Battery startups think they can fight China’s giants. They probably can’t. Yet Slate—yes, that car company, not the magazine—is shifting gears. Cheaper batteries. Chinese tech.
Why? Because Trump’s repeal of EV tax credits made sourcing domestic materials a financial death sentence. How did we get here? It’s ironic, really. Protectionism killed the American EV supply chain advantage.
The Home Battery Lie (And Truth)
Stop pretending home batteries are only for doomsday preppers. They’re not. They’re financial tools. I put one in. It wasn’t about surviving the apocalypse. It was about surviving the bill.
Utility companies love time-based pricing. You know, the kind that spikes prices when you actually need to shower? A battery lets you ignore the peak. You charge cheap, discharge expensive. Slashing the bill in half? Possible. If you can handle the upfront cost.
Power companies want you to buy power when it’s expensive. A battery says “no.”
Look for efficiency. Installation tips matter more than marketing hype. But don’t expect it to save the world. Just your wallet.
Rivian vs. The Cybertruck
Rivian’s boss, RJ Scaringe, talked about everything. The R2. Tesla’s Cybertruck. Even Ferrari’s new car. He sounded tired. Maybe ambitious. Hard to tell.
The R2 is supposed to be the accessible EV. But the industry is brutal. Tesla has scale. Rivian has hope. Which one wins? We’ll see what happens if the R2 flops.
China Does the Impossible Again
They built the world’s fastest supercomputer. LineShine. No US GPUs involved. The sanctions didn’t work. China just built around them.
Defiance? Innovation? Doesn’t matter what you call it. It works. And it’s fast. The US wanted to strangle China’s chip development. Instead, it forced them to build better chips.
iPhones Are Breaking Bank
Apple wants more money. You’re paying more. Again.
Chip shortages driven by AI demand are making gadgets pricey. Phones. Laptops. Consoles. Prices are high. And they’re climbing.
Buy used. Seriously. Old iPhones last forever. New ones don’t cost enough less to justify the risk. Upgrade the battery, keep the phone. Smartest move you’ll make this year.
Nuclear: Almost There, But Not Yet
Three startups hit a milestone. New reactors online. Fourth of July celebrations? Sure. Fireworks are fun.
But don’t pop the champagne just yet. Delivering energy at scale is different from having a prototype that works. The gap between “it’s running” and “it’s powering your house” is vast.
A reactor online is a scientific win. A grid-stable win? Years away.
Microsoft Is Smoking the Planet
Microsoft reported a 25 percent jump in emissions. Half.
Why? Data centers. AI eats electricity. Every prompt, every image, every “thought” consumes power. Carbon pollution follows. The green promise of cloud computing is eroding under the weight of artificial intelligence.
Weather Goes Wrong
El Niño is here. Or maybe it’s a super El Niño. The world’s weather is getting upside down.
Expect rain in the Southwest. Fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic. But “fewer hurricanes” isn’t a compliment. It just means the storm energy is going elsewhere. Where? Everywhere.
Zyn Is Still Bad for You
The FDA says Zyn pouches are safer than cigarettes. That’s true. Cigarettes kill you faster.
But Zyn isn’t safe. It’s nicotine. Addictive. Harsh on the gums. Just less likely to burn your lungs. The FDA ruled it a “less harmful” option for adults. Not a “safe” one. Quitting everything remains the best advice. Even if it’s boring.
