How Trump Helped China Make America’s Cheapest EV

特朗普如何助力中国制造出美国最便宜的电动汽车

Everyone’s worried about affordability right now, including the companies that make cars. Especially the companies that make electric cars, which cost an average of $55,000. 目前，每个人都在为负担能力感到担忧，包括汽车制造商。尤其是那些生产电动汽车的公司，其平均售价高达 5.5 万美元。

That makes America’s newest and cheapest electric truck a welcome addition to the market—and an odd duck. Officially unveiled last week, the small, modular offering from Michigan-based automaking upstart Slate costs just below $25,000 for its base model, and the base model doesn’t get you much. You’ll have to pay more for everything, from powered windows to speakers. 这使得美国最新、最便宜的电动卡车成为市场上受欢迎的新成员，尽管它显得有些“另类”。上周正式亮相的这款小型模块化卡车来自密歇根州的汽车初创公司 Slate，其基础款售价略低于 2.5 万美元，但基础款的配置非常简陋。从电动车窗到扬声器，所有配置都需要额外付费。

But beyond being bare bones, there’s another hidden quirk that allows Slate to reach a rock-bottom price: a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack. It’s a technology invented in the US but perfected in China. They’re cheaper than traditional nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries. 除了配置简陋之外，Slate 之所以能实现超低价格，还有一个隐藏的秘诀：磷酸铁锂（LFP）电池组。这是一种在美国发明但在中国得到完善的技术。它们比传统的镍锰钴（NMC）电池更便宜。

In a quest to make lower-cost EVs, a handful of US-based manufacturers are on Slate’s path, leaning into the less popular chemistry. And in a weird way, the US boomlet in this particular battery chemistry has China to thank—and also President Donald Trump. 为了制造低成本电动汽车，少数美国制造商正追随 Slate 的脚步，倾向于使用这种此前不太受欢迎的化学电池。从某种奇怪的角度来看，美国在这一特定电池化学技术上的小规模繁荣，既要归功于中国，也要归功于唐纳德·特朗普总统。

Changing Lanes

换道行驶

Slate wasn’t initially focused on LFP batteries, the website InsideEVs noted last week. The reason was simple: In 2022, Congress passed a sweeping climate law that created a tax credit of up to $7,500 for buyers of new EVs. To qualify for the full credit, manufacturers had to use batteries assembled in the US, and, eventually, made using materials from the US and its allies. Critically, the new rules discouraged the inclusion of materials from Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China, all dubbed “foreign entities of concern.” 据 InsideEVs 网站上周报道，Slate 最初并未专注于磷酸铁锂电池。原因很简单：2022 年，美国国会通过了一项广泛的气候法案，为购买新电动汽车的消费者提供最高 7500 美元的税收抵免。为了获得全额抵免，制造商必须使用在美国组装的电池，并最终使用来自美国及其盟国的材料。关键在于，新规限制了来自俄罗斯、伊朗、朝鲜和中国等“受关注外国实体”的材料。

Manufacturers focused on affordability planned to build vehicles with those restrictions in mind, including Slate. 包括 Slate 在内，那些专注于性价比的制造商在规划车辆时都考虑到了这些限制。

Those rules made it problematic to use LFP batteries. US scientists discovered the materials’ battery applications back in the 1960s. But more than a decade ago, Western and Asian battery-makers shifted their focus to other, more energy-dense chemistries. Chinese manufacturers, though, decided they were willing to exchange LFP chemistry’s range issues for its promise to lower costs and improve stability. 这些规定使得使用磷酸铁锂电池变得困难。美国科学家早在 20 世纪 60 年代就发现了这种材料的电池应用。但十多年前，西方和亚洲的电池制造商将重心转向了其他能量密度更高的化学体系。然而，中国制造商决定，他们愿意用磷酸铁锂电池在续航里程上的不足，去换取其在降低成本和提高稳定性方面的优势。

Since then, Chinese EV giants including BYD and CATL have built up a robust supply chain around the chemistry, producing not only LFP cathodes, but also the capacity to mine, process, and manufacture everything else that goes into the batteries. Today, 97.8 percent of LFP cathode production takes place in China, according to figures from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a London research firm. (Nearly 85 percent of all cathode production happens in China, too.) 自那时起，包括比亚迪和宁德时代在内的中国电动汽车巨头围绕这一化学体系建立了强大的供应链，不仅生产磷酸铁锂正极材料，还具备了开采、加工和制造电池所需一切原材料的能力。据伦敦研究公司 Benchmark Mineral Intelligence 的数据显示，目前全球 97.8% 的磷酸铁锂正极材料产自中国。（全球近 85% 的正极材料生产也都在中国。）

US automakers began to show interest in the technology even after the tax credit was first announced. Ford, for example, said it would partner with CATL to manufacture LFP batteries in the US, but the American automaker still had to weigh the cost and performance of the batteries with their tax-credit eligibility. 即使在税收抵免政策首次宣布后，美国汽车制造商也开始对这项技术表现出兴趣。例如，福特曾表示将与宁德时代合作在美国生产磷酸铁锂电池，但这家美国车企仍需权衡电池的成本、性能与税收抵免资格之间的关系。

