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In order to qualify for the $7,500 tax credit, the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) requires a proportion of battery minerals in EVs to be extracted or processed in the US or free-trade partner countries. But a lot of automakers simply aren’t prepared for that requirement.

Electrek spoke with Megan O’Connor, cofounder and CEO of Nth Cycle, a Beverly, Massachusetts-based metals processing tech company, about how her company can help EV manufacturers address this challenge quickly.

Electrek: How will the IRA positively impact the critical mineral supply chain?

Megan O’Connor: The IRA is the most ambitious climate policy we’ve ever seen in the US and arguably one of the more aggressive policies in the world. It provides strong incentives for the usage of critical minerals that are refined or recycled domestically. We’re calling this the new “compliant supply” of minerals like nickel and cobalt.

Unfortunately, there’s not enough compliant supply today to meet the demand for critical minerals in North America to build electric vehicles. From 2024 to 2028, there’s going to be a major imbalance between compliant supply and demand.

There aren’t enough end-of-life EV batteries to allow recycling at a scale that can bridge the gap, and permitting new mines in North America is a five-plus-year process. We need to move quicker and responsibly on new mining opportunities, and look for new existing sources of critical minerals that can be recycled at home.

Electrek: What’s next for the clean energy transition when it comes to domestic mineral supply?

Megan O’Connor: Flexibility in refining is the next key factor in developing a compliant supply of critical minerals at home. Adding flexibility to the quality and consistency of ores and recycled materials that can be refined at home increases our ability to keep mined ores and recycled metals here when they’re currently shipped overseas for processing.

Additionally, most recyclers today focus on processing end-of-life or manufacturing scrap batteries for critical mineral sources. We expect to see companies and technologies go beyond batteries to find other sources of critical minerals already in circulation at home. Growth of new technologies and market expansion will be needed to address the imbalance between compliant supply and demand.

Electrek: How will domestic manufacturers like VW in Tennessee be able to rectify the issue of mineral components not meeting IRA requirements?

Megan O’Connor: By partnering with Nth Cycle, VW would be able to meet compliance in months, not years.

Electrek: How is Nth Cycle helping to meet the IRA requirements in the electrification transition?

Megan O’Connor: Nth Cycle produces a mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), which contains nickel and cobalt. Production of MHP through laterite ore refining is growing in popularity as a precursor chemical for battery cathode manufacturers.

However, 81% of today’s MHP supply is refined in Indonesia, by Chinese companies, through a carbon-intensive hydrometallurgy refining process called HPAL (high-pressure acid leaching). This HPAL-based supply of MHP is harmful to the environment, and as a foreign supply, is not a compliant supply of critical minerals for domestic battery manufacturing under the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act.

Nth Cycle customers can have confidence in a domestic supply of MHP that meets compliance standards for EV tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act while dramatically reducing the carbon footprint of domestic refining.

We can bring additional compliant supply to the market and close the supply/demand gap of 150,000 tonnes of Ni (equivalent to 340 GWh of batteries) over the next five years.

If we were fully deployed right now, Nth could find 100kt tonnes of Ni per year from within the US that isn’t currently being recycled. We estimate a further shortage of at least 50kt of Ni per year.

Our electro-extraction technology is 92% lower emissions than traditional refining processes in mining today and 44% lower emissions than today’s best-in-class recycling technologies. This is third-party verified.

Read more: Here’s every electric vehicle that qualifies for the current and upcoming US federal tax credit

Photo: Megan O’Connor, Nth Cycle


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Troubling times for Tesla, Nissan, and Dodge – plus some fun yellow stuff!

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Troubling times for Tesla, Nissan, and Dodge – plus some fun yellow stuff!

Tesla’s Q2 results are in, and they are way, way down from Q2 of 2024. At the same time, Nissan seems to be in serious trouble and the first-ever all-electric Dodge muscle car is getting recalled because its dumb engine noises are the wrong kind of dumb engine noises. All this and more on today’s deeply troubled episode of Quick Charge!

We’ve also got an awesome article from Micah Toll about a hitherto unexplored genre of electric lawn equipment, a $440 million mining equipment deal, and a list of incompetent, corrupt, and stupid politicians who voted away their constituents’ futures to line their pockets.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

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Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.


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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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OpenAI says Robinhood’s tokens aren’t equity in the company

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OpenAI says Robinhood's tokens aren't equity in the company

Jaque Silva | Nurphoto | Getty Images

OpenAI is distancing itself from Robinhood‘s latest crypto push after the trading platform began offering tokenized shares of OpenAI and SpaceX to users in Europe.

“These ‘OpenAI tokens’ are not OpenAI equity,” OpenAI wrote on X. “We did not partner with Robinhood, were not involved in this, and do not endorse it.”

The company said that “any transfer of OpenAI equity requires our approval — we did not approve any transfer,” and warned users to “please be careful.”

Robinhood announced the launch Monday from Cannes, France, as part of a broader product showcase focused on tokenized equities, staking, and a new blockchain infrastructure play. The company’s stock surged above $100 to hit a new all-time high following the news.

“These tokens give retail investors indirect exposure to private markets, opening up access, and are enabled by Robinhood’s ownership stake in a special purpose vehicle,” a Robinhood spokesperson said in response to the OpenAI post.

Read more CNBC tech news

Robinhood offered 5 euros worth of OpenAI and SpaceX tokens to eligible EU users who signed up to trade stock tokens by July 7. The assets are issued under the EU’s looser investor restrictions via Robinhood’s crypto platform.

“This is about expanding access,” said Johann Kerbrat, Robinhood’s SVP and GM of crypto. “The goal with tokenization is to let anyone participate in this economy.”

The episode highlights the dynamic between crypto platforms seeking to democratize access to financial products and the companies whose names and equity are being represented on-chain

U.S. users cannot access these tokens due to regulatory restrictions.

Robinhood hits record high as OpenAI, SpaceX go on-chain

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BYD launches new discounts, offering +50% off smart driving tech

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BYD launches new discounts, offering +50% off smart driving tech

Despite the warnings, BYD continues introducing new discounts. On Wednesday, BYD’s luxury off-road brand began offering over 50% Huawei’s smart driving tech.

BYD introduces new discounts on smart driving tech

After BYD cut prices again in May, the China Automobile Manufacturers Association (CAMA) warned that the ultra-low prices are “triggering a new round of price war panic.”

Although they didn’t single out BYD, it was pretty obvious. BYD slashed prices across 22 of its vehicles by up to 34%, triggering several automakers to follow suit in China.

BYD’s cheapest EV, the Seagull, typically starts at about $10,000 (66,800 yuan). After the price cuts, the Seagull is listed at under $8,000 (55,800 yuan).

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It doesn’t look like China’s EV leader plans to slow down anytime soon. Fang Cheng Bao, BYD’s luxury off-road brand, introduced new discounts on Huawei’s smart driving tech on Wednesday.

The limited-time offer cuts the price of Huawei’s Qiankun Intelligent Driving High-end Function Package to just 12,000 yuan ($1,700).

BYD-new-discounts
BYD Fang Cheng Bao 5 SUV testing (Source: Fang Cheng Bao)

Buyers who order the smart driving tech in July will save over 50% compared to its typical price of 32,000 yuan ($4,500).

Earlier this year, Fang Chang Bao launched the Tai 3, its most affordable vehicle, starting at 139,800 yuan ($19,300). The Tai 3 is about the size of the Tesla Model Y, but costs about half as much.

BYD-Tai-3-electric-SUV
BYD Fang Cheng Bao Tai 3 electric SUV (Source: Fang Cheng Bao)

The Tai 3 will spearhead a new sub-brand of electric SUVs following the more premium Bao 8 and Bao 5 hybrid SUVs.

BYD’s luxury off-road brand sold 18,903 vehicles last month, up 50% from May and 605% compared to last year. Fang Cheng Bao has now sold over 10,000 vehicles for three consecutive months.

The Chinese EV giant sold 382,585 vehicles in total in June, an increase of 12% from last year. In the first half of the year, BYD’s cumulative sales reached over 2.1 million, a YOY increase of 33%.

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