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In 2020, Out of 3.4 million electric cars sold in the world, only 328K was in the US... Compared to 1.39 million in Europe and 1.33M in China. Why is it that the US seems to have only a quarter of the sales than China and Europe?

I think the answer lies in effective government incentives. Similar to the GPS, General Satellite technology and the internet revolut ion (Think DARPA), the government can play a vital role in the adoption and the innovation in any ground-breaking technology.

Both Europe and China have had a head-start in policy pushing the universality of electrification. The US, however has been taking some steps too! Recently, the Biden administration has invested in building the domestic supply chain for batteries, a critical piece of the EV revolution.

Today, on Things Have Changed, we’re going to talk about what governments are doing to clean up supply chains and pursue EV dominance.

Some helpful links:

• Battery Report 2021
• Battery Value Chain
• China’s dominance in Clean Energy may face challenges in Batteries
  
  

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The growth of EV’s have gotten a lot of people excited... but has gotten environmentalists torn. Think about it... the more important materials for the batteries in your phones, laptops, and more importantly your future electric car, are typically composed of Lithium, Nickel, and even Cobalt. If you have paid attention to how these materials are extracted, it is plagued with issues like pollution and safety.

In our last episode, we talked about how major companies turning towards electrification, which means we may have an even bigger problem in the future... but as we’ve learned from our research, there are many entrepreneurs working on “Cleaning up” the supply chains and also working towards “Closed-loop” recycling system - In a nutshell, closed loop recycling is the process where a product is used, recycled, and then made into a new product - which reduces or eliminates Landfill.

Today, on Things Have Changed Podcast, we’re going to talk to you about the issues around the battery supply chain that powers the electric vehicles, and how entrepreneurs are coming together to recycle your batteries!

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As the world leans more into electrification, people learn the importance of energy storage. In our previous episode with battery people, Yen Yeh and Nicholas Yiu, we spoke about electric vehicles and the opportunities in the battery industry.

In this episode, we’re gonna dive deeper into the world of batteries by taking a look into the supply chain and why it’s soo problematic. Lithium, Cobalt, and Nickel are some of the components needed to produce batteries and they’re not the easiest materials to get a hold of.

Welcome to the Battery Series where we cover puzzling questions around the battery industry from an outsiders perspective... and we’ve learned a few things that might “Shock” you.

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A global transition to clean energy is underway.  What technologies will be essential to this zero emission future?
Governments and Companies across the world, have set ambitious goals to achieve net zero emissions in Transportation, Heating and Cooling and even the Industrial sectors by the middle of the 21st century. This move to renewable energy means that the future of batteries is inextricably linked to the overall energy transition.

Batteries are a key enabling technology, and in many cases considered the 'glue of the clean-energy economy”. The electrified world requires batteries to store and power the future, and from what we've seen in the past few decades, there's lots to be optimistic about.
 
Battery costs have decreased significantly - Lithium battery costs have fallen by a staggering 98% in three decades. All the growth and investments in renewable electricity are starting to add up, and now the battery industry is moving at a breathtaking pace. 

Our latest season is one of the most hopeful climate-related deep dives we’ve had in a while.
The first episode features Nicholas Yiu and Yen Yeh, two of the most credible voices within the climate tech space.

Recently, Nick and Yen, through their organizations  Intercalation and BatteryBits (Volta Foundation) have published the 2021 Battery Report, which is an accessible overview of the latest battery research, policy and business landscape.

It's a phenomenal piece of work from our brilliant guests, and we at Things Have Changed, highly recommend it.

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For most of your life, borrowing has been relatively easy. Think about it.. It’s been rather easy to get a credit card, get a loan for a new car, or even to get a mortgage for that house you've been eyeing.

But with Inflation running high, the Fed is planning on raising rates in the next year.

But how would this affect you?

Well this decision is quite big for everyone in the economy - form corporations to individuals. Increasing interest rates would increase your rates in mortgages, student loans, auto loans and especially credit cards.

Let's dive into some interesting numbers for mortgages:
The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.92% its highest level since May 2019 

• At this rate, people are going to soon find out their houses are “worth” much less than they think.
• Size of mortgage covered by $3,000 monthly payment: 
  • 1 year ago : $730k
  • Today : $640k

This is a significant difference, close to $100k that is not covered by the same payment., and this is down to the increase in rates.

Today, on Things Have Changed, we’re going to talk to you about this rising inflation environment and the down stream effects of higher interest rates on your everyday lives!

Check out our previous episodes on rising Inflation:

• Americans Are Getting Fed up With Inflation
• Food, Fuel, Rent... Why is Everything Getting More Expensive?
• Lumber Prices Have Been Surging. Could Other Commodities Follow Suit?

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Gaming makes a lot of money. Now, Tech wants a piece of it 🎮

In the last decade, the gaming industry has been smashing Hollywood’s earnings out of the park! Just in 2021, the Global “Games Market” had a whopping $180BN in revenue. In fact, Gaming is bigger than Hollywood and the music industry combined.

Top games are earning more than the big blockbusters. The top sellers include Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption Two, Fall Out 4 and the Call of Duty franchise. Looking into the numbers... The Grand Theft Auto V game has raked in more than $6BN, according to Marketwatch. Compare that to Avatar, the highest grossing movie ever at $2.8BN.

As a result, Video game companies have become hot commodities and @thingshavechangedpod we break down the feeding frenzy that has taken over the gaming industry!

Links:

• Gaming Makes More Money than Movies!
• Gaming is the new Big Tech battleground
• Microsoft, Sony acquisitions are just the start of massive video game industry consolidation

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There's been a data revolution in sports in the past few years.

From the Oakland A’s & Houston Rockets in American sports to European football heavyweights like Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, sports teams have increasingly caught the data bug.

They have increasingly sharpened their technology focus, and have begun collecting huge swarths of data to not only analyze past events but also predict with greater accuracy future trends.

Today on Things Have Changed, we’re going to talk to Kari Gunnarson, the Founder of Clutch App. Kari was a professional badminton player for over 3 years but he is now on a mission to improve your game - in Badminton, a sport that’s played by 300 million people all over the world.

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Cyber Attacks were shockingly brazen in 2021, targeting everything from hospitals, schools, to critical infrastructure at an alarming rate.

As more of the economy goes digital, individuals, businesses, and even governments are increasingly vulnerable to cybercriminals. Major corporations such as Colonial Pipeline and JBS USA had to dole out millions and millions of dollars in ransom payments, after they found their systems hacked and seized. This prompted governments across the globe to step up their approach in fighting computer crimes.

As individuals and organizations struggle to safeguard their data, we at THC break down the state of cybercrime  over the past few years, the mammoth payments to sophisticated coordinated cyber criminals and also mention a few nifty everyday "cyber hygiene' practices to protect yourselves from these blatant digital crimes. 

Links:

• Cybersecurity: How Companies Are One Hack Away From Disaster
• Cybersecurity: How Nation States Are Hacking Corporations

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2021 was a breakthrough year for crypto assets

• We’ve seen Bitcoin hit multiple new all-time high prices and more institutional buy-in from major companies. Coinbase went public.  Even the U.S. government has increasingly expressed interest in new regulations for cryptocurrency.
• All the while, people’s interest in crypto has skyrocketed: it’s a hot topic not only among investors but in popular culture too, thanks to everyone from long-standing investors like Elon Musk to that kid from your high school on Facebook.

So what changed?

“Productization” of crypto

• Crypto is a much larger ecosystem that goes beyond Bitcoin as a “store of value”, which has been the prevailing crypto-ownership narrative.
• With decentralized finance or DeFi, for example, a user may transact, borrow, or lend using an interface that is increasingly closer to that of a traditional banking app. The industry is on its way to provide user-friendly products from base layer complexities. 

We’re seeing real use cases and adoption of blockchain beyond mere price speculation as blockchain technology is used to disrupt multiple industries. What's been fascinating to see is the adoption in Developing countries. In a study done by Blockchain Analysis company Chainalysis, Worldwide Adoption of crypto Jumps Over 880% with huge uptick in Cryptocurrency Usage in Emerging Markets

Corporations too made big bets on the blockchain in 2021. Visa moved to allow payment settlements using cryptocurrency with PayPal & Venmo following suit. But the big news that sent shockwaves across the traditional and crypto markets was when Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors, revealed that it had allocated a sizable portion, $1.5-billion, of its balance sheet to Bitcoin.

If you want to understand the crypto industry a little more, our chats with Hossein Azari, Founder & CEO of DeFi company CMORQ, is a great first step:

• How Crypto-Based DeFi Will Disrupt the Financial Industry - with Hossein Azari
• How Blockchain Technology Can Enable Global Financial Inclusion - with Hossein Azari

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Throughout 2021, a lot has changed. But one thing has been constant: Inflation.  

As COVID still continues to take a toll on global supply chains, we’re also seeing the most significant changes in prices across multiple industries all of last year. Just in THC alone, we talked about everything from house prices hitting all-time highs to grocery bills skyrocketing.

In December, a 7% rise in annual inflation capped a year of soaring prices—the fastest pace in nearly 40 years. Let's dive into the numbers here:

• Fuel/Energy/Gas
  • Gasoline prices, over a 12 month period rose by about 50%
  • Europe saw a steep increase, where over the course of the year,  wholesale gas prices rose by more than 400%, breaking every previous peacetime record. Now this was largely due to the reliance of Europe to Russia    
• Autos
  • Prices of used cars and trucks soared 37.3% in December from a year earlier.
  • A shortage of semiconductor chips and Covid-19-related manufacturing shutdowns crimped auto production, winnowing the supply of new autos.
• Home & Rent
  • Rent is up a staggering 17.8% over the last year (largest annual increase ever)
  • Home prices up 19% (also largest annual increase ever). So true 'inflation' rate is much higher than 7%. And we can point the finger to the Fed here, as house prices are actually inflated by the Fed purchasing mortgages and other assets, and the Fed's money, making its way through the economy.

As prices rise, affordability concerns arise across the globe. In the episode the THC crew are diving into where exactly prices have been rising and how each one of us can avoid paying a premium on everything!

Our Previous Inflation Coverage that goes into greater detail:

• Lumber Prices Have Been Surging. Could Other Commodities Follow Suit?
• Should We Brace for Upcoming Inflation?
• Getting Fed up With Inflation
• Think Twice Before Buying a New Home This Year

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