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Sam Jaffe

VP of Business Development, Mana Battery. On 1 show, 5 appearances. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.

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He founded Cairn Energy Research Advisors in 2015 to provide market research on lithium-ion batteries and supply chains, which was acquired by E Source in 2021. Previously, he worked as a journalist writing for outlets including The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Scientific American.

1shows
5appearances
70statements
35resolved
29supported
4contradicted
83%fully supported

Everything Sam Jaffe said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.

CATALYST Assertion Supported
Jaffe: US battery cells gain 30% to 40% advantage over Chinese cells
“So you're essentially talking about somewhere around 30 to 40% price advantage, or advantage that this, a U.S.-made cell gets over a Chinese cell.”
Sam Jaffe Sep 29, 2022 ▶ 23:44 Is the Inflation Reduction Act a win for EVs and batteries?
CATALYST Prediction Held up
Jaffe: US Energy Storage Capacity Will Double in 2023 Alone
“Essentially what we're expecting to see next year now is a doubling of the entire installed capacity Of US energy storage in twenty-twenty-three alone. In other words, everything that's been built and installed in the US is about to double in what's installed …”
Sam Jaffe Sep 29, 2022 ▶ 28:25 Is the Inflation Reduction Act a win for EVs and batteries?
CATALYST Prediction Open · timeframe Sep 2032
Jaffe: Over 600 GWh of battery manufacturing will onshore in North America
“We expect over 600 gigawatt hours worth of battery manufacturing to onshore in North America Over the next decade.”
Sam Jaffe Sep 29, 2022 ▶ 31:20 Is the Inflation Reduction Act a win for EVs and batteries?
CATALYST Prediction Not checkable as stated
Jaffe: North America will import many stationary storage batteries from China
“We're gonna be importing a lot of batteries from China for stationary storage applications.”
Sam Jaffe Sep 29, 2022 ▶ 33:45 Is the Inflation Reduction Act a win for EVs and batteries?
CATALYST Opinion
Jaffe: IRA tax credit rules definitely hurt short-term EV adoption
“Short-term, it definitely hurts EV adoption. It's a net negative because nobody qualifies for it.”
Sam Jaffe Sep 29, 2022 ▶ 37:01 Is the Inflation Reduction Act a win for EVs and batteries?
CATALYST Insight
Jaffe: Treating battery cells as outsourced commodities was a critical OEM mistake
“And that's what we've learned in the last 10 years of the development of the electric vehicle, is that the car is the battery. And it's not just the battery pack. The car is the battery cell. The car is the battery chemistry. And for the car company to just sl…”
Sam Jaffe Jul 21, 2022 ▶ 13:53 Seeking the holy grail of batteries
CATALYST Insight
Jaffe: The real prize of solid-state batteries is enabling lithium metal anodes
“The real prize with solid state is getting to a lithium metal batteries... You get the most energy dense possible anode you could possibly get With a lithium metal anode.”
Sam Jaffe Jul 21, 2022 ▶ 25:08 Seeking the holy grail of batteries
CATALYST Insight
Jaffe: Fast charging is a nice-to-have rather than essential for EV owners
“Fast charging is something that a new is going to appeal to a new buyer that's never owned an electric vehicle before, but once they get used to it, they realize this is a nice to have, not a requirement.”
Sam Jaffe Jul 21, 2022 ▶ 39:34 Seeking the holy grail of batteries
CATALYST Opinion
Jaffe: Second-life EV batteries struggle economically against sub-$100/kWh new cells
“A million mile car brings up the possibility of repurposing that battery pack once the car no longer functions, repurposing that battery pack for stationary storage. But I'm very skeptical about that proposition. You, at that point, you've got an old device th…”
Sam Jaffe Jul 21, 2022 ▶ 43:49 Seeking the holy grail of batteries
CATALYST Assertion Partly supported
Jaffe: Seven to eight companies produce 85% of global batteries
“What's really happening is we're moving more and more towards consolidation, and we're now, we now have a handful of seven or eight large companies that produce 85% of the batteries that are being made. And that trend is only increasing, not decreasing.”
Sam Jaffe Jul 21, 2022 ▶ 51:04 Seeking the holy grail of batteries
CATALYST Assertion Supported
Jaffe: Northvolt secured around $14 billion in capital, debt, and subsidies
“It's essentially about fourteen billion dollars in total, including money, actual capital raised essentially people saying we will contribute this amount in the future to future raises and tax credits, which were a large part of that fourteen billion.”
Sam Jaffe Dec 12, 2024 ▶ 10:09 What went wrong at Northvolt?
CATALYST Assertion Supported
Jaffe: Tesla Gigafactory discarded nearly half of its first-year battery cells
“The most famous, of course, is the first Tesla Gigafactory, which apparently they had close to half of their cells that they produced in the first year of that factory's production had to be discarded because they weren't getting the quality right.”
Sam Jaffe Dec 12, 2024 ▶ 19:55 What went wrong at Northvolt?
CATALYST Insight
Jaffe: Embedded equipment suppliers dictate battery factory success for years
“The equipment suppliers are embedded in that factory for between one and two years, and the factory owner is married to those people. They become the most critical people in the success of the company. And if you're not paying a hundred, just like in marriage,…”
Sam Jaffe Dec 12, 2024 ▶ 27:46 What went wrong at Northvolt?
CATALYST Assertion Supported
A de minimis loophole allows low-value Chinese battery materials until 2026
“There is a significant loophole, which is a de minimis ruling, which essentially says if there's a small amount of material come, that, that does get its way into, from China then that will, and specifically of materials that don't have high value, and that's …”
Sam Jaffe Dec 7, 2023 ▶ 8:22 Update: What the new Treasury rules mean for EV supply chains
CATALYST Prediction Not checkable as stated
New non-Chinese graphite facilities could produce significant volume by 2026
“I mean, there are graphite facilities being built today that should happen very relatively quickly and have a chance to be producing significant amounts of graphite in twenty-twenty-six.”
Sam Jaffe Dec 7, 2023 ▶ 13:49 Update: What the new Treasury rules mean for EV supply chains
CATALYST Opinion
Australia, South Korea, and Chile are the biggest international IRA beneficiaries
“I think that the biggest winners, though, of the other countries that are involved, Australia and Korea and Chile are the, are by far the biggest winners. They all have free trade agreements with the U.S. And are going to come out looking very good from this.”
Sam Jaffe Dec 7, 2023 ▶ 24:49 Update: What the new Treasury rules mean for EV supply chains
CATALYST Assertion Supported
Treasury classifies battery constituent precursor materials under strategic minerals rules
“What essentially what the guidance said was constituent materials, which is going to be any of these precursor steps up to the battery component itself, essentially falls under strategic minerals. As in the strategic minerals qualification. Now they added this…”
Sam Jaffe Dec 7, 2023 ▶ 37:13 Update: What the new Treasury rules mean for EV supply chains
CATALYST Prediction Not checkable as stated
Jaffe predicts another big battery investment jump in next six months
“And I still think there, there's going to be another big jump in activity over the next six months with this guidance.”
Sam Jaffe Apr 6, 2023 ▶ 5:46 What the new Treasury rules mean for EV supply chains
CATALYST Opinion
Jaffe: Australia, Korea, and Chile are biggest international IRA winners
“I think that the biggest winners, though, of the other countries that are involved, Australia and Korea and Chile are the, are by far the biggest winners. They all have free trade agreements with the U.S. And are going to come out looking very good from this.”
Sam Jaffe Apr 6, 2023 ▶ 10:03 What the new Treasury rules mean for EV supply chains
CATALYST Assertion Supported
Jaffe: Australian Spodumene Lithium Is Processed Outside Free Trade Partner Nations
“In the case of Australia, they dig up the rock called spodumene, and then they ship it to China to be processed into lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate, and that processing part of the supply chain is actually done outside of a free trade partner country.”
Sam Jaffe Apr 6, 2023 ▶ 14:56 What the new Treasury rules mean for EV supply chains
CATALYST Prediction Held up
Jaffe: Most EVs Sold Through Early 2025 Will Remain Luxury Vehicles
“Over the next 12 to 24 months, we're still going to be living in a world where most electric vehicles sold are luxury or near luxury vehicles.”
Sam Jaffe Apr 6, 2023 ▶ 16:33 What the new Treasury rules mean for EV supply chains
CATALYST Insight
Jaffe: Battery pack manufacturing will naturally co-locate with module production
“Once, if you've made the module here, you're going to make the pack here. You're not going to ship it to another continent to make the pack, and then ship it back here to put in the car.”
Sam Jaffe Sep 29, 2022 ▶ 9:03 Is the Inflation Reduction Act a win for EVs and batteries?
CATALYST Prediction Held up
Jaffe: Treasury will likely apply EV battery 50% value rule in aggregate
“The, a good assumption to make is that it's, everything's going to be put into a bucket, 50% of the overall value of that battery has to be satisfied, but they haven't specifically said that yet.”
Sam Jaffe Sep 29, 2022 ▶ 9:39 Is the Inflation Reduction Act a win for EVs and batteries?
CATALYST Prediction Not checkable as stated
Jaffe: IRA pushes lithium processing to US, Canada, Australia, and Chile
“So there will be a big push towards hydroxide processing probably in Australia, in Chile but also in the U.S. And Canada.”
Sam Jaffe Sep 29, 2022 ▶ 13:38 Is the Inflation Reduction Act a win for EVs and batteries?

Show 22statements(22 left)

One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Sam's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.

ShowRole thereEpsStatementsRecord
CATALYSTLEDGER VP of Business Development, Mana Battery 5 70 83% 29/35 full record on Catalyst →
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