Odd Lots

This Is the Challenge of Securing the Battery Supply Chain

Switching to EVs will create all kinds of resource demands

A mine worker takes water samples from a brine pool at the Albemarle Corp. Lithium mine in Calama, Antofagasta region, Chile, on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Albemarle Corp., the world's biggest producer of lithium, is fast-tracking advanced forms of the metal that could result in better batteries for electric vehicles.Photographer: Cristobal Olivares/Bloomberg

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By Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal

April 18, 2022 at 8:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

With oil prices surging, there's a sense of greater urgency about moving towards electric vehicles. But of course, the metals that go into EVs are also expensive. And that goes for the core technology -- lithium ion batteries. On this episode of the podcast, we speak with James Frith, a lithium battery expert and investor at the VC firm Volta Energy Technologies. We discuss the state of the art of battery technology, as well as the ongoing need for commodities.