US battery startups have found a lifeline in defense
US battery startups have found a lifeline in defense
美国电池初创公司在国防领域找到了救命稻草
U.S. battery startups hit a rough patch when the One Big Beautiful Bill eliminated battery and EV incentives, undercutting a chunk of future demand. But recently, they’ve found a lifeline in the defense world, helping to power everything from drones and torpedoes to infantry radios and fighter jets. 当“那项宏伟法案”（One Big Beautiful Bill）取消了电池和电动汽车激励措施，削弱了部分未来需求时，美国电池初创公司陷入了困境。但最近，它们在国防领域找到了救命稻草，为从无人机、鱼雷到步兵无线电和战斗机等各种设备提供动力。
The Trump administration, despite its open disdain for EVs, acknowledges that batteries are an inescapable part of modern life. And like many things in Washington these days, it’s leaning on national security as justification for its recent decisions. The latest comes from the Department of Energy, which announced Thursday that it is awarding $500 million in grants to bolster the battery supply chain in the United States. The program aims to “reduce reliance on foreign sources, bolster national security, and advance American energy dominance.” 特朗普政府尽管公开鄙视电动汽车，但也承认电池是现代生活中不可或缺的一部分。正如华盛顿如今的许多事情一样，它正以国家安全作为其近期决策的理由。最新的举措来自美国能源部，该部门周四宣布将提供5亿美元的拨款，以加强美国的电池供应链。该计划旨在“减少对外国来源的依赖，加强国家安全，并提升美国的能源主导地位”。
Much of the money went to startups. Defense applications of lithium-ion batteries are “absolutely playing out in discussions,” a spokesperson for Coreshell, a battery materials startup, told TechCrunch. The company recently brought on ADS Ventures as an investor; the strategic VC’s parent company, ADS, is a defense supplier, and it’s working with another supplier of autonomous systems. Coreshell received a $50 million award from the DOE to expand manufacturing for its metallurgical silicon anode material. 大部分资金流向了初创公司。电池材料初创公司Coreshell的一位发言人告诉TechCrunch，锂离子电池的国防应用“绝对是讨论中的重点”。该公司最近引入了ADS Ventures作为投资者；这家战略风险投资公司的母公司ADS是一家国防供应商，并且正在与另一家自动系统供应商合作。Coreshell获得了能源部5000万美元的拨款，用于扩大其冶金硅负极材料的生产。
Other startups received significant grants, too. Lilac Solutions, which extracts lithium from brines, landed $100 million to build a processing facility on Utah’s Great Salt Lake to produce 5,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate annually by 2028. Lithium carbonate is a key precursor used in battery production. Nth Cycle told TechCrunch that it received $100 million to build a facility that will refine black mass from recycled lithium-ion batteries, producing lithium and nickel compounds that can be used to make new batteries. 其他初创公司也获得了大额拨款。从卤水中提取锂的Lilac Solutions获得了1亿美元，用于在犹他州大盐湖建立加工设施，目标是在2028年前每年生产5000公吨碳酸锂。碳酸锂是电池生产中的关键前体。Nth Cycle告诉TechCrunch，它获得了1亿美元用于建造一座设施，该设施将从回收的锂离子电池中提炼“黑粉”（black mass），生产可用于制造新电池的锂和镍化合物。
“We’re seeing clear demand drivers from the defense sector.” Megan O’Connor, co-founder and CEO of Nth Cycle, told TechCrunch. “But there’s still that in the automotive space as well.” That dynamic is unlikely to change. Though EVs have been dealt a setback, automakers are still rolling out new models and expecting years of growth, albeit further out than expected. “我们看到了来自国防部门的明确需求驱动力，”Nth Cycle联合创始人兼首席执行官Megan O’Connor告诉TechCrunch，“但汽车领域的需求依然存在。”这种态势不太可能改变。尽管电动汽车遭遇了挫折，但汽车制造商仍在推出新车型，并预计未来几年会有增长，尽管时间点比预期的要晚。
Defense will continue to be a significant player. Exact numbers are unsurprisingly hard to come by, but even in 2021, the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency was buying $200 million worth of batteries annually. But that’s dwarfed by the automotive industry. This year, the automotive industry is expected to spend nearly $18 billion on battery manufacturing in the U.S. alone, according to Mordor Intelligence. 国防领域将继续扮演重要角色。不出所料，确切的数字很难获得，但即使在2021年，美国国防后勤局每年购买的电池价值也达到了2亿美元。但这与汽车行业相比相形见绌。据Mordor Intelligence预测，今年仅汽车行业在美国电池制造上的支出就预计将接近180亿美元。
As battery companies undoubtedly know — and the Trump administration appears to tacitly acknowledge — the future is electric, but the timing is anything but settled. In the meantime, soldiers and drones still need lightweight and capable batteries from U.S. sources. A few years ago, those batteries could have come from domestic factories that sprung up in the wake of the Inflation Reduction Act. But after the One Big Beautiful Bill gutted battery production incentives, the Pentagon may have had to start looking for alternatives. These new DOE grants might amount to an admission that efforts to kill the American EV industry went a bit too far. 正如电池公司无疑所知——且特朗普政府似乎也默许承认的那样——未来是电动的，但时间表远未确定。与此同时，士兵和无人机仍然需要来自美国本土的轻便且高性能的电池。几年前，这些电池本可以来自《通胀削减法案》出台后涌现的国内工厂。但在“那项宏伟法案”削减了电池生产激励措施后，五角大楼可能不得不开始寻找替代方案。这些新的能源部拨款或许相当于承认，扼杀美国电动汽车行业的努力做得有点过头了。