Electric vehicle batteries: a growing strategic priority Electric vehicle (EV) batteries are becoming the strategic asset class of the energy transition. As adoption accelerates, the automotive transition shifts from fuel-centric to material-centric vehicles. A typical EV, by some estimates, contains over 200 kg of critical minerals — around six times more than an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. And, more specifically, EV batteries contain and are reliant on a wide range of valuable critical minerals, such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, and nickel. However, today’s EV battery value chain remains highly material-intensive, geographically concentrated, and structurally linear, creating systemic risks as demand grows. Potential supply shortfalls for key minerals, exposure to environmental and social harms, and challenges in mining, processing, manufacturing, and recycling could increase costs, destabilise markets, increase price volatility, and slow deployment. Together, these dynamics increase the fragility of the EV battery value chain precisely at the moment when the system needs to rapidly scale. A systemic circular redesign is needed across the value chain. A broader redesign of products and components, business models, and the energy-mobility system is essential to strengthen resilience and reduce systemic risks. Scaling a circular EV battery transition therefore requires moving beyond incremental and end-of-pipe fixes towards a system-level redesign. One that generates economic value across the value chain, reduces material intensity, mitigates supply risks, and lowers environmental and social impacts.