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Keep in mind, we could have had local Na-Ion battery production in the US. The company producing them needed about $5m of bridge loans, with products already si

by cyberax 3mo ago

Keep in mind, we could have had local Na-Ion battery production in the US. The company producing them needed about $5m of bridge loans, with products already sitting in warehouses awaiting the UL certification. This company got sold for scrap.

petcat 3mo ago
your comment would be more interesting if you actually provided any details at all
- cyberax 3mo ago
  Sorry, I accidentally cut off the last paragraph when posting. The company was Natron Energy: https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/05/natrons-liquidation-shows-why-the-us-isnt-ready-to-make-its-own-batteries/ https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/05/natrons-liquidation-shows-...
  - formerly_proven 3mo ago
    Germany is currently liquidating their high-performance lithium-ion battery maker. Western industrial policy is indistinguishable from malicious interference.
    - subscribed 3mo ago
      That's quite staggering. First shutting down working and safe nuclear power plants in favour of coal, then that. At this rate I start wondering who actually makes this policy, at most turns exposing the country more to the energy markets issues and making them more reliant on OPEC and Putin.
      - formerly_proven 3mo ago
        If you look back at the last 30-40 years german industry was often at the leading edge of emerging technologies, e.g. different types of renewable energy (especially wind and solar), automation, robotics, machine learning and so on, advanced ADAS, and to a lesser degree with batteries and EVs (though broadly competitive with lots of investment). It's just that they get backstabbed the shit out of them by politics. Who then turn around and act all pikachu at the job losses. I don't think there is any other country which had this many opportunities and leads into high-growth and ultra-high-growth industries and made sure none of them panned out. That's not bad timing or bad luck, it's systemic. Maybe the US's conversion into a petrostate?
lenerdenator 3mo ago
Given that $5 million is not that much in the heavy industry game, I'd like to know why they couldn't get the bridge loans. Like, that's not an unreasonable size of loan for a regional expansion for medium-sized businesses; there should be some sort of lender interested in doing that for them.
- cyberax 3mo ago
  I suspect some shenanigans from investors. The bankruptcy also was handled in an unusual manner, not through a regular liquidation.
- fragmede 3mo ago
  That's why, if you look at Fervo energy's makeup, and ask why do your have so many finance people, relative to the number of engineers; that's why. As a software developer, I have no idea how to get a $5 million bridge loan other than whatever ChatGPT could tell me. Meanwhile, a team of finance guys with domain expertise could have gotten them that $5 million.
parineum 3mo ago
If it only cost 5M for something like that investors would have been in a line around the building.
ZeroGravitas 3mo ago
See also lFP batteries from A123: > In October 2012, A123 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It was thrown into a narrative of Obama-era green energy failures with defunct California solar company Solyndra that had received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal loan guarantees — a comparison to which Vieau objects because A123's technology was "proven," and it built plants and hired people with government support. > Wanxiang Group Corp., a subsidiary of the largest auto parts supplier in China, acquired its assets for $256.6 million after it had sought to acquire 80% of A123 earlier that year

by cyberax 3mo ago

petcat 3mo ago

your comment would be more interesting if you actually provided any details at all

cyberax 3mo ago
Sorry, I accidentally cut off the last paragraph when posting. The company was Natron Energy: https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/05/natrons-liquidation-shows-why-the-us-isnt-ready-to-make-its-own-batteries/ https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/05/natrons-liquidation-shows-...
- formerly_proven 3mo ago
  Germany is currently liquidating their high-performance lithium-ion battery maker. Western industrial policy is indistinguishable from malicious interference.
  - subscribed 3mo ago
    That's quite staggering. First shutting down working and safe nuclear power plants in favour of coal, then that. At this rate I start wondering who actually makes this policy, at most turns exposing the country more to the energy markets issues and making them more reliant on OPEC and Putin.
    - formerly_proven 3mo ago
      If you look back at the last 30-40 years german industry was often at the leading edge of emerging technologies, e.g. different types of renewable energy (especially wind and solar), automation, robotics, machine learning and so on, advanced ADAS, and to a lesser degree with batteries and EVs (though broadly competitive with lots of investment). It's just that they get backstabbed the shit out of them by politics. Who then turn around and act all pikachu at the job losses. I don't think there is any other country which had this many opportunities and leads into high-growth and ultra-high-growth industries and made sure none of them panned out. That's not bad timing or bad luck, it's systemic. Maybe the US's conversion into a petrostate?

lenerdenator 3mo ago

Given that $5 million is not that much in the heavy industry game, I'd like to know why they couldn't get the bridge loans. Like, that's not an unreasonable size of loan for a regional expansion for medium-sized businesses; there should be some sort of lender interested in doing that for them.

cyberax 3mo ago
I suspect some shenanigans from investors. The bankruptcy also was handled in an unusual manner, not through a regular liquidation.
fragmede 3mo ago
That's why, if you look at Fervo energy's makeup, and ask why do your have so many finance people, relative to the number of engineers; that's why. As a software developer, I have no idea how to get a $5 million bridge loan other than whatever ChatGPT could tell me. Meanwhile, a team of finance guys with domain expertise could have gotten them that $5 million.

parineum 3mo ago

If it only cost 5M for something like that investors would have been in a line around the building.

ZeroGravitas 3mo ago

See also lFP batteries from A123: > In October 2012, A123 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It was thrown into a narrative of Obama-era green energy failures with defunct California solar company Solyndra that had received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal loan guarantees — a comparison to which Vieau objects because A123's technology was "proven," and it built plants and hired people with government support. > Wanxiang Group Corp., a subsidiary of the largest auto parts supplier in China, acquired its assets for $256.6 million after it had sought to acquire 80% of A123 earlier that year