Welcome back to Critical materialsYour go-to source for the most important stories driving the future of transportation. On the agenda today: Fully automated car factories may be coming up sooner than you think, electric car batteries are being recycled super-recycled, and some alarming data has emerged about US auto loans.
A must-read automotive and technology digest, every day of the week.
25%: “Dark Factories” are coming
Tesla wants its Optimus robots to help in its factories.
Photo by: Tesla
Increasingly capable robotics and artificial intelligence could radically change the way cars are made this decade. Experts said that by 2030, there will be at least one “dark factory” for cars in the United States or China Car News.
It is a facility where the assembly line is 100% automated and requires no human intervention. Since no people were theoretically involved, this station could go “dark” and operate at full capacity 24/7.
Automakers have been chasing this sci-fi concept for decades, and they’re not slowing down.
Hyundai, for example, just announced plans to build 30,000 Atlas humanoid robots annually By 2028 and operating them in its factories. Tesla already manufactures Optimus robots on a limited scale in California. Elon Musk has been clear about his vision here; He wants to build an army of robots that can help out at Tesla’s factories and take on other menial jobs.
I visited about six car factories in the US and India. From what I’ve observed, even today’s most advanced assembly lines still rely heavily on human labor. Installing things like wiring harnesses and information panels requires workers to twist at odd angles. These are the types of tasks where human ingenuity still trumps machines.
Today’s factories are designed around human hands that can adapt and perform complex tasks in unpredictable environments. Robots simply aren’t there yet. That may change over time, but for now, it’s still humans doing a lot of the dirty work.
Tesla is known to have over-automated the early days of Model 3 production and had to pivot. “Yes, over-automation at Tesla was a mistake,” Musk tweeted in 2018. “Human beings are underestimated,” he added.
But that was almost a decade ago. Has technology become so good that humans are now overrated? We may find out in the next few years.
50%: Colorado wants to mandate recycling of electric vehicle batteries
Millions of electric vehicle batteries will reach the end of their life in the coming years.
Colorado has one of the highest electric vehicle adoption rates in the United States, and now the state wants to be a leader in another area: battery recycling.
Democratic lawmakers in the state Legislature introduced a bill this week that would mandate safe recycling of high-voltage lithium-ion batteries. If this bill becomes law, electric vehicle batteries will have to be properly recycled once vehicles reach the end of their life.
Automakers can handle this responsibility themselves or hand out contracts to recycling companies. The legislation will enter into force on August 1, 2028.
Here’s more Colorado Public Radio:
By recovering materials from existing batteries, automakers can avoid importing critical metals, create local jobs, and keep fire-prone electric vehicle batteries out of scrap yards. It would also make future electric vehicles more climate friendly, according to state Sen. Katie Wallace, a co-sponsor of the bill and a Democrat who represents Longmont.
“Colorado leads in electric vehicle sales, which is great for climate change, but that only matters if they can be disposed of responsibly,” Wallace said.
Millions of electric vehicle batteries are expected to reach the end of their life in the coming years. Without clear regulations, these batteries risk ending up in landfills or scrap yards – rather than having their materials reprocessed and put back into the supply chain. So, regulation setting clear standards for recycling is certainly a welcome step.
75%: Domestic underwater trade rises in the United States
Americans are less able to repay car loans than ever before.
Photography: Patrick George
Affordability is a huge, deep-seated issue in the American auto market. And the large amount of debt that many buyers take on to purchase cars doesn’t help matters.
Nearly 30% of trades toward new purchases came in negative shares in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the automotive website. EdmundsThis is the highest rate in years. Furthermore, the average amount owed on those underwater trades was $7,214, the highest Edmunds has ever recorded.
This means that a large number of car owners now owe much more on their loans than their car is worth when they trade it in for a new purchase. So, if your Toyota Corolla is currently worth $20,000, but you owe $27,000 on it, you will have $7,000 of negative equity.
The company attributed these underwater deals to a group of factors. High prices during the pandemic have locked buyers into expensive loans from the start. People were not able to repay those loans at the same rate as their cars depreciated. And when you trade up, your outstanding debts don’t automatically disappear, which means this is a cycle that can be very difficult to escape for some buyers.
Edmunds advises buyers to consider all of these factors before pulling the trigger on a new car. Minimize debt and take into account the true cost of owning a car — not just the monthly payments — before you’re tempted to trade it in for something shiny new.
100%: Will robots take over car factories by the end of the decade?
Is this my fantasy as it always has been? Or is it realistic thanks to advances in robotics and artificial intelligence? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Contact the author: Suvrat.Kothari@InsideEVs.com
