Battery Insiders Reflection - 50th Episode 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 welcome back, everybody. I'm here with Simon today and we're celebrating a big 5-0. Congratulations, Simon, you've turned 50. No, I'm just kidding. But we did. But Battery Insiders has hit its 50th podcast and that feels like a milestone. And so it's a very exciting one for me to be a part of, at least, because 50 feels like a big number and we've done it, I feel like, in a relatively short amount of time. Any initial thoughts, Simon? Absolutely, Bhavya. And I think, yeah, I mean, this has been a very busy first year, I think, as well. When I look back, I think we did pretty much every week. Now maybe I'll be doing it once a month. But yeah, no, it's super exciting. I mean, I'm glad. I'm not glad, but like, you know, it's, I think I have still a few years to go to get to 50.

1:07But myself, but at least on the podcast, we definitely... You do? This hasn't aged you? I mean, it definitely... Is it keeping you young? It does keep me young because I think, you know, just the conversations we had, it's absolutely fascinating, but absolutely. I mean, you know, we have, I think, covered a couple of seasons as well, which is always exciting, thinking about the weather theme. But yeah, I think we have been covering quite a few topics. Which I have just butchered because I didn't kick us off with the weather, which now you start... That even comes up now on the Clubhouse sessions that we included in our podcast. So now I'm a bit jealous, like, it's everyone, but it's funny because I do look back and think I understand or remember rather when we started based on where I was in life and probably and a thousand percent what the weather was. Oh, it was a gloomy day in January when we started Clubhouse.

2:07Oh, it was a bit warmer when you sent me the mic so that I could start hosting these sessions with you. So it's funny how our unexpected pattern has turned into a trend in my mind and kind of an association of how I remember when we do or when we did like XYZ topics on this podcast. Speaking of which, looking back on 50, there's a lot to look back on. Any standouts? Any highlights? Any big moments for you? Yeah, I think there have been many, you know, and I think, you know, as you mentioned, I think also there's a big gratitude also I want to share maybe before that to everyone has kind of been part of it as well. I think from a... Because I think we had lots of, you know, fantastic also conversation starters and we can go on some of these topics, but also from people really kicking off with Catherine, you know, Catherine Can. You know, I really, really, you know, spending a lot of these early days also on Clubhouse just kind of figuring this out and I've been very fortunate that there has been, you know, more people want to participate and that's created quite a following and you also jumping on, you know, and then we could post these kind of reflections and, you know, topics and I think it's been fantastic.

3:17And then also new people like Mariam also coming on now, helping also on some of the comoderation. I think that's been fantastic. And of course, all of these amazing people who have been with us, you know, for a long time, like Mark and Chris and people like, you know, Milo is one of our, you know, all time favorites as well there. And lots of other people have been, you know, sharing all of their time with us and the people come and go, but I think, you know, that's been really, really nice. But maybe you asked me about my highlights on topics as well. I think I just looked at what is the first episode we actually uploaded because there have been quite a few of these discussions which we didn't record in the early days because it was quite tricky. And when we started recording, the first one was in March. Technology has advanced. It definitely has advanced. It's very much easier now to record it.

4:02But the first one we actually uploaded as a recording was in March 2021. It was on energy access, which I think is also one of these really important topics as well. And then the second session was on the Volkswagen Power Day versus Tesla Battery Day, which is also maybe a bit of a link to what we're going to talk about in the next session, looking at the events. But then we look at stationary storage and then just like all of these great topics, you know, from recycling and second life and policy and time management, manufacturing, education, battery basics. I think, yeah, just really, really interesting ones. And yeah, I think many, many highlights. But I think also one of them I was just told recently, and that's maybe also nice from the people who send us messages. I heard that the one, for example, on recycling is video has been really well received and it's shared around by quite a few people. So that's, that's of course, very nice to hear.

4:54How about you? I do love to hear that. That was my first area when it came to batteries that I was most interested in, which if you've been one of those longtime followers, then you probably know that. Yeah, no, I, you know, two that stand out to me, or I think it was like industry innovation or inclusive innovation with Jill, Jill Pestana, I believe. And that was a fun conversation. It was a pretty active one. It felt a little spicy, but most importantly, I thought the topic, right? Like that's, I think you touched on that a little bit with energy access, but also just, you know, as a woman in this space, you are often thinking about things maybe slightly differently than your peers. And you also learn from your peers too. So I'll give that credit. But yeah, I remember that being a really lively conversation. It really felt like community. And while there was maybe, it wasn't just full agreement around the room as to like how things should be approached or thought of.

6:08I thought it felt like stronger, like a stronger sense of community coming out of it because we could have those conversations. And so that really felt like, or reminded me, huh, maybe something has been built here over a 12 month or whatever month period. I think that was, I think we did that last fall. So it had been a few months by then. And then the other one I'd say is James from Bloomberg. I think that one was memorable because I, for me personally, on my battery journey, if you will, because I was just about to start grad school and kind of started to think more about energy broadly. And of course, you know, he, his focus at the time was batteries. And I just, it was my first real, real introduction to a really interesting tool source. And like there's a number of reports and just the mark, the analytics side of, of energy and batteries specifically. So those two stood out. What else?

7:13I think like some folks on our call mentioned some other ones that I actually honestly, like I'd either forgotten about or their top, like kind of some topics more broadly, such as recycling, such as, you know, where is this going solid-state or, you know, what next batteries are coming? What's next for batteries? And so that's often something we talk about. And I think that's deep. That theme has totally resonated with people. And the last one I'd say is all of the startup interactions that folks have gotten through this forum. That seemed to really resonate with folks and made it really, if not, not just engaging, but also has kind of made them want to keep coming back and continue the conversation, which I think is such a testament to how batteries can really suck you in. But you and I wouldn't know about that, would we? No, absolutely. I think it's a good summary. And as you say, I think it's really, it's kind of fun how it draws you in.

8:12And I think what's, what's really nice is just, you know, also thinking back now on these episodes and, you know, I mentioned those earlier, you know, people, people, we always really appreciate when people reach out to us and tell us their stories. And there definitely have been people reaching out, right? We know of people who, you know, really have been really new to the field of batteries, right? And they kind of, you know, got sucked into it, as you just said, and I've been listening and hearing about it and learning more, be it from this program, also joining the BatteryMBA or other trainings, you know, we're working on or any of other events like Battery Day, et cetera. But I think it's just super exciting and, you know, to see lots of people from different backgrounds to enter this field and getting excited about it and realizing that there's a lot of potential, you know, in their personal career, maybe, but also really for the planet as well to really see, you know, this is one of these technologies.

8:56If you scale it in a good way, you know, you can really have made quite a big difference also with regard to climate change and, you know, circular economy and these different important topics as well. So I think that's just for me, really nice to see. And maybe just an invitation. If any of you feels this way, never hesitate to reach out. We'd love to hear these kinds of submissions. You can also go on batteryinsiders.com. I think that's the batteryinsiders.com. I just have to double check this. But anyway, so I think it's really, really nice to get these submissions and hear from you, you know, please don't be a stranger. Reach out to us on LinkedIn or so. That's always super appreciated. And also if you can, I think now directly go on Spotify as well and you follow it, you can rate it. We're looking for some more ratings and that helps the algorithm we learned. So yeah, you know, if any of you want to share anything, always, we would love to hear from you.

9:47Yeah, that sounds awesome. Rate it, share it, tell your friends about it, bring it up at the dinner table. It's not so bipolar, not as polarizing sometimes as politics can be. And yeah, I think we just have had a really great run so far and nothing would. We'll have many more. And with that, looking forward to next week's session, Simon, I think, or rather next time. I'm so used for, still I'm used to the next week, even though I know our cadence has changed. And we are excited to host our audience to talk about the European Battery Show and maybe some other battery events that have been going on. So tune in and we look forward to hearing from you as well. See you then. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.