Believe it or not, the first rechargeable lithium-ion batteries were invented in the U.S. Even Early nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cathodes were developed at Argonne National Laboratory. The lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery, too, originated in the U.S., with foundational work led by battery pioneer John Goodenough at the University of Texas at Austin.
China seized on these breakthroughs and scaled them, whereas the U.S. got distracted and lacked foresight.
Welcome to the Friday edition of Critical Materials, your daily round-up of news and events shaping the world of electric cars and technology. Also on our radar today: Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa is gutting the company’s workforce and reducing its production footprint to cut costs. And Tesla is urging battery maker Panasonic to increase U.S. output due to tariffs.
30%: The LFP Battery Was America’s Gift To China
The LFP battery is playing an increasingly central role in the global EV revolution. It’s cheaper to produce than NMC batteries, largely because it doesn’t rely on expensive materials like nickel and cobalt. It also offers better thermal stability and more consistent performance, though it comes with lower energy density.
Now, the very battery chemistry that originated in the U.S. is hitting remarkable milestones in China, powering EVs with longer range and even supporting megawatt-level charging speeds.
As The Detroit News notes, battery pioneers John Goodenough and Arumugam Manthiram laid the foundation for LFP technology with two landmark papers on iron-based cathodes in 1987 and 1989, published out of the University of Texas at Austin. They had cracked the code for a safer, low-cost battery that didn’t suffer from voltage fade. Goodenough later published the first formal paper on LFP in 1997.
Here’s more from the outlet:
"It took so many years to develop as a product," Manthiram said about LFP, "but the intellectual concept was done by the great people in the great country of the United States of America—I want to say that very loud and clear — not in China."
UT Austin went on to patent the technology, but that patent didn’t cover China. So the country had access to the research from day one. But the U.S. didn’t see the potential of LFP at the time, and yearned for batteries that required less frequent charging—something that wasn’t LFP’s strength at the time.
And here comes the chilling part from the report:
"The important point is the resources and not paying attention, looking near-term or for short-term gains, and not paying attention to long-term gains," Manthiram said.
"Our own arrogance of American thought process has got to be recalibrated," said Bob Galyen, the former chief technology officer of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., (CATL) the Chinese battery maker from which Ford is licensing the LFP technology for its Marshall plant in south-central Michigan.
"I never dreamed of helping to create a behemoth of a corporation that is light-years ahead of everybody else."
Today, U.S. automakers do use LFP. Entry-level versions of the Tesla Model 3, Ford Mustang Mach-E, and Rivian’s R1T and R1S are all equipped with it. But China has leapfrogged ahead. And it’s a disturbing fact that U.S. research helped kickstart what is now the world’s largest battery maker: CATL, a company that has built its empire on LFP and now leads the world in installed battery capacity.
Other Chinese firms—BYD, CALB, and Gotion—have also propelled LFP to dominance, with the chemistry making up nearly 81% of installed battery production in China.
So at this point, the question isn’t whether the U.S. has fallen behind. It’s a tiring reality. Yes, American battery manufacturing is growing and EV sales are rising. But after Tesla’s early steps in scaling up EVs and building out America’s most comprehensive fast-charging network, we haven’t really seen another true disrupter emerge—no radical leaps in charging speeds, range, or breakthrough innovations.
Now, the Trump administration’s proposed funding cuts to the Department of Energy—and to other science-driven agencies—could further erode America’s long-held edge in R&D.
60%: Nissan’s Radical Turnaround Plan
The innovation problem is also plaguing Nissan. After years of failing to offer competitive EVs or hybrids, the automaker’s profits are plunging and sales don’t look all that good either. But CEO Ivan Espinosa has a plan—and it’s not sexy.
The 46-year-old chief executive is spearheading the brand’s efforts to slash 20,000 jobs and shutter seven factories to save some $3.3 billion in costs. That also includes cutting engineering costs by 20%, reducing the complexity of parts in cars by 70% and bringing down the number of platforms from 13 to seven.
Here’s more from Automotive News:
“Are we confident that this is enough? The answer is yes, this will be enough to drive the results that we need, but we need to move fast,” he said. “We want to bring the heartbeat back.”
“We wouldn’t be doing this if it was not necessary for the survival of Nissan,” he said.
The automaker plans to launch the new-generation Leaf this year, and InsideEVs even got an early look at the EV in Japan in March. Nissan is also planning to launch the next-gen Skyline sedan and a C-segment crossover, along with a compact Infiniti SUV.
But amid its global shuttering of plants, reshuffling of production to minimize damage from tariffs and rising competition means this rescue plan won’t guarantee a positive outcome. Only time will tell if the automaker’s “heartbeat” will truly revive.
90%: Tesla Urges Panasonic To Increase U.S. Battery Output
The Trump administration’s 25% tariffs on foreign vehicles and parts imports are not helping Tesla, despite CEO Elon Musk being the president’s “first buddy.” The automaker is reportedly urging battery supplier Panasonic to fast-track U.S. production of EV batteries.
Panasonic’s chief executive Yuki Kusumi told reporters in Tokyo that its main customer was encouraging faster production of EV batteries in China, the Financial Times reported. Tesla is believed to be by far the largest customer Panasonic has.
The CEO hinted that U.S.-made Panasonic batteries would help EVs qualify for significant tax credits. But the Trump administration is moving aggressively to end the tax credits as part of its budget cuts. House Republicans have already proposed a bill in Congress to end the incentives.
100%: Can The New Leaf Rescue Nissan?
Nissan famously was an early mover in the EV space with the Leaf. Now the new Leaf is right around the corner, and it's a bulbous SUV. It will be more efficient and get the Tesla-style NACS charging port right from the factory. It promises to be a much-needed boost to Nissan’s otherwise lackluster EV strategy, and could also become an affordable EV Americans are clamoring for.
Would you put down a deposit for the new Leaf when it comes out? And more importantly, do you think it can rescue the automaker?
Have a tip? Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com
