4 ms·

How much of this is due to economies of scale as opposed to slave labor/cut corners though? Is it just because of cheaper lithium?

• pestatije 3y ago
  no, cut costs as in firing people, cancel research, sell underperforming assets, etc.
• ZeroGravitas 3y ago
  It's basically all economies of scale. I've not seen one for batteries yet but there's a few in-depth looks at what contributed to price declined of PV solar historically and consistent, long term government support and scale up are the big factors. When something is consistently reducing in cost by 90% in a decade, there's just not that much room for labour (slave or otherwise) to be a big part of the answer (expect as an inefficiency to be avoided). Would you invest billions in the USA to build something that Donald Trump is having a culture war about? That uncertainty is enough to kill investment and send it overseas and add to someone else's momentum. (And someone was confused the other day why China would be on twitter trying to get Donald Trump elected, because he's such a meanie towards them).
  • twoWhlsGud 3y ago
    Indeed. Would you rather have somebody in charge of your main competitor who makes aggressive sounding noises while steadily destroying its core capabilities or someone who speaks quietly and actually does stuff to make it stronger? https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/opinion/biden-trump-china.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/opinion/biden-trump-china... The Russians and Chinese supported Big Orange in 2016 because they fear democracy, honest industry, and individual rights - all three of which threaten their kleptocracies. They support him in 2024 for the same reasons.
• alephnerd 3y ago
  > slave labor/cut corners Battery manufacturing is automated.
• comte7092 3y ago
  One presumes that any “slave labor” is already built into the cost structure.