Source: Intercalationstation
The U.S. entered the 2020s without a dominant domestic battery maker at commercial scale, ceding manufacturing leadership in EV supply chains to China and Asia. The gap isn't technological—American labs produce innovations regularly—but operational: sustained capital, patient manufacturing infrastructure, and the supply chain density China built over a decade are absent. Without domestic battery production capacity, American automakers remain dependent on foreign suppliers for their electric transition, a constraint that affects industrial policy and trade leverage for years ahead.