The Daily Planet #33: The Electric Slide

You can create almost anything if you can build stacks powered by compute and electricity. Today’s Daily Planet is about the electricity side of this transformation.

The Electric Slide explores the transformative Electric Stack - comprising lithium-ion batteries, magnets, electric motors, power electronics, and embedded compute - that is reshaping the modern world by enabling efficient electrification of products. China dominates this stack, producing 75% of the world's lithium-ion batteries and 90% of neodymium magnets, crucial for electric motors. This dominance stems from strategic foresight, industrial policy, and control over rare earth materials, allowing China to lead in electric vehicles, drones, and robots.

The essay highlights how China's mastery of the Electric Stack creates a powerful "Electric Platform," enabling companies like BYD to innovate across diverse domains, from cars to home energy products. This vertical integration and system-level iteration drive rapid innovation and cost reductions, reinforcing China's competitive edge.

Regarding metabolism, the Electric Stack can be seen as the technological metabolism of modern industry, transforming raw energy (electricity) into motion, heat, and computation with high efficiency. Just as biological metabolism sustains life by converting energy, the Electric Stack sustains the electric economy by converting electrical energy into actionable work. China's control over this "metabolic" process of electrification positions it as the key architect of the Electric Era, shaping the future of global manufacturing and technology.

The Electric Slide

The history, 99% decline, and future of the Electric Stack with Sam D'Amico