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- August 2021 (Revised February 2022)
- Case
Northvolt: Making the World's Greenest Battery
By: Jurgen R. Weiss and Emilie Billaud
In 2021, the demand for lithium-ion batteries increased rapidly, particularly for electric vehicles. Anxious not to be reliant on Asian players, Europe was keen on developing its own home-grown capacity to control the value chain, maintain employment in Europe, and get... View Details
Keywords: Electric Vehicles; Lithium-ion Batteries; Business Ventures; Energy; Green Technology; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Transportation; Supply Chain; Globalized Markets and Industries; Goals and Objectives; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Battery Industry; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; Europe; Sweden; Germany; Poland
Weiss, Jurgen R., and Emilie Billaud. "Northvolt: Making the World's Greenest Battery." Harvard Business School Case 722-004, August 2021. (Revised February 2022.)
- August 2020
- Case
24M Technologies
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
In early 2020, 24M Technologies (24M) announced that two of its strategic investors had commenced building plants to produce lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries based on 24M’s novel semi-solid electrode technology. This promised to halve the cost of conventional Li-ion... View Details
Keywords: Lithium-ion Batteries; Technological Innovation; Commercialization; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy
Wells, John R., and Benjamin Weinstock. "24M Technologies." Harvard Business School Case 721-386, August 2020.
- 2022
- Case
Tesla's Battery Supply Chain: A Growing Concern
By: Andrew J. Hoffman
In October 2021, the fictional vice president of supply chain sustainability at Tesla is working on finding the best way to achieve Tesla's goal of 100% recycling for the batteries in its electric vehicles (EVs) as they reach their end of life. A major challenge in... View Details
Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Governance Compliance; Metals and Minerals; Auto Industry
Hoffman, Andrew J. "Tesla's Battery Supply Chain: A Growing Concern." William Davidson Institute Case 9-884-554, 2022.
- April 2021
- Teaching Note
Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
Within 20 years of launch, entrepreneur Wang Yanquing had built Wuxi Lead into the world’s largest manufacturer of equipment for manufacturing capacitors, lithium-ion batteries, and fuel cells.
The first big choice an entrepreneur faces is what sector to... View Details
The first big choice an entrepreneur faces is what sector to... View Details
- January 2020
- Case
Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
In 2019, Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (Lead) was the largest supplier of lithium-ion rechargeable battery manufacturing equipment in the world. Based in Wuxi, China, the company generated RMB 3.9 billion ($557 million) in revenues in 2018, up from RMB 175... View Details
- November 2021 (Revised May 2022)
- Case
QuantumScape's Mission to Revolutionize Energy Storage for a Sustainable Future
By: William A. Sahlman, Allison M. Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga
QuantumScape CEO Jagdeep Singh juggles the many activities required to lead the next-generation battery pioneer. Founded in 2010, QuantumScape’s mission was to develop new “solid-state” car batteries that would improve upon traditional lithium-ion batteries in key... View Details
Keywords: Batteries; Electric Vehicles; SPACs; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Science-Based Business; Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; Energy Industry; California; San Jose
Sahlman, William A., Allison M. Ciechanover, and Jeff Huizinga. "QuantumScape's Mission to Revolutionize Energy Storage for a Sustainable Future." Harvard Business School Case 822-044, November 2021. (Revised May 2022.)
- November 2019 (Revised April 2021)
- Technical Note
Rechargeable Batteries, 2017: Gigafactory Wars in the Offing?
By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock
In 2017, the global market for rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries was 126 gigawatt-hours (GWh) valued at $37 billion, growing by $10 billion in two years. Once confined largely to consumer electronics and appliances, the rapid increase in demand was spurred by... View Details
Keywords: Batteries; Rechargeable Batteries; Lithium-ion; Lithium-ion Batteries; Electric Vehicle; Electric Vehicles; Energy Entrepreneurship; Energy Markets; Energy Storage; Battery; Demand Uncertainty; Demand Forecasting; Supply ＆ Demand; Supply And Demand; Capacity Planning; Tesla; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Technological Change; Technology Change; Technology Commercialization; Policy Change; Subsidies; Power/Energy; Power Grid; Energy Policy; Developing Markets; Alevo; Samsung; LG Chem; CATL; Northvolt; General Motors; Energy; Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Commercialization; Policy; Demand and Consumers; Forecasting and Prediction; Supply and Industry; Emerging Markets; Competitive Strategy; China
Wells, John R., and Benjamin Weinstock. "Rechargeable Batteries, 2017: Gigafactory Wars in the Offing?" Harvard Business School Technical Note 720-371, November 2019. (Revised April 2021.)
- November 2016 (Revised September 2018)
- Case
Elon Musk's Big Bets
By: David B. Yoffie, Eric Baldwin and Brandon Kaufmann
Between late 2014 and late 2016, Tesla CEO Elon Musk undertook several major, and risky, initiatives that would dramatically expand the scale and scope of Tesla’s business. In late 2014, Tesla began construction on a $5 billion “gigafactory” that would manufacture... View Details
Keywords: Electric Vehicles; Batteries; Solar Power; Strategy; Execution; Technology; Space Flight; Tesla; SolarCity; SpaceX; Elon Musk; Information Technology; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Renewable Energy; Investment; Manufacturing Industry; Green Technology Industry; Auto Industry; Aerospace Industry; Battery Industry
Yoffie, David B., Eric Baldwin, and Brandon Kaufmann. "Elon Musk's Big Bets." Harvard Business School Case 717-431, November 2016. (Revised September 2018.)
- 2025
- Working Paper
How to Choose Among Technologies with Learning Curves: Making Better Investment Decisions
By: Christian Kaps and Arielle Anderer
Learning curves, the fact that technologies improve as a function of cumulative experience or investment, are desirable-think inexpensive solar panels or higher performing semiconductors. But, for firms that need to pick one technology among several candidates, such as... View Details
Keywords: Learning Curve; Technology; Innovation; Batteries; Energy Storage; Sequential Decision Making; TELCO; Exploration; Exploitation; Problems and Challenges; Cost vs Benefits; Technology Adoption; Battery Industry
Kaps, Christian, and Arielle Anderer. "How to Choose Among Technologies with Learning Curves: Making Better Investment Decisions." Working Paper, March 2025.
- May 2006
- Case
A123Systems
By: H. Kent Bowen, Kenneth P Morse and Douglass Cannon
A 123Systems was a young company that was founded on basic materials science research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A co-founder of the company, Yet-Ming Chiang, was a full professor at MIT and served as scientific adviser. Intellectual property based... View Details
Keywords: Intellectual Property; Business Startups; Research and Development; Commercialization; Technological Innovation; Science-Based Business; Product Development; Battery Industry; Battery Industry; Massachusetts
Bowen, H. Kent, Kenneth P Morse, and Douglass Cannon. "A123Systems." Harvard Business School Case 606-114, May 2006.
- 31 May 2011
- Research & Ideas
Japan Disaster Shakes Up Supply-Chain Strategies
shortage of lithium-ion battery components. "This kind of disaster cuts a wide swath across the auto industry, but there's probably some similar geographic area that, if hit, would affect a different... View Details
- 06 Jun 2013
- Op-Ed
How to Do Away with the Dangers of Outsourcing
culminated in a lithium-ion battery so deficient that the entire nascent fleet of 787s had to be grounded shortly after launch. Boeing's scale was epic, but these problems are far from new. Nike, Foxconn,... View Details
- 12 Sep 2006
- First Look
First Look: September 12, 2006
adviser. Intellectual property based on the science, which offered a radical way to construct lithium-ion batteries that promised higher energy densities, was licensed from MIT. The concept for the company... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- 07 Mar 2017
- First Look
First Look at New Research, March 7
would manufacture lithium-ion batteries used in Tesla’s electric vehicles on an unprecedented scale. In early 2015, Tesla announced a new product line of battery packs designed... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- 23 Jul 2024
- In Practice
The New Rules of Trade with China: Navigating Tariffs, Turmoil, and Opportunities
company makes subway cars today. Yet, Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer describes Chinese railcars as a potential national security threat. Might there be spyware on the Red Line? CATL, the innovative Chinese battery-manufacturer, entered a joint venture with Ford... View Details