The Challenges of Refined Materials for EVs

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Cobalt is at the moment key for batteries. It stops them overheating and allows smaller battery sizes to be made. China controls 80% of the world's raw material refining, more than three quarters of global cell capacity. That means realizing President Biden's transportation future of electric cars would depend on China unless the US develops its own capacity.

The bombastic founder of an electric truck startup (no, not Elon) has been convicted for his role in his company’s “intricate fraud.” But even without the crimes, getting EVs to market has proven a lot harder than everyone thought.

This episode was produced by Amanda Lewellyn, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard with help from Miles Bryan and Haleema Shah, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey and Efim Shapiro, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.

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