Then the rules changed, and automakers’ calculus got less complicated. Last summer, the GOP-led Congress fulfilled a long-standing Trump campaign promise to “end the electric vehicle mandate” by killing the tax credit. The move set EVs back in the US. Research firm BloombergNEF predicted earlier this month that US sales will fall by 19 percent this year because of the policy change, and the decisions automakers afterwards made to reduce their EV output. 随后规则发生了变化，汽车制造商的算盘变得简单了。去年夏天，共和党领导的国会通过取消税收抵免，兑现了特朗普长期以来的竞选承诺，即“终结电动汽车强制令”。此举使美国的电动汽车发展受挫。研究公司彭博新能源财经（BloombergNEF）本月初预测，由于政策变化以及随后车企削减电动汽车产量的决定，今年美国电动汽车销量将下降 19%。

Now automakers have to deal with a confusing and sluggish EV market. But they no longer have to worry about the foreign content of their EV batteries for fear of losing the tax credit. That opened the door for Slate and other companies to give LFPs another look. 现在，汽车制造商不得不面对一个令人困惑且低迷的电动汽车市场。但他们不再需要因为担心失去税收抵免而顾虑电池的外国成分。这为 Slate 和其他公司重新审视磷酸铁锂电池打开了大门。

The industry’s pivot to more affordable batteries “is partly due to market forces and what consumers are requesting, as well as some of the regulatory and policy changes with the Trump administration,” says Bob Lee, the president of LG Energy Solution in North America, which operates eight manufacturing plants across the continent. LG 新能源（LG Energy Solution）北美公司总裁 Bob Lee 表示，行业向更经济实惠的电池转型，“部分原因是市场力量和消费者的需求，以及特朗普政府带来的一些监管和政策变化。”该公司在北美运营着八家制造工厂。

After reviewing its options, Slate is planning to use batteries made by Gotion, a US-based subsidiary of a Chinese firm. The batteries will be manufactured in Illinois. (Even though they’ll be assembled in the US, the batteries wouldn’t have met the threshold for the repealed tax credit.) The company says its truck has a range of 205 miles per charge, up from the originally promised 150 miles. “The battery pack for a Slate Truck had to meet targets for durability, reliability, and affordability—among other metrics,” Jeff Jablansky, a company spokesman, wrote WIRED. 在评估了各种方案后，Slate 计划使用国轩高科（Gotion）生产的电池，该公司是中国企业在美国的子公司。这些电池将在伊利诺伊州制造。（尽管它们将在美国组装，但这些电池原本也无法达到已废除的税收抵免门槛。）该公司表示，其卡车单次充电续航里程为 205 英里，高于最初承诺的 150 英里。公司发言人 Jeff Jablansky 在写给《连线》（WIRED）杂志的邮件中表示：“Slate 卡车的电池组必须在耐用性、可靠性和经济性等指标上达到目标。”

A Growing Market

不断增长的市场

Some automakers have turned to LFP batteries, especially for more affordable trims. Some standard 250-mile-range Tesla Models 3 and Y use the batteries, as do standard-range Mustang Mach-Es, which get 250 miles of range. The updated Chevrolet Bolt will use LFPs for the rest of its run (260 miles), and GM said last August it would temporarily import those batteries from China rather than manufacture them in the US, as the company worked to get domestic production lines in order. Ford’s small electric truck produced by its “skunkworks” team in California—a direct competitor with Slate’s vehicle—will use LFPs too. 一些汽车制造商已经转向磷酸铁锂电池，特别是在更经济的车型上。一些续航里程为 250 英里的标准版特斯拉 Model 3 和 Model Y 使用了这种电池，续航里程为 250 英里的标准版福特 Mustang Mach-E 也是如此。更新后的雪佛兰 Bolt 在其剩余生产周期内将使用磷酸铁锂电池（续航 260 英里）。通用汽车去年 8 月表示，在努力完善国内生产线的同时，将暂时从中国进口这些电池，而不是在美国制造。福特由其加州“臭鼬工厂”团队生产的小型电动卡车——Slate 车辆的直接竞争对手——也将使用磷酸铁锂电池。

Some LFP production is underway in the US, though it is still dwarfed by China’s domination of the chemistry supply chain. Five of the Korean firm LG Energy Solutions’ (LGES) eight North American manufacturing facilities are or will soon be building LFPs. It expects to produce 50 gigawatt-hours of LFP capacity this year, more than tripling last year’s output. 美国目前正在进行一些磷酸铁锂电池的生产，但与中国在这一化学供应链上的主导地位相比，规模仍然相形见绌。韩国 LG 新能源（LGES）在北美的八家制造工厂中，有五家正在或即将开始生产磷酸铁锂电池。该公司预计今年将生产 50 吉瓦时的磷酸铁锂电池，是去年产量的三倍多。

For now though, most of LGES’s LFP batteries—as well as those produced by other US-based manufacturers—won’t end up in EVs. They’ll instead be used for energy storage systems. LFPs are arguably a better fit for stationary storage than they are for cars because they’re stable, safe, and long-lasting, plus their heavier weight doesn’t matter as much. In the past half-year alone, LGES, GM, Ford, and Samsung have all said that… 然而目前，LGES 以及其他美国制造商生产的大多数磷酸铁锂电池并不会用于电动汽车，而是用于储能系统。可以说，磷酸铁锂电池比汽车更适合固定式储能，因为它们稳定、安全且寿命长，而且重量较大这一缺点在储能领域并不重要。仅在过去半年里，LGES、通用汽车、福特和三星都表示……