It's Already Too Late to Break China's EV Battery Dominance

It's Already Too Late to Break China's EV Battery Dominance

From The China-Global South Podcast by The China-Global South Project

March 17, 2026 · 32 min · Season 4 · Episode 14

About this episode

Zeyi Yang discusses the challenges the world faces in overcoming China's dominance in the EV battery sector.

U.S., European, and Japanese leaders are all talking about the urgency of building new supply chains to end their reliance on China for critical minerals and batteries that will power next-generation mobility, technology, and weapons. It all sounds great and makes for good politics at home, but the reality is that China's dominance of these vital supply chains is so big and still growing that it will be nearly impossible to close the gap anytime soon. Zeyi Yang, a senior writer covering technology and business at Wired, recently detailed this phenomenon in a cover article for the magazine about how "Chinese EV batteries are eating the world." Zeyi joins Eric to discuss why it's going to be so difficult for the rest of the world to match China's near-total dominance of this increasingly vital sector. 📌 Topics Covered in this Episode China's 80% dominance in EV batteries Why Chinese firms are expanding globally Key players like CATL, BYD, and Goshen Expansion into Europe and Southeast Asia Local tensions over the environment and labor Batteries as a strategic energy resource Show Notes: Wired: Chinese EV Batteries Are Eating the World by Zeyi Yang: https://tinyurl.com/595hnzrh…

People in this episode

Host: Eric

Guest: Zeyi Yang

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wired, CATL, BYD, Goshen

Places: U.S., Europe, Southeast Asia

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