I helped design the original Tesla battery. Here’s how America can lead the world again

If China decided tomorrow to cut off battery-grade graphite exports, nearly 100,000 Americans would be out of work in a week. Battery production lines, EV assembly plants and grid-scale battery installations — all of it stops. Without Chinese graphite, there is no battery supply chain in the United States. This scenario is not just a theoretical possibility. China has already imposed export controls on lithium-ion batteries and graphite anodes — controls that took effect in November 2025 and remain in place, with a temporary suspension of enhanced licensing requirements currently in force through November 2026. Preventing this crisis will require the United States to not just onshore previous-generation dependencies, but lead in production of the next generation of battery technology. China spent decades developing graphite production technology, building the processing plants, and securing the best natural resources for graphite mining around the globe. The country now produces nearly 100% of the world’s anode supply and over 80% of battery cells made globally, according to BloombergNEF. Even if the U.S. manages to expand domestic graphite production, it will be prohibitively expensive and we will be entering the race on the last lap, competing against supply chains that are larger, more sophisticated, highly subsidized, and fully entrenched. Spending years and billions of dollars to remain behind is not a plan — it’s a trap. A Better Path: Leapfrog to Next-Generation Materials Industrial leadership isn’t built from replicating the past — it comes from building the future. That next-generation material already exists — it was invented in America, and it is being scaled to global industrial-scale capacity today on American soil. Silicon–carbon (Si/C) anodes outperform graphite in every dimension that matters to the next generation of technology. Compared to graphite, Si/C anodes are half the size, five times lighter, and can deliver double th