The Battery Future: Recycling, U.S. Lithium, and the Next Big Leap

In Episode 122 of The InEVitable, MotorTrend welcomes one of the smartest guests we’ve ever had on the show: Ryan Melsert, CEO of American Battery Technology Company — former Tesla Gigafactory founding engineer, award-winning innovator, and a leading voice in U.S. battery materials, recycling, and critical minerals. Ryan dives deep into the real future of EVs, battery production, battery recycling, domestic lithium sourcing, and what America must do to compete globally. He also shares unbelievable behind-the-scenes stories from the early days of Tesla’s Gigafactory, how his team patented Tesla’s first battery-manufacturing tech, and why next-generation batteries could be 10× more energy-dense. Whether you're into EVs, engineering, geopolitics, or the future of clean energy — this is one of the most important conversations we’ve ever recorded. 👉 Subscribe for more episodes of The Inevitable — our show about the future of the car and transportation. 0:00 – Welcome to The Inevitable 0:34 – Introducing Ryan Melsert, CEO of ABTC 1:15 – Why Ryan is one of the smartest guests ever 2:40 – Flight chaos, Reno travel & getting to the studio 3:30 – Ryan’s background: GE, Lockheed Martin, DOE, Tesla 4:01 – Early passion for energy systems & thermodynamics 5:00 – Big-company engineering vs. startups 6:00 – Mechanical engineering foundations 6:30 – Submarine batteries & nuclear systems explained 7:40 – Nuclear reactors, propulsion & thermodynamics 8:00 – Ryan’s academic path: Penn State → Georgia Tech 9:00 – The EcoCar DOE/GM competition 11:30 – Building a car from scratch in grad school 13:00 – Winning the national EcoCar challenge 14:00 – GM, Volt development & future engineers 16:30 – How the EcoCar competition shaped EV talent 18:30 – Lobbying Congress to keep EV programs alive 19:40 – Ryan becomes an ABTC sponsor for student teams 21:00 – Designing battery packs for recyclability 22:30 – “Design for Recyclability” in EV engineering 23:00 – Ryan’s early renewable energy work 24:40 – How Ryan joined Tesla Gigafactory 25:30 – Tesla’s early struggles & risk-taking culture 27:00 – What it was like designing the largest battery factory ever 28:50 – First-principles thinking at Tesla 31:00 – Life building the Gigafactory from a trailer in the desert 32:10 – Designing Tesla’s in-house solvent refinery 34:20 – Patent story: Tesla’s first battery manufacturing patent 36:00 – Touring Panasonic factories in Japan 38:00 – Shifting to raw-materials R&D at Tesla 40:00 – Leaving Tesla & founding ABTC 42:00 – Why battery recycling matters 44:00 – The insane battery waste problem in manufacturing 45:30 – Dangerous recycling methods (forklifts + exploding cells!) 47:00 – ABTC’s strategic, safe, high-purity recycling process 48:20 – Winning BASF’s global battery-recycling competition 50:00 – U.S. critical minerals & supply-chain challenges 51:20 – Why China dominates battery materials 52:40 – U.S. had battery tech first — but let it slip 53:10 – Tonopah Flats: massive U.S. lithium discovery 54:30 – ABTC’s low-impact lithium extraction method 55:30 – Building a lithium refinery on top of the resource 56:50 – Just how much lithium is in Nevada? (Spoiler: a LOT) 57:20 – Environmental concerns & water usage 58:20 – Scaling up a $2B lithium refinery 59:40 – How U.S. battery minerals affect EV tax credits 01:00:50 – Rare earths vs. battery minerals explained 01:01:40 – Are EVs bad for the environment? (Spoiler: no) 01:02:40 – Second-life batteries vs. recycling 01:04:10 – Grid-scale batteries & Moss Landing failure 01:06:10 – Who pays for battery recycling? 01:07:00 – Where ABTC gets vehicle batteries 01:08:20 – Politics, EVs, tariffs & the U.S. supply chain 01:09:50 – Where ABTC will build its next facilities 01:11:00 – EV misinformation & public perception 01:11:30 – Are EVs inevitable? 01:12:00 – Battery tech future: solid-state & 10× improvements 01:14:00 – Why solid-state is hard 01:15:10 – What batteries look like in 25 years 01:17:00 – Future chemistries: manganese-rich, low-cobalt, etc. 01:18:30 – Closing thoughts & Ryan’s MotorTrend fandom 01:19:30 – Outro MotorTrend is the ultimate destination for gearheads looking for the latest automotive research and news. Find the right car, truck or suv for you. ➡️: https://www.motortrend.com/car-finder Follow MotorTrend for the latest! MotorTrend News: https://www.motortrend.com Facebook: / motortrend Instagram: / motortrend Twitter(X): / motortrend TikTok: / motortrend MotorTrend preferred music partner: Universal Production Music MotorTrend is a fully owned subsidiary of Hearst Communications Inc.