Yeah. All eyes on the, uh, infrastructure, uh, development package here in the US. Exactly. And that's going to come. And then, yeah, I think also beyond that, I think I'm quite curious to see if there's any surprises. I think the supply chain topics have been big, you know, um, you know, it's still kind of a shortage, which we kind of can see coming up and, and where all this material is going to come from, you know, will there be new, new sources you might not find our radar or is it just about scaling up some of the existing sources?

5:02So I think, yeah, it's going to be, I'm just always very excited to see, you know, what are the things we don't have on our radar yet? And I'm sure they're going to be few as well. Yeah. We've got some new players up and coming. I know where there's a, uh, like an abundance of startups. So I'm kind of excited that to see where in the next 10 to 12 months, which, who, what's the big name we're talking about next, because there's going to be one. We all know it. Um, there already are a few, but who's going to be big, who's going to give Tesla the run for its money. Um, um, yeah, just like a lot of things happening, lots of moving pieces to keep track of. Um, I guess on that note, my question to you is how do you keep track of it all? What are you, uh, reading these days? How do you process, how do you like constantly take in information about in such like a, about such a fast changing industry?

5:54Yeah. I mean, it's a mix, right? I think one has to talk, talk to people. I think that's really where you get your, your inside scoop and that's where you get these perspective and it's kind of distilling, you know, the knowledge. And of course, I'm also in a very lucky position now to have this amazing team of sports. I think lots of these news and, you know, distilling demos for the battery newsletter. And it can mostly help from editorial perspective in the end, but, um, yeah, it's a lot of news. And I think it's also figuring out, you know, what's, uh, we know what's more important than other, but I think, I mean, as a, as a true battery enthusiast. You know, I also always enjoy listening and reading and yeah. But I think from this side, I mean, I'm, I'm signing up probably to up to too many newsletters at this point. So I prefer our own, but I mean, of course there's some other good ones out there as well.

6:38There was also the big report also launched, which is also exciting for some from Battery Brunch and they're like together inside. Um, there were, um, declaration station and Battery Brunch. They also released a massive report, which also I think has lots of interesting insights and they're well done. These, these folks. So there's also a great resource for this part into the year. Great. Thanks for sharing the reading list for our listeners. Absolutely. But yeah, they're going to be quite a few things to, um, talk about, but I think also beyond that also from, you know, from, from topics, but he got some great. Conversations that are, you know, um, lined up for this year. So we're excited for that. Yeah. We have to right now, they should be on some months. We want to increase the number again, and we have some more of our new moderators on board it. So there's quite a few who want to help us, which we're really excited about.

7:28And to bring in some other voices, also maybe some different time zones. So yeah, quite a bit of planning going on in the backend. And also really have this big plan to have two high produced podcast episodes this year. So really go in depth, maybe more, you know, some of these public radio style versions to really address some of these topics, potentially sustainability and ethics on battery. So excited for that as well. But yeah, with this, um, otherwise we have some exciting sessions coming up next one in February, beginning of first week of February. Fantastic. Thanks for sharing that bit of Intel, uh, for our readers or sorry, our listeners. Um, I think there's a lot of exciting, uh, things to look forward to. And, uh, with that, we will, uh, call it a day and wrap it up. Um, and we'll see you all next time. Please feel free to reach out if you have ideas. Um, clearly we're changing and evolving. We're open to hearing from you all as well.

8:24And with that, we wish everyone a wonderful day. Thanks, Bavia. Same for me. And also please like, and, um, and upvote us on, um, stars on Spotify, Apple podcast, anywhere else you listen to your podcast really helps us. And also it's a great way. Actually, you can ask questions on Spotify. We realized this recently. So you want to do that for free to do so as well. But yeah, thanks again. And here next time.