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May 23, 2025
 

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BATTERIES

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.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, arrives in Washington on Wednesday for talks with U.S. officials.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2025
EV charging format to be discussed in Japan-U.S. tariff talks
The U.S. side has taken issue with Japan's subsidies for developing CHAdeMO stations, but not for foreign designs such as those of U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla.
Burnt power banks containing lithium-ion batteries are shown at the Consumer Affairs Agency
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2025
Japan urges proper disposal of lithium-ion batteries
The Environment Ministry issued a notice to local governments on Tuesday requesting the thorough separation and collection of such batteries.
Brine pools at the Atacama salt flat in Antofagasta region, Chile, in 2023. Local Chilean Indigenous communities are pushing for greater control over lithium extraction in the country just as the government plans to raise production.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 8, 2025
As Chile revs up lithium plans, Indigenous people demand more control
Mining companies describe a potential system as "unprecedented" in Chile, adding that it would comply with international treaties on Indigenous rights.
Masahide Takano, Chief Researcher of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), points to a plan to use americium in small batteries for space probes at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2025
JAEA developing space probe battery fueled by radioactive waste
The battery is expected to be used in probes that operate in places where solar power generation is not possible.
BYD's large cylindrical cell batteries are pictured at Smart Energy Week in Tokyo on Feb. 19.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 18, 2025
How BYD’s five-minute charging stacks up against the competition
The Chinese firm is now staking claim to a system it says will make it as quick to charge an electric vehicle as to refuel a gasoline car.
A sign featuring the logo of Germany's Federal Ministry For Economic Affairs And Climate Action, at the construction site of the Northvolt Drei EV battery gigafactory in Heide, Germany, on Oct. 15, 2024
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 12, 2025
If Europe builds the gigafactories, will an AI industry come?
The hope is that local firms like France's Mistral will use the factories to create AI models that operate in line with EU safety rules.
A woman checks her phone at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, in 2020. Passengers on South Korean airlines must now keep power banks and e-cigarettes on their person and not in overhead cabin bins.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 3, 2025
Seoul's lithium battery rules on planes highlight growing risk for aviation
Passengers on South Korean airlines must now keep power banks and e-cigarettes on their person and not in overhead cabin compartments.
The global electric vehicle boom has resulted in a lithium supply shortage since 2022 despite the 180% increase in production compared to 2017.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 1, 2025
Three novel approaches that can revolutionize batteries
The innovations aren’t yet available at a commercial scale, but they are part of an effort to prevent the global clean energy transition from stalling.
Toyota agreed to transfer an existing order with LG Energy Solution to LG's battery plant in Michigan, sources said, after General Motors backed out of the project amid a slowdown in the growth of electric vehicle sales.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025
Toyota is backing LG battery plant with $1.5 billion order
GM said in December it would sell its $1 billion stake in the Lansing, Michigan, plant, leaving LG scrambling to find new customers.
Panasonic, whose sprawling operations include hairdryers, PCs and lithium-ion batteries used by the likes of Tesla, will restructure or streamline businesses with low growth potential, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2025
Tesla supplier Panasonic to cut costs to support shift into AI
One target may be the company’s long-standing TV operations.
A lithium smelter in Yichun, Jiangxi province, China
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 9, 2025
Stubbornly resilient lithium supply remains hurdle to recovery
Lithium prices have plunged since late 2022 on oversupply and slower-than-expected growth in electric vehicle demand.
Tencent, China’s most valuable company, is seen as a pioneer in China’s internet and private sector, creating a so-called everything app that Elon Musk has held up as a model for X.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 8, 2025
U.S. blacklist of China’s tech giants risks even faster decoupling
The move, which experts say could backfire on Washington, comes amid an intensifying tech rivalry between the two countries.
A Panasonic Energy factory in the city of Kinokawa, Wakayama prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 7, 2025
Panasonic Energy says cutting China supply for U.S. business a 'No.1 objective'
Incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to raise tariffs on imported Chinese goods has forced companies around the world to reassess their manufacturing processes.
Trump’s wake-up call for India’s foreign policy
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 13. Trump’s coercive use of trade threats against India during the Pakistan military crisis has undermined trust in the U.S.-India partnership and exposed Washington as an unreliable security ally.
Toyota considers making tiny trucks for U.S. market as demand booms
Toyota executives say the automaker is listening to U.S. dealer requests for a truck smaller than the brand’s best-selling Tacoma midsize and Tundra full-size pickups.
Onosato’s march to yokozuna could usher in golden age for sumo
Onosato (left) battles Gonoyama on Day 6 of the Summer Basho. With Onosato on the cusp of promotion to yokozuna, there could soon be two titans at the top of the sport fighting for titles.
Shinjiro Koizumi takes farm ministry reins after predecessor's rice gaffe
Agriculture minister Taku Eto (left), who resigned on Wednesday, and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi
Railguns, missiles and lasers: Japan uses massive defense event to highlight shift
A mock-up of Japan's state-of-the-art railgun, which is currently undergoing testing, is displayed at the three-day DSEI Japan defense exhibition in the city of Chiba on Wednesday.
Nippon Ishin grapples with poor governance ahead of Upper House election
Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday.
Beware of dubious websites offering cheap rice, consumer watchdog warns
Questionable websites appear to be taking advantage of consumers looking for cheaper rice online amid the high prices of the staple grain in the nation.
Onosato’s march to yokozuna could usher in golden age for sumo
Onosato (left) battles Gonoyama on Day 6 of the Summer Basho. With Onosato on the cusp of promotion to yokozuna, there could soon be two titans at the top of the sport fighting for titles.
A window into the mind of Esperantist and political activist Teru Hasegawa
Teru Hasegawa, Esperanto name Verda Majo, wrote leftist political essays during WWII.
Nissan’s troubles might go all the way back to Ghosn 
A lot at a Nissan plant in Mexico. The company may have overextended itself during the Ghosn era.

Podcast

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

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones
Tsukuba massif granite, one of the world’s few heritage stones

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