This episode was originally published on Leonard HohenbergNovember 14, 2022

This week, Ford announced it was pausing work on a new $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan. President of the United Auto Workers, Shawn Fain, viewed this as a "thinly veiled threat" to cut jobs. But this is a factory that's had controversy surrounding it even before this decision. And it all centers around a company called Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited, or CATL.

Today, a classic Indicator on the history behind one of the most divisive factory plans in America and the man leading the charge behind the world's transition to electric vehicles.

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