EV Battery Wars, AI-Powered Grids & Green Hydrogen Breakthroughs

Battery swapping is gaining serious momentum in Asia. California-based Ample is building a network in Tokyo that can support over 100 electric delivery trucks, while Chinese giants CATL and NIO are joining forces to create what they claim will be the world's largest EV battery swapping network. With over 3,100 swapping stations already operational in China and partnerships extending to Volvo and Polestar, the technology's footprint continues to expand.

But what if ultra-fast charging eliminates the need for battery swapping altogether? Chinese EV maker BYD has unveiled their game-changing Super E platform featuring flash charging batteries and silicon carbide power chips that can charge at one megawatt – delivering over one mile per second of charging or 250 miles in just five minutes. This transformative technology could finally eliminate one of the most persistent criticisms of electric vehicles.

The real story here isn't just about today's advancements but tomorrow's inevitability. Critics of electric vehicles consistently fail to appreciate how rapidly the technology is evolving. With billions invested in research and thousands of materials scientists working on known challenges, breakthroughs in solid-state batteries, thermal management, and charging solutions are guaranteed. Meanwhile, grid operators aren't standing still either – Itron and NVIDIA are collaborating to bring AI to the grid edge, California is implementing new battery safety regulations after fires at large facilities, and MISO is seeking expedited interconnection approvals to address urgent reliability needs.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I've got your energy stories for this, the fourth
week of March 2025.
And in the first one,california-based battery swap
startup Ample is planning tobuild a network of stations in
Tokyo, each of which can supportcharging over 100 electric
Mitsubishi Fuso delivery trucks.
Ample began operating batteryswapping stations in Kyoto early

(00:20):
last year and uses its ownnickel, manganese, coobalt
battery modules, and it'sdesigning battery packs as
drop-in replacements.
Also in the swapping space,chinese global battery giant
CATL C-A-T-L and automaker NIOwill launch what they claim is
the world's largest EV batteryswapping network and begin
coordination in developingbattery swapping stations.

(00:42):
Nio will use CAT cattle'stechnical standards in its
Firefly brand, and both entitieswill work to develop a national
swapping standard.
Nio now says it has over 3,100swapping stations in China, and
Volvo and Polestar will be usingNIO's technology on a limited
basis.
Here's the rub, though.
What if we can start chargingbatteries more quickly in

(01:04):
non-swapping situations?
Well, chinese EV maker BYD nowsays it has an EV platform that
will enable drivers to charge asfast as drivers refueling
gas-powered vehicles.
Its Super E platform uses flashcharging batteries and new
silicon carbide power chips thatcan charge vehicles at a rate
of one megawatt, which gets youto well over one mile per second

(01:27):
of charging, so you can get 250miles of range in about five
minutes.
I'm just going to editorializehere for a minute.
One hears all the time fromcritics of EVs that they don't
stack up to ICEs in one area oranother.
They can't do this or theycan't do that.
What these critics all fail tomiss is one simple fact they're
right about today's technology,but not about tomorrow's.

(01:49):
Critics simply fail toappreciate the inevitable
evolutionary dynamic of atechnology or combination of
technologies with so manynear-term technical
breakthroughs that are soon tobe solved.
If you throw tens of billionsof dollars and thousands of
material scientists at problemsthat you are pretty sure will be
solved, many of them eventuallywill be so.

(02:10):
Expect, for example,solid-state batteries with far
longer ranges, more efficientheating and cooling technologies
and better charging solutionsin the very near future.
At this point you couldn't stopthose advances if you tried.
So as we hand the future oftransportation to China, don't
say we didn't know any better.
We simply didn't try hardenough and many of us let our

(02:30):
ideological positions get in theway.
Now, to get off that soapbox,itron is collaborating with AI
chipmaker NVIDIA to accelerateadoption of AI tech at the grid
edge.
The goal is to combine ITRON's13-plus million distributed
intelligence-enabled endpointswith NVIDIA's AI tech.
At the grid edge.
The goal is to combine ITRON's13 plus million distributed
intelligence-enabled endpointswith NVIDIA's AI tech to create
a new level of distributedsituational awareness.

(02:52):
This type of AI-enabledapproach should help utilities
better deal with operationalefficiencies and with better
localized demand forecasts.
That will help reducetransformer overloads.
It will also help optimizesolutions for grid resilience
and disaster management Intheory.
Now we'll see how thatannouncement rolls out in the
real world.
In California, regulators haveokayed new standards for

(03:15):
maintaining and operatingbatteries that will include a
requirement for emergencyresponse and action plans.
This after the fire at Vistra'shuge Moss landing battery not
the first fire either.
California's installed batterycapacity now represents over 20%
of the state's peak demand, sothey had to do something.
The Mid-Continent IndependentSystem Operator, miso, is taking

(03:37):
a page out of PGM's playbook,in which PGM recently sought
approval from the FERC to allow50 shovel ready projects that
would improve system reliabilityto jump the interconnection
queue line.
Miso is asking the FERC toapprove an expedited resource
addition study ERAS process thatwould speed up its
interconnection approach forassets that can, quote address

(03:59):
urgent resource adequacy andreliability needs in the near
term, so think dispatchability.
In many cases that likely meansgas.
In its December reliabilityassessment, the North American
Electric Reliability Corporation, nerc, identified MISO as being
most at risk of capacityshortfalls in the very near term
.
Miso wants ERAS to come intoeffect by mid-May, with

(04:21):
designated projects to beoffered an expedited generator
interconnection agreement within90 days.
The MISO queue is kind of amess right now, with over 1,600
projects totaling 123,000megawatts of capacity, the
majority of which is likely tobe withdrawn before commercial
service.
Well, while the hydrogen trainhas slowed down considerably,

(04:43):
not everybody's jumped off.
Rwe and Total Energies justsigned a 15-year green hydrogen
agreement that will see RWE'sforthcoming 300-megawatt
electrolyzer plant inNiedersachsen, germany, to
supply Total Energy's refineryin Sachsen-Anhalt with 30,000
metric tons of green hydrogen ayear.
This is the biggest long-termgreen hydrogen agreement signed

(05:05):
in Germany to date.
The electrolyzer technology tobe utilized was not specified.
Well, after voluntary carbonmarkets have been rocked by
scandals in recent years, amazonis unveiling a carbon credit
service that it says adheres tothe most rigorous standards and
looks to restore trust in thevoluntary carbon market.
This should help companies inits value chain better manage

(05:31):
their carbon exposure.
The service will use the ARTTREES standard for deforestation
emissions verification and theAvicus label for its
reforestation projects.
Independent verifiers willensure the legitimacy of the
credits created through carbonremoval technologies.
In order to play, amazonrequires participants to have
net zero emissions by 2050targets for both direct and

(05:52):
indirect emissions frompurchased electricity and other
sources.
Companies must also measure andpublicly report their emissions
and commit to ongoingdecarbonization strategies based
on the latest climate science.
And commit to ongoingdecarbonization strategies based
on the latest climate science.
And finally, skytree and ReturnCarbon, in partnership with
Verified Carbon, are workingwith EDF Renewables North

(06:15):
America to develop a direct aircapture facility in Texas.
The aim is to capture 500,000tons per year of negative
emissions and store carbon alongthe Gulf Coast.
Negative emissions and storecarbon along the Gulf Coast.
Skytree's direct air capturetechnology will be tied to a
behind-the-meter butgrid-connected EDF wind farm
Returned carbon will bringcapital to the game, while
verified carbon will beresponsible for the

(06:35):
sequestration, and ED, of course, will bring that power.
Well, thanks for watching andwe'll see you again soon.