For years, as California has moved ahead with ambitious clean-air regulations, the state has had to prod the auto industry to go along. Now, in the push to electrify the nation’s car fleet, it is California that is keeping up with automakers.

Even before state regulators acted Thursday to ban sales of new internal-combustion vehicles by 2035, Detroit’s Big 3 and their international rivals were setting increasingly aggressive targets for exclusively electric product lines.

But while the goals of automakers and regulators are aligned, mass production of affordable electric cars — which requires reconceiving the supply chains and engineering developed for internal-combustion vehicles — will not be easy.

The automakers are hurrying to close deals with mining companies and other suppliers that can meet the escalating demand for battery materials. Some are teaming up with smaller companies to expedite the build-out of a nationwide charging network. And they are […]