What happened in June 2025?
Reconciliation bill, powerbank recalls, resource nationalism, and big battery projects.
A mega heatwave in Europe and a dramatic Senate session and we are into the second half of 2025.
🇺🇸 Reconciliation Bill
So much happening here we can barely keep up. Battery policy expert Meg Slattery chimed in on the key takeaways:
The U.S. Senate GOP’s bill aggressively cuts the clean energy incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act. There’s a lot here, so we’ll try to break it down…
Tax credits for residential solar and home energy upgrades would end after December 31, 2025.
Tax credits for EVs would end after September 30, 2025.
Investment and production tax credits (48E and 45Y) for solar and wind are terminated for facilities placed in service after 2027 unless they begin construction within one year, and there are strict new rules around “foreign entities of concern” (FEOC). The manufacturing tax credit (45X) for wind is also terminated in 2027.
Grid-scale energy storage and battery manufacturing appear to face milder treatment, though also have complex FEOC restrictions.
The timeline for investment tax credits (48E) for energy storage remain are unchanged; they remain intact through 2032–33, then taper off.
Battery component manufacturing would retain full 45X tax credits. However, there are similarly strict exclusions for factories established by (or with material help from) “prohibited foreign entities.” There is also a new amendment to 45X about “integrated components” that warrants further investigation.
The 45X phase out timeline for critical minerals is extended.
The bill also rescinds unobligated funding from a number of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) grant and loan programs intended to fill supply chain gaps and reduce air pollution.
What does this mean?
Grid storage and battery manufacturing gain extended incentives, but with new complex foreign entity restrictions, and it may be difficult for the agencies to issue guidance at their current staffing capacity. Residential storage, solar, and EVs are hit hard. This will have huge knock-on effects on all battery related supply chains, particularly in the United States, since the tax credits were designed with domestic sourcing requirements.
The extreme disruption to the wind and solar industries also means many projects would likely get cancelled, and that means less energy would be put on the grid at a time when demand is skyrocketing. With a crippled renewable energy industry, that demand will be met more expensive fossil fuels. Analysis from Energy Innovation estimated that the House version of the bill would increase wholesale energy prices by roughly 50%, a statistic that probably (unfortunately) holds true considering where the Senate ended. They also estimated that the bill would cost more than 830,000 jobs in 2030.
Despite these (and other) cuts, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the bill would add $3.3 trillion to the federal deficit through 2024 due to its extensive tax breaks and increased spending in other areas, like the military and immigration enforcement.
The senate passed the bill 51-50 on July 1, with Vice President Vance casting the tie-breaking vote. It will now go back to the house. If they vote to pass it as-is, that’s a wrap; if they make changes, it will go back to the senate again.
⛏️ Mineral Madness
Zimbabwe announced plans to ban exports of unprocessed lithium concentrates from 2027 in an attempt to upskill domestic talent and retain more of the technical and economic value within the country. Mining companies will be required to process lithium concentrates into a battery grade starting material (e.g. lithium sulfate) within Zimbabwe. Two lithium sulphate plants are already in development.
We’ve seen this before where resource-rich nations have tried to move up the value chain rather than being stuck as raw material exporters. Indonesia banned raw nickel exports in 2020 and today it’s a leader in nickel processing. Another example (not in batteries) is Botswana’s negotiation with De Beers to process diamonds in Botswana, and now is Botswana’s largest contributor to GDP.
❌ Another recall… this time with Chinese powerbanks
Anker recalled over 1.1 million power banks in the US after pulling seven models from the Chinese market. Days earlier, ROMOSS recalled nearly 500,000 units spanning three models. Check here for recall information and you might get a $30 coupon from Anker.
Both companies are pointing towards some input materials. Anker’s Chinese website notes “impurities or foreign particles”, “metal particles that can lead to short circuits”. All the powerbanks were supplied by Apex (Wuxi) and have been recalled ‘with the risk of spontaneous combustion’ and China’s regulators responded, revoking 3C safety certifications across the affected models. FYI, Apex (Wuxi) Co. was spun off in 2022 and is no longer affiliated with Amprius Technologies, Inc., the California-based battery manufacturer.
Historically, brands like Anker have relied on premium cells from Panasonic or LG. Risks shift when supplier shifts.
🔋 Battery projects are getting bigger
California Energy Commission greenlit what will become the WORLD’s LARGEST solar+storage project. The Darden Clean Energy Project in Fresno County will host a 1,150 MW solar facility paired with 1,150 MW / 4,600 MWh of battery storage, enough to power 850k homes for four hours (or 1 home for 388 years?).
For comparison, this would be roughly 10x bigger than the Victorian Big Battery in Geelong, Australia (450 MWh).
🍬 Other Tidbits
CALSTART is electrifying Boston Duck Tours and has put out a request for information - reply by 14th July!
New map of active material production in Europe.
Solid state battery researcher Zhou Jianbin has left the US for China, as countries attempt to develop the next generation of batteries and attempt to attract the talent to do so.
Trump has established a pilot program for testing eVTOLs as well as supersonic jets, reducing regulations and encouraging public-private partnerships.
Despite Fisker’s bankruptcy last year, a fleet of their Ocean cars are still going as part of a car sharing service for Uber and Lyft drivers. They’re being serviced by a garage in The Bronx, NYC!
Natron Energy, prussian blue battery company with $25 million in orders, is reportedly running out of money due to a cash freeze from investors.
🎧 What else we're reading and listening to
📕 Issy chatted to Rebel Book Club as a complement to their June focus book Cobalt Red. Infyos and Tangible wrote for us on how BESS projects can survive ‘Tariff Turmoil’. Abhi wrote a feature piece on fast charging in wearables, and Andrew explained his solution to bridging the battery manufacturing gap.
📈 Neat visualisation of BESS and cell supplier relationships
📹 The Nikola story on Trevor’s own YouTube channel: Conviction or Conspiracy: The Trevor Milton Saga
📰 Circular Energy Storage on Recycling: From Powerpoints to Overcapacity
📰 Bloomberg on aging populations and the green skills gap: The Missing Engineers
📰 Planet Money: When Chinese manufacturing met Small Town, USA (spoiler, Green Charter Township wasn’t happy with Gotion).
📝 Dr Halle Cheeseman dropping truth bombs on Linkedin
🎧 Catalyst: GM’s big new battery tech push with Kurt Kelty
🌞 Thanks for reading!
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