Two climate technologies that matter

The breakthrough technologies of 2023

It’s finally arrived – our 2023 list of 10 game-changing technologies. Two climatic elements made the list this year: electric vehicles and battery recycling!

We’ve been working on this list since July, sifting through our coverage and keeping an eye on the news to select the technologies we think will be important.

If you haven’t read it yet, a good place to start is my editor, David Rotman’s introductory essay. In it, David talks about the role of government in innovation and explains what the recent adoption of industrial policy, both in the United States and in many other countries, will mean for future technologies. In a nutshell, the Silicon Valley approach is not doing a great job of boosting productivity and transforming the economy. But there is another way.

If you want to understand what it takes to help technologies have an impact, or if you just want to know what the phrase “industrial policy” really means, I highly recommend that you read the article before diving into the rest of the list.

Now let’s move on to breakthroughs, starting with the inevitable VE.

I know some of you might think electric vehicles aren’t exactly new. The first Tesla Roadsters were delivered 15 years ago (yes, 2008 was 15 years ago), and a small number of other electric cars, like the GM EV1, had even hit the roads in the years 1990.

Electric vehicles made the list this year not because of any particular technical milestone, but because they have reached critical mass. They are now a true market contender, reaching around 13% of global new vehicle sales in 2022. This is a great time for electric vehicles, marked by advancements not only in technology but also in infrastructure, manufacturing and consumer acceptance.

It was a tricky thing to crystallize exactly what EVs should be on the list this year. Different forms of this idea emerged very early on in the planning, with several team members coming up with ideas that touched on electric vehicles in one way or another.