Reborn: Building Cars, Starting with Sodium-Ion Batteries

There's a hundred million in here. This is the last time. The password is your birthday. Use it to pay last month's wages. If you fail again, then come back and work at the family company like a good boy. You can pick which subsidiary you want to join. “Mr. Chen, may I ask why you decided to build cars?” “I didn't want to. All I wanted was to sell batteries in peace, so consumers could get cheaper, safer products.” “But our competitors thought our batteries hadn't been tested by the market, so I had no choice but to make the batteries myself.” Automaker A: Listen to yourself. You call that selling batteries? Do you think we don't want cheaper battery packs? Automaker B: Exactly! You didn't just flip the table. You came in trying to rewrite the rules. Automaker C: Cash on delivery, that's how business works. Who can keep up with this? Which automaker has a supply chain backed by that much money? Automaker D: Mr. Chen, give me an address. I'll send you some local specialties as a little thank-you. Automaker E: And the price of your car, you're practically trying to drive us out of business. From then on, the industry had a new troublemaker, stirring things up wherever he went. Chen Mozhu: I hereby declare that this will be my final startup, one I'm betting everything on. Competitors: My dear Mr. Chen, please don't do this. We'll gladly pay protection money, just don't enter the market. Consumers: Mr. Chen, you're our god. Leave it to you to bring prices down. Mr. Chen, didn't you say this was your last startup? Chen Mozhu: I don't want to do this either! It's just that consumers are so enthusiastic. There's nothing I can do.