Tag - batteries

 
Menu
Search
 
September 01, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

BATTERIES

Tesla Megapack batteries at the Victorian Big Battery site operated by Neoen in Moorabool, Victoria, Australia, on Feb. 3, 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 18, 2025
Wild power-price swings are driving an Australian battery boom
A rooftop solar boom has aided the shift but also created midday power gluts, giving big batteries the chance to buy electricity cheaply and sell it back when prices rebound.
A miner holds a sack of ore as it comes out a the mine shaft at the Rubaya coltan mine, near the town of Rubaya, which is controlled by M23 rebels, in eastern Congo on March 24.
WORLD
Aug 14, 2025
Inside the mine that feeds the tech world — and funds Congo’s rebels
The Congolese town of Rubaya produces around 15% of the world’s coltan, which is shipped thousands of kilometers away to Asia where it’s processed into tantalum.
The government is considering requiring handheld fans to be recycled, in the wake of a host of fires caused by rechargeable electric devices during disposal work.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2025
Japan may make recycling handheld fans mandatory
The consideration comes in the wake of a host of fires caused by rechargeable electric devices during disposal work.
The Jianxiawo Lithium mine in Yichun, Jiangxi province, China
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 11, 2025
Lithium market erupts as CATL shuts one of world’s biggest mines
Tianqi Lithium jumped as much as 19% in Hong Kong, while Ganfeng Lithium Group surged 21%, and Australian miners rallied.
A mobile battery ignites during a simulation experiment.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2025
Agency warns of fire risks from lithium-ion batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are vulnerable to heat and impact, making them prone to accidents when temperatures rise.
Polymetallic nodules — bulbous lumps of rock that are rich in battery metals such as cobalt and nickel which carpet huge tracts of Pacific Ocean seabed — in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands on June 12.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2025
Trump’s critical minerals obsession reignites deep-sea mining
President Donald Trump has issued an executive order expediting U.S. licensing of seabed mining, departing from international law.
Megan Myungwon Lee, head of Panasonic's North American operations, says the company's newest battery plant in Kansas will reach full production this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 15, 2025
Panasonic aims for full output at Kansas battery plant this year
The new factory will ship battery cells to Tesla as well as several other EV makers, including Lucid and Hexagon Purus.
The transport ministry has announced new regulations requiring flight passengers to keep power banks within sight to mitigate fire risks while on board planes.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2025
Japan to require flight passengers to keep power banks within sight
The move comes in response to a series of incidents involving battery packs emitting smoke or catching fire during flights.
An event to promote Japan-India cooperation on supply chains for minerals was held at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2025
New Delhi event highlights Japan's bid to deepen India ties on critical minerals
The event brought together a total of some 70 companies from both countries, including members of the Battery Association for Supply Chain, a Japanese industry group.
An employee welds lithium batteries in Verrieres-en-Anjou, western France, on June 10.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2025
Europe's lithium quest hampered by China and lack of cash
The bloc's broader energy security and climate goals could depend on securing a steady supply of the key mineral, used in batteries and other clean energy supply chains.
A staff member at the Osaka Expo wears clothing featuring a cooling fan powered by electricity generated by perovskite solar cells.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2025
Wearable perovskite solar cells tested at Osaka Expo
The cells, jointly developed by Toyoda Gosei and a startup company, weigh just 10 grams each.
A worker at a rare earth metals mine in Jiangxi province, China, in 2012
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 8, 2025
China says it may speed up rare earths application approvals from EU
Beijing's recent suspension of rare earths-related exports upended the supply chains central to numerous industries around the world.
A mining machine at the Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals in Inner Mongolia, China, in 2011
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
China’s rare earths grip gives Xi leverage in U.S. trade duel
For years, Washington was believed to have the advantage over China in the fight for technological dominance thanks to its grip on semiconductor supply chains.
A CATL recruitment advertisement in Germany
BUSINESS / Tech
May 21, 2025
CATL's $2 billion German plant boosts China’s invest-abroad bet
"I see ourselves as a blueprint for Chinese companies who are looking to expand in Europe,” said Matthias Zentgraf, the battery giant’s European president.
Robin Zeng, founder and chairman of battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), attends the company’s listing ceremony at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 20, 2025
Chinese battery giant CATL soars more than 13% on Hong Kong debut
A global leader in the sector, CATL produces more than a third of all electric vehicle (EV) batteries sold worldwide.
TDK will begin shipping its third iteration of silicon-anode batteries by the end of June, Chief Executive Officer Noboru Saito said.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2025
IPhone supplier TDK readies batteries geared for thin AI gadgets
TDK’s battery technology is helping the world’s biggest smartphone makers slim down their gadgets without shortening battery run times.
Panasonic may be poised to benefit from having factories in the U.S. as Tesla and others seek to reduce their reliance on Chinese battery-makers.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2025
Panasonic CEO says battery plans align with slower EV demand
The supplier of lithium-ion batteries to Tesla is getting ready to start production at a second U.S.-based factory in Kansas, but has frozen plans for a third plant.
A sign for battery manufacturer CATL is seen at the Auto China 2024 exhibition in Beijing on April 25, 2024.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 12, 2025
CATL starts taking investor orders for world’s biggest listing this year
The Chinese electric vehicle battery giant is seeking to raise as much as HK$41 billion ($5.3 billion).
Idemitsu Kosan President Noriaki Sakai speaks during an interview in Tokyo on April 23.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 11, 2025
Idemitsu to enhance all-solid-state battery business
All-solid-state batteries have shorter charging times and enable vehicles to travel longer per charge, compared with conventional batteries.
A Nissan plug-in hybrid truck at the Shanghai Auto Show last month. Nissan is looking to invest in its China operations and use the nation’s intensely competitive market to accelerate its development of electric vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2025
Nissan drops plan for Fukuoka battery plant to focus on recovery
The carmaker has abandoned plans to build a battery plant in Fukuoka Prefecture to focus on rescuing itself from a deepening financial crisis.
Top Japan trade negotiator canceled U.S. trip over rice, report says
Ryosei Akazawa
‘Mount Fuji Lawson’ becomes a symbol of Japan’s overtourism problem
A couple poses for a wedding photo in front of a Lawson in the town of Kawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on Aug. 25.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
The Nobel Prize and a testy phone call: How the Trump-Modi relationship unraveled
U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greet one another at the start of a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington in February.
How Tokyo's Ueno Zoo helps their animals cope with extreme heat
A polar bear at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on Thursday. The Arctic animals are among the most vulnerable species to Japan's scorching summer heat and zookeepers have to take a number of precautions in order to keep them safe.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
Sip a bespoke coffee for ¥4,000
At Kuro Mame, baristas customize the coffee according to the guest's preferences.
Japan is warming up to tattoos — just not permanent ones
Tattoos have a complex history in Japan, but new types of temporary ink are letting locals curious about body art experiment without the commitment.
YouTube Music Weekend is where Japan’s internet-born performers go global
Headlining the second day of YouTube Music Weekend is Vocaloid artist Kikuo, who, with 1.46 million YouTube subscribers, is one of the most popular artists in the genre.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality
Tokyo Gas lights the way to carbon neutrality

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER