The SP Show

Should you buy an electric car in 2026, or are you better off choosing a hybrid, petrol or diesel vehicle?

In Season 2, Episode 1 of The SP Show, Sri Popuri speaks with Charles Essam, Director of New Car, Manufacturer & Media at Auto Trader, about what UK car-buying data reveals beyond the headlines.

They explore why used EVs are selling faster than the wider market, whether electric cars now make financial sense, the truth about battery degradation and charging, and why Chinese brands such as BYD and Chery are gaining ground in the UK.

The conversation also examines:

• Who should buy an EV today and who should wait
• Why more than 1,000 used EVs are listed below £10,000
• Whether Chinese carmakers could enter the UK’s top five
• How far China is ahead of Europe
• Whether established European carmakers can survive
• Where AI genuinely improves the car-buying experience
• Why physical dealerships are unlikely to disappear

A practical, data-led conversation for car buyers and automotive professionals seeking to understand what is really happening in the UK EV market.

Why does China dominate battery manufacturing? Can India build a globally competitive battery industry? What separates successful gigafactories from expensive failures?

In this episode, Srinivas Popuri speaks with Vijayanand Samudrala, President of New Energy at Amara Raja.

With more than three decades of experience, Vijayanand shares lessons on battery manufacturing, industrial strategy, technology innovation, supply chains, startup execution, AI, leadership and the future of the global battery industry.

The conversation covers China's rise, India's opportunities, gigafactory execution, battery startups, manufacturing excellence, supply chains and what it really takes to build a competitive battery ecosystem.

Perfect for professionals working in batteries, EVs, energy storage, manufacturing, policy and investment.

Why do so many battery gigafactory projects struggle, despite raising billions of dollars and using world-class technology?

In this episode of The SP Show, I sit down with Dr Will Jones from Beck & Pollitzer, a company that has helped deliver process equipment installations across 13 battery gigafactories, working with 11 manufacturers in 8 countries.

Rather than discussing battery chemistry, this conversation focuses on the often-overlooked reality of building large-scale battery manufacturing plants.

We explore why many projects look perfect on paper but run into problems during execution, why process equipment receives far less attention than it deserves, and why experience remains one of the biggest competitive advantages in battery manufacturing.

We discuss:
▶ Why many battery gigafactories run into trouble before production even begins
▶ The biggest myth about building a gigafactory
▶ Why projects that look perfect in PowerPoint quietly start falling behind
▶ The hidden bottlenecks that can delay projects by months, sometimes years
▶ Why process equipment is "the machines that make the money"
▶ The procurement and coordination mistakes that cost millions
▶ Why experience remains the industry's biggest competitive advantage

Whether you're involved in batteries, manufacturing, industrial projects, engineering, investing or simply interested in how gigafactories are built, this episode offers practical insights rarely discussed in public.

If you enjoy the conversation, please follow The SP Show on Spotify and share the episode with others interested in the future of battery manufacturing.

Can India build a globally competitive battery industry, or has China already won the race?

In this episode of The SP Show, Vikram Handa, Founder & MD of Epsilon Advanced Materials and Managing Director of Epsilon Carbon, shares an insider's perspective on battery materials, supply chains, manufacturing, and industrial strategy.

We discuss China's dominance, India's battery ambitions, the challenges of scaling outside China, risk capital, R&D, LFP, silicon anodes, sodium-ion batteries, recycling, and what it really takes to build a world-class battery materials company.

A candid conversation about execution, competitiveness, and the future of the battery industry.

For more than a decade, hydrogen was presented as one of the leading solutions for clean transportation.

Governments funded it. Automakers invested billions. Industry groups promoted it as the fuel of the future.

Yet while battery-electric vehicles have achieved mass adoption, hydrogen mobility remains a niche technology.

In this episode of The SP Show, I sit down with Bernard van Dijk, aviation analyst and member of the Hydrogen Science Coalition, for a detailed discussion on hydrogen, batteries, aviation, infrastructure, and the future of transportation.

Bernard argues that hydrogen's challenges are not simply a matter of scale or cost reduction. He believes many of the barriers are rooted in the fundamental physics of hydrogen itself, making widespread adoption in passenger vehicles, trucking, and aviation far more difficult than commonly portrayed.

We discuss why Toyota continues to pursue hydrogen, whether Airbus' hydrogen aircraft ambitions are realistic, the economics of hydrogen infrastructure, battery-electric aviation, sustainable aviation fuels, and where hydrogen genuinely makes sense in a decarbonised economy.

• Green, grey, blue and black hydrogen explained
• Why hydrogen struggles in passenger vehicles
• Toyota's hydrogen strategy and the Mirai
• Why hydrogen bus projects are being cancelled
• The economics of hydrogen versus batteries
• The Hydrogen Science Coalition's position
• Michael Liebreich's Hydrogen Ladder
• Hydrogen trucks and heavy transport
• Airbus ZEROe and hydrogen aviation
• Battery-electric aircraft opportunities
• Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
• Biofuels versus e-fuels
• eVTOLs and electric aviation startups
• Hydrogen pipelines and infrastructure challenges
• The role of oil and gas companies in hydrogen promotion
• Where hydrogen should and should not be used

Whether you agree or disagree with Bernard's conclusions, this conversation challenges many of the assumptions that continue to shape discussions around hydrogen and clean transportation.

In Part 2 of my conversation with Professor Chennupati Jagadish, we go beyond the titles and explore the real journey behind one of the world's leading scientists.

Born in Vallurapalem, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, India, Prof. Jagadish studied under a kerosene lamp, faced academic setbacks, received more than 300 rejection letters, and still went on to become a global leader in semiconductor research, nanotechnology, and science leadership.

Professor Chennupati Jagadish is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the Australian National University (ANU), Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), and served as President of the Australian Academy of Science (2022–2026).

In this episode we discuss:

• Growing up in rural India
• Academic failures and resilience
• 300+ rejections before success
• PhD advice for students and researchers
• Mentorship and choosing the right supervisor
• Publish-or-perish culture in academia
• Scientific leadership and research impact
• Building a meaningful research career

This conversation is not only for scientists and PhD students. It is for anyone building a long-term career and learning how persistence, mentors, and the right mindset can shape outcomes.

#ChennupatiJagadish #ScienceLeadership #PhD #Research #Semiconductors #Nanotechnology #Academia #TheSPShow #SriPopuri #Mentorship

Sanjiv Malhotra, CEO of Sparkz Energy, joins Srinivas Popuri to discuss how the US can build a profitable domestic battery ecosystem through LFP chemistry, localized supply chains, and disciplined manufacturing.

This episode explores battery commercialization, startup scaling, energy security, AI, leadership, and investor strategy.

A must-listen for battery founders, energy professionals, investors, and policymakers.

Most scientific breakthroughs never make it to market. Not because the science is weak, but because the system around it is.

In this episode of The SP Show, I sit down with Professor Chennupati Jagadish to unpack the gap between research and real-world products.

We get into the uncomfortable reality behind deep tech:
– why great research fails commercially
– how public funding shapes what gets built
– where academia and industry misalign
– what it actually takes to translate science into scalable products

This is not a surface-level innovation discussion. It is a grounded look at execution, incentives, and the structural barriers that most people ignore.

For anyone working in batteries, energy, semiconductors, or deep tech, this is the real conversation.

What does it actually take to build a lithium refinery in the US?

In this episode of The SP Show, Srinivas Popuri sits down with Roshan Pujari, Founder & CEO of Stardust Power, for a practical conversation on lithium refining, critical minerals, bankability, pricing pressure from China, de-risking, and industrial execution. A strong listen for anyone in batteries, refining, project development, and the wider energy transition.

What does it actually take to build a lithium refinery in the US?

In this episode of The SP Show, Srinivas Popuri sits down with Roshan Pujari, Founder & CEO of Stardust Power, for a practical conversation on lithium refining, critical minerals, bankability, pricing pressure from China, de-risking, and industrial execution. A strong listen for anyone in batteries, refining, project development, and the wider energy transition.