Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Kamala Harris for US president in an Instagram post signed “Childless Cat Lady” is having an even further-reaching impact than expected. Halfway across the world, investors in Asia’s battery makers have been dissecting public reactions to the television debate between presidential hopefuls Harris and Donald Trump searching for any hint of how the US election will play out.
For many, the biggest focus is on electric cars. Trump has said if he is re-elected, on day one he would end what he calls a mandate to sell electric vehicles to save the US auto industry from “complete obliteration”.
In recent years, EV battery makers have been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Biden administration’s aggressive push for an EV transition. Current US targets mean that around two-thirds of all new cars and trucks sold will need to be electric by 2032. This means demand for millions of new batteries would reach 44mn by 2030 in the US alone to reach net zero emissions, according to think-tank RMI.