I'm 2nd semester studying AI/CS and I don't have a deeper understanding of chemistry. My battery/economic knowledge mostly comes from university talks on youtube and further researching ^(*googling*) stuff I don't understand. Statistics and maths from my actual studies come in handy even though I'm pretty average at them. It's like a rabbit hole. You start with a simple video that gets you interested and after that you just google all the new keywords and read about them. Tesla > Tesla drivetrain > Tesla battery > Tesla 4680 battery cell > cylindrical battery cell > cylindrical vs. pouch cell > solid state battery > NIO solid state battery > Daimler eCitaro solid state battery > battery lifecycles > battery properties > battery composition > LFP battery > M3P battery > CATL company > Sodium-Ion battery ................

Learning about researchers and institutes also helps me to get a deeper understanding of the current scientific discussions going on etc. It's always important to not fall for researchers that just say stuff because they work for a certain company or similar.

The same thing is possible with every (new) technology. Renewable hydrogen, alternative energy storage solutions, solar panels, wind turbines, nuclear reactors (<- spicy topic), AI, programming languages, it-security, batteries, mechanics of a central bank...

Of course none of it will ever make up for an actual degree in one of these fields but that is not the point. It's just a fun thing to do.

Edit: i forget to mention that most battery stuff I know comes from the KIT/HLU channels on youtube but they are 100% in German.