China might build 70% of your batteries and that’s a policy problem now

70% — that’s how much of global battery manufacturing capacity could end up in China, per MIT’s 2026 list, and if that doesn’t make your government break out in a rash, check their stock portfolio.

Because batteries aren’t “just tech” anymore. They’re the new oil, except you can’t even pretend they’re just sitting under your country waiting to be freedom-extracted.

MIT’s basically waving a flag that says we’re drifting into “energy security mode,” which is a very polite way to say: everybody just realized the thing powering EVs and the grid is also a geopolitical choke point.

This hits your wallet in three directions at once. EV prices aren’t just about “innovation” and “economies of scale” — they’re about who can actually crank out cells at industrial volume without getting slapped with tariffs, export controls, or a new moral panic every election cycle.

Grid storage is the same story. We keep promising renewables like it’s a subscription you can cancel anytime, but without massive batteries, it’s just vibes with better branding.

And national policy? Get ready for governments to throw subsidies at battery factories like it’s 2008 and the banks just “accidentally” did fraud again.