The $375 million lithium refinery is expected to make enough material to build more than 1 million electric vehicle batteries a year.
Tesla Inc. has begun operations at its new lithium refinery near Corpus Christi , a plant CEO Elon Musk said eventually would produce enough of the material for batteries in 1 million electric vehicles per year — and could expand beyond that.
In the year-and-a-half since Gov. Greg Abbott joined him to break ground at the 1,200-acre site in Robstown — at a time Musk was promising that lithium refining would be “basically minting money” — prices have fallen as the market has become oversupplied. On Sunday, though, Tesla North America said raw materials were successfully fed through the plant’s kiln for the first time last week. RELATED: Greg Abbott and Elon Musk celebrate construction of Tesla’s lithium refinery in South Texas “Increasing lithium refining capacity is critical to a sustainable energy economy,” the Austin-based EV maker said in a post on X heralding the milestone toward production. It didn’t provide further details, nor did it respond Monday to a request for comment. At the May 2023 groundbreaking, Musk said the $375 million plant, the first large-scale refinery for battery grade lithium in the U.S., would begin production in 2025. In August, a report from energy consultant Wood Mackenzie called a looming lithium oversupply “undisputed.” It drew a distinction between battery-grade lithium like that Tesla will be producing and lower-quality, technical-grade lithium, which isn’t suitable for batteries. The oversupply for battery-grade lithium won’t be as pronounced as for the raw materials and lower-grade refined products, it said — but remains a factor. The reason: Production is outpacing demand as EV sales have fallen, with oversupply of battery-grade lithium projected to continue through 2028. According to an October report from Reuters, China is responsible for about two-thirds of the world’s lithium chemical output for use in batteries for EVs, phones, computers and other rechargeable consumer electronics. At Robstown, Tesla is refining lithium from spodumene, according to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permitting documents. Spodumene concentrate is a lithium ore that’s mined. Australia, Canada and the U.S. are its top producing countries, and there are deposits in China, Brazil and parts of Africa. Tesla gets most of its supply from Piedmont Lithium of Canada and Liontown Resources of Australia. On Nov. 19, the TCEQ approved Tesla’s request to renew its Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit after responding to six public comments with concerns about the plant’s potential environmental impacts. RELATED: Tesla hