Tesla’s battery business is slipping

Today’s newsletter looks at two of the world’s biggest players.

First, we examine Tesla’s energy storage business, which was flying high until last quarter. Then, we take you to China, where CATL has announced charging speeds as quick as six minutes, and will put cheap, powerful batteries that don’t use lithium into cars hitting the road this year.

A reminder that at 10:30 am EDT, our reporters will be answering your questions about how the Iran War will impact the energy transition. Send in your question in advance to [email protected].

Tesla’s wobble

By Michelle Ma and Kara Carlson

For years, one aspect of Tesla Inc.’s business has been growing outside the public eye, its revenue soaring even as the company’s electric car sales sputtered and stalled.

Now analysts wonder if Tesla’s quiet money-maker faces problems of its own.

The company’s Megapack batteries — powerful enough to keep factories, data centers or the power grid itself humming — have given Tesla a badly needed boost. Much smaller Powerwall units, meanwhile, supply individual homes. As the company spends heavily to ramp up autonomous taxis, and its Optimus robots seem forever a year away, batteries have become an important source of cash.

CATL’s sodium breakthrough

By Annie Lee

With a thick outdoor jacket to protect against -30C (-22F) temperatures and bitter winds, Calvin Quek joined car and technology enthusiasts huddled by a test track on the outskirts of a picturesque ski region in Inner Mongolia.

They watched Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. electric SUVs and a sleek battery-powered coupe effortlessly navigate icy roads and steep snow-dusted slopes at the facility in Yakeshi, northeastern China. Yet for the crowd at the February demonstration, the most impressive factor was out of view.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Batteries powering the vehicles used sodium as their key raw material component, rather than lithium — the metal that’s become synonymous with electrified transportation and the storage of renewable energy. The tests were a showcase for one of the world’s first mass-production passenger EVs fitted with the alternative technology — an innovation that’s long promised to deliver safer and low-cost rechargeable cells.

“I think this signaled a breakthrough moment for sodium-ion battery technology in EVs,” said Quek, executive director for nature finance at the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group, and a veteran observer of the energy transition.

By the middle of this year, Changan — a state-owned Chinese automaker and a local partner of Ford Motor Co. — will begin sales of models fitted with sodium-ion technology from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., the world’s dominant EV battery manufacturer.

Innovations by CATL have increased the energy density of sodium batteries by 50%, overcome engineering challenges, and brought the products to a “milestone stage,” Chief Technology Officer Gao Huan told reporters Tuesday at an event in Beijing. “The era of sodium and lithium shining together has arrived” and the supplier will begin mass-production in the fourth quarter of this year, he said. 

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Yet even with recent advances, the sodium sector faces challenges. The technology isn’t likely to compete against lithium on energy density — and therefore on battery performance — and may only achieve cost parity with traditional options around 2030, according to CRU Group, a consultancy. Continued improvement in lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries “poses a moving target for sodium-ion,” said Sam Adham, head of battery materials at CRU.

Live at 10:30am EDT

Photographer: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg

Clean tech stocks have outpaced the S&P 500 since last year, and public and private investments in green startups have also surged, hitting $22.5 billion in the first quarter of this year. All that was before the Iran war sent oil prices spiraling. Where are investors and companies betting their money amid Trump administration policies and stalled global climate progress?

Join Bloomberg journalists Akshat Rathi, Alastair Marsh, Kyle Stock and Olivia Rudgard to discuss what the rest of 2026 might hold for publicly traded green companies, clean energy, and the adoption of clean tech from EVs to batteries. While anyone can listen, Bloomberg digital subscribers and Terminal clients have the exclusive opportunity to ask our team questions to answer in real-time. This conversation will be recorded and made available.

Watch: The battery race

Takeaways From Day One at BNEF New York

By Will Wade, Josh Saul, Lauren Rosenthal and Michelle Ma

The BloombergNEF annual summit in New York kicked off on Tuesday as the war in Iran fuels a resurgence of interest in fossil fuel alternatives and the US sees a massive push for more electricity to feed data centers.

The confluence of those two themes reveals a key shift: Oil and gas are still drivers of the global economy, but scaling electricity is quickly becoming just as important. The BNEF Summit New York put these trends in context. Here are some takeaways from day one.

Electricity is the new oil
Clean energy and batteries aren’t just tools to cut emissions anymore. They’re key to ensuring energy security and powering the economy of the 21st century, said Rebecca Kujawa, chief executive officer of Zerra Partners. To ensure sustained economic growth, countries can’t rely on fossil fuels as they have in the past. Renewable and nuclear energy, as well as more battery storage, are needed to ensure there’s enough electricity flowing across the grid, Kujawa said.

“We’re going to start to look at electricity as critical to security and geopolitical stability as we think about oil and gas today,” she said. “The change has been dramatic.”

AI needs a lot more power, and fast
BNEF is forecasting 106 gigawatts of new demand in the next decade will be needed for data centers, said Katrina White, a clean energy analyst, during an afternoon presentation.

Earlier in the day, Toby Rice, the chief executive officer of natural gas producer EQT Corp., also said as much as 100 gigawatts of additional power may be required for artificial intelligence computing facilities and other large power users.

“That’s the energy equivalent of adding over 20 New York Cities,” Rice said. “And we need to add it quickly.”

Flexible data centers get priority
For decades, utilities have been slow to grant power connection requests from large users like data centers. But the game is changing, according to Varun Sivaram, chief executive officer and founder of software company Emerald AI. Data centers that can curtail power use on demand in response to signals from the grid are getting prioritized.

Road to COP31

By John Ainger

Turkey will use its role as host of this year’s COP31 climate summit to boost clean energy adoption, according to the event’s incoming president, with the Iran war showing how important it is to diversify away from fossil fuels.

Photographer: Marina Calderon/Bloomberg

Murat Kurum, Turkey’s environment minister who will oversee the talks, said in an interview that even countries whose economies rely on producing fossil fuels will need to shift to greener technologies. That includes nations in the Middle East that have historically blocked efforts to move away from emissions-heavy energy sources, he said.

“The world must transition away from fossil fuels, for sure,” Kurum told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin. “The recent crises have indeed showed us how crucial to have energy diversity. You should not be dependent on one single energy source.”

More from Green

EU proposes more energy measures

It unveiled a plan to navigate the energy crisis caused by the Iran war, with proposals including optimizing jet fuel distribution.

China wind turbine Maker eyes Spain for factory

Ming Yang Smart Energy Group is considering Spain after the UK blocked plans for a facility in Scotland, citing risks to national security.

Coffee Giants Will Map World’s Farms to Fight Deforestation

Some of the world’s top coffee traders and roasters are starting an initiative to map farms around the globe, in a bid to help tackle deforestation and keep the European market open for millions of growers.

HSBC Climate Data Triggers Investor Call for Regulatory Review

A group of investors managing $400 billion is calling for HSBC Holdings Plc to be subjected to a regulatory review, citing concerns the UK bank may be misleading shareholders and creditors about its exposure to near-term climate risks.

More from Bloomberg

• Business of Food for a weekly look at how the world feeds itself in a changing economy and climate, from farming to supply chains to consumer trends
• Energy Daily for a daily guide to the energy and commodities markets that power the global economy
• Tech In Depth for analysis and scoops about the business of technology

Explore all Bloomberg newsletters.

We’re improving your newsletter experience and we’d love your feedback. If something looks off, help us fine-tune your experience by reporting it here.

Follow Us

You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg’s Green Daily newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, sign up here to get it in your inbox.

|