Innovation, policy, and demand converge at a critical crossroad.

As China maintains control over battery metal supply chains, the United States is countering with an all-of-government initiative to fund and fast-track the production and processing of battery materials in the U.S. and abroad. Yet the road to American battery independence remains long and complex.

Driven by electrification, emerging technologies, and sustainability, the battery sector is rapidly reinventing itself. According to a 2025 report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), global battery demand surpassed 1 terawatt-hour (TWh) for the first time in 2024, propelled by a 25% jump in electric vehicle sales.

This growth milestone has afforded the U.S. a strategic pivot toward rethinking battery materials, scaling recycling, and forging new alliances to build a more resilient, efficient energy future.

"Any country interested in expanding output needs time and investment to bolster domestic manufacturing, build up their expertise, and reduce production cost gaps relative to China," IEA analysts advise. "Such efforts require sufficient and sustained battery demand, and electric vehicle sales – which today account for 85% of the battery market – are the only driver that can create sufficient volume."

Rising demand beyond EVs – from grid-scale renewables and data centers to robotics and advanced manufacturing – is helping to support high production volumes. Automation and digitalization are boosting efficiency across the battery value chain.

As IEA analysts note, collaboration with battery producers through joint ventures and technology licensing can also reduce the time and capital needed to onshore production and strengthen domestic supply chains.

Though trade partnerships have been playing a volatile game of musical chairs, international cooperation remains essential.

"While markets used to be regionalized and small, they are now global and very large, and a range of technological approaches is giving way to standardization," the IEA adds. "Looking ahead, economies of scale, partnerships along the supply chain, manufacturing efficiency, and the capacity to bring innovations swiftly to market will be crucial to compete."

Researchers are advancing solid-state, sodium-ion, aluminum-ion, manganese-rich, and fast-charging silicon batteries, alongside breakthroughs in polymers and nanomaterials. These alternatives aim to push future batteries toward longer range, higher durability, increased efficiency, and faster charging, while addressing resource scarcity and geopolitical risk.

As battery demand accelerates across industries, the need for coordinated strategies to secure critical materials, scale domestic manufacturing, and reinforce supply chain resilience is becoming urgent. Meeting these goals will require public–private collaboration, long-term investment, and infrastructure designed to withstand economic and political turbulence.

dörkdesign

America's battery materials ambitions are caught between plunging mineral prices and policy upheaval, while innovation surges ahead.

Bringing batteries home

Manufacturers are rethinking materials, scaling recycling, and forging alliances to build a more secure energy future. However, diversifying battery production and its supply chain for the long term requires trade-offs.

Battery minerals have become chess pieces in a sprawling global match. China has tightened export controls on graphite, disrupting supply chains for EV anodes, while simultaneously overproducing lithium, cobalt, and nickel.

These dual pressures of scarcity in some areas and glut in others have exposed the fragility of U.S. electrification plans. Despite billions in federal incentives, several high-profile projects such as Hyundai's Georgia EV facility, Ford and CATL's battery plant in Michigan, and proposed gigafactories in Arizona have stalled or been scrapped amid price volatility and supply uncertainty.

Meanwhile, key passages along global battery material supply chains are pushing companies to regionalize supply chains and stockpile key materials closer to home.

Beyond accelerating investment in domestic sources for critical inputs, Washington is hedging its bets abroad, establishing or renegotiating critical mineral partnerships with Ukraine, Canada, Chile, Australia, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and several African nations, including the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Industry leaders worldwide are vertically integrating and partnering on supply chain projects that encompass the entire lifecycle of batteries – from mining and processing to producing cells and even building out green power and recycling hubs – all to control costs, establish standards, and reduce reliance on hostile intermediaries.

Notable U.S. projects advancing battery materials production include:

• Tonopah Flats (Nevada) – American Battery Technology Company's lithium mining and refining project has received financial and permitting support from the federal government.

• Thacker Pass (Nevada) – Lithium Americas broke ground on what is expected to be the largest known lithium resource in the U.S.

• Tamarack (Minnesota, North Dakota) – Talon Metals is advancing toward the development of a mine and processing plant to produce nickel, cobalt, and other energy metals.

• Stardust Refinery (Oklahoma) – Stardust Power has broken ground on a refinery capable of producing 25,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate during phase-one operations.

• Smackover (Arkansas) – Standard Lithium, Albemarle, Mobil Lithium, and others are advancing projects to extract lithium-rich brine from the world-class Smackover Formation.

• Hermosa (Arizona) – With Pentagon backing, South32 is developing a mine that will produce battery-grade manganese, along with zinc, lead, and silver.

• Hell's Kitchen (California) – Controlled Thermal Resources' project will extract lithium and produce zero-emission geothermal electricity from superheated brine below the Salton Sea.

• Graphite One (Alaska) – Poised to become the first major domestic source of battery-grade graphite, with support from the U.S. Department of Defense.

• Coosa Graphite Project (Alabama) – Westwater Resources is advancing this project as a complementary source of domestic battery-grade graphite.

dörkdesign

With China far ahead in the global race to secure critical minerals, the U.S. and Western allies are building out domestic supply.

Retooling supply chains

When pricing gets risky, innovation accelerates. A drop in battery material prices can be a double-edged sword: cheaper inputs for manufacturers but unsustainable margins for producers.

In response, automakers and battery manufacturers are ramping up vertical integration, taking ownership of supply chains, and investing in alternative chemistries that cut costs, ease sourcing pressure, and sidestep geopolitical bottlenecks.

Emerging battery technologies gaining momentum include LFP batteries, now widely adopted by Tesla, Ford, Hyundai, and Kia for their safety and affordability; solid-state batteries, with Samsung's high-density prototype entering real-world testing; and fast-charging silicon batteries from StoreDot, backed by Mercedes and Volvo and expected to launch commercially by late 2025. Sodium-ion batteries are advancing for stationary storage and budget EVs, supported by breakthroughs from Argonne National Lab, Korea's KERI, and research into recyclable tin anodes.

Meanwhile, Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) is being piloted by Chevron, Standard Lithium, and others to recover high-purity lithium from brines with reduced environmental impact, and lithium-metal batteries using vanadium cathodes are being developed by Pure Lithium and E3 Lithium as part of a vertically integrated "brine-to-battery" approach.

Recycling is a viable and cost-effective shortcut to increasing domestic feedstocks, complementing virgin extraction and enhancing supply resilience through circularity. Key companies in the recycling space include:

• Redwood Materials – Recycles over 70% of North America's lithium-ion batteries and is now expanding into repurposing EV packs for stationary energy storage.

• Princeton NuEnergy – Commercializing a plasma-based method that recovers up to 95% of lithium, cobalt, and nickel from spent batteries.

• American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) – Processes 30,000 metric tons of battery material annually at its Nevada facility and supplies recycled lithium hydroxide to domestic cathode makers.

However, efforts to establish a circular battery materials supply chain from the outset have not been without setbacks. Li-Cycle – a pioneering startup with a rocketing trajectory of support from both government and corporate partners – was forced into bankruptcy, underscoring the risks of trailblazing.

All in all, the U.S. is making strides on multiple fronts: retooling domestic battery supply chains, fast-tracking strategic mineral projects, scaling circular economy solutions, and exploring next-generation chemistries. But progress comes in fits and starts, shaped by volatile markets, shifting policies, and tense international relations.

The path to battery independence isn't a straight line, but with sustained investment, collaborative partnerships, and bold innovation, the U.S. has a fighting chance of achieving a more resilient and sustainable battery-powered energy future.