Editor’s note: “Position Your Portfolio for the Forever Battery Gold Rush” was previously published in August 2022. It has since been updated to include the most relevant information available.
The big money in the stock market is made by investing in technologies that will reshape the world. And while most investors these days are enthralled with AI, I’ve actually turned some of my attention to different powerful technological megatrend: the forever battery gold rush.
When you sit back and really think about it, nearly every technology out there requires batteries to power it.
Electric vehicles? They run on lithium-ion batteries.
Energy storage systems? They, too, run on batteries.
Artificial intelligence? Built on software, which is run on computers, which are powered by – you guessed it – batteries.
What about smartphones? VR headsets? Charging stations? All those end markets need batteries, too.
A few months ago, Morgan Stanley aptly summed it up in a research note, saying:
“We need batteries. Literally everywhere.”
That note was meant to illustrate that the world is about to embark upon a battery infrastructure spending boom over the next decade. Countries and companies alike will need to produce enough batteries to power these tech megatrends.
We couldn’t agree more with that thesis.
Batteries will be the epicenter of our tech-dominated future. Demand for them will increase at exponential rates in the 2020s. But there is not an infinite supply of batteries. If anything, we have a supply shortage right now. Therefore, over the next decade, there will be a battery spending boom. And companies all along the battery manufacturing supply chain will make a lot of money.
It will be a battery gold rush.
And we have a $15 stock to play this decade-long megatrend.
The Forever Battery Is the Holy Grail of This Gold Rush
The “holy grail” of the coming “Battery Gold Rush” will be a special type of battery that I like to call a forever battery. And it’s going to change the world as we know it.
To understand why, we need to take a quick trip back to chemistry class…
Batteries comprise three things: a cathode, an anode, and an electrolyte. They work by promoting the flow of ions between the cathode and anode through the electrolyte:
Conventional lithium-ion batteries are built on liquid battery chemistry. That is, they comprise a solid cathode and anode, with a liquid electrolyte solution connecting the two.
These batteries have worked wonders for years. But due to the physical constraints of dealing with a liquid electrolyte, they’re now reaching their limit in terms of energy cell density. Basically, that means that if we want our phones, watches, and electric cars to last longer and charge faster, we need a fundamentally different battery.
An Energy Storage Marvel
Enter the solid-state battery.
The name pretty much says it all. Take the liquid electrolyte solution in conventional batteries. Compress it into a solid. Create a small, hyper-compact solid battery that – because it has zero wasted space – lasts far longer and charges far faster.
Of course, the implications of solid-state battery chemistry are huge.
Solid-state batteries could be the key to making our phones sustain power for days… enabling our smartwatches to fully charge in seconds… and, yes, allowing electric cars to drive for thousands of miles without needing to recharge.
That’s why solid-states are dubbed by insiders as the “forever battery.” And it’s why these batteries are the holy grail of the battery gold rush.
In the 2020s, companies will gain competitive advantages by using the best batteries. The better the battery, the better the performance of an electric vehicle, phone, energy storage system, etc.
Therefore, there won’t be any rush for old-school batteries built on old tech. But there will be an unprecedented mad dash for these forever battery marvels.
In other words, the battery gold rush of the 2020s will be focused on solid-state batteries.
The Final Word on the Forever Battery
The battery gold rush was always going to happen. But recent developments – specifically, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which unearthed the supply and price fragility of a fossil-fuel-based energy system – have vastly accelerated it.
The battery gold rush isn’t something that will happen in a few years. It’s happening right now. And over the next 12 months, it will change the rules of the global economy.
And the forever battery is at the epicenter of this gold rush.
Solid-state batteries offer one potential solution.
But believe it or not, other battery innovations are in the works that may actually provide an even better solution…
…Like one being pioneered by a tiny battery startup that has the interest of pretty much every Big Tech firm in the world right now.
On the date of publication, Luke Lango did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.