With much of the world’s auto industry now crippled by a serious shortage of integrated circuits, the search for a solution to the dual problems of Covid related supply chain breakdown and limited global foundry capacity is on, in earnest. The stakes are high, with some analysts estimating that production of popular models could be cut by 1/3, with billions of dollars in lost revenue. Samsung, already a major foundry and contract manufacturer for fabless IC firms, has chosen central Texas for a very large facility that will likely produce single digit nanometre scale devices. While this will stabilize supply in the future, best estimates of facility start up are about two years, typical for large, complex foundry operations. Auto shortages may persist.While integrated circuits are an immediate problem for the auto industry, finding ways to make electric vehicles affordable and profitable is a larger, longer-term issue. General Motors has announced a new technical center in Warren, Michigan for cell and battery development that will include manufacturing techniques for use in GM plants and at GM/LG joint-venture operations in Tennessee and Ohio. Targets are aggressive, a 60% reduction in battery cost compared to GM’s current generation Ultium devices. The research center will encompass all aspects of cell and battery production, from basic chemistry to fabrication and durability testing.Access all episodes of This Week in Engineering on engineering.com TV along with all of our other series.