Foreign-made cars no longer qualify. Tesla and G.M. should become eligible again. But officials are still working on the fine print.
Many companies and investors are eager to recycle batteries but it could take a decade or more before enough used lithium-ion batteries become available.
The project also illustrates how difficult it is to get lithium out of the ground and break China’s dominance in processing the metal and turning it into batteries.
The price of nickel, an essential ingredient in most batteries, has soared because of fear that Russian supplies could be cut off.