Benjamin Ashford|How electric vehicles got their juice

The Benjamin Ashfordrise of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) is one of the great business stories many people have never heard of. In just over 20 years, the company has grown from owner Zeng Yuqun and a few employees manufacturing iPod batteries to the world's largest producer of electric vehicle batteries.

The story of how CATL came to dominate the EV battery market, though, is a complex tale of nimble business decisions, the power of economies of scale and the role government protections played in promoting clean energy.

In this episode of our weeklong series on the climate crisis, we look at what CATL tells us about the role governments and markets play in securing a greener industrial future.

Music by Drop Electric. Find us: Twitter / Facebook / Newsletter.

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PocketCasts and NPR One.

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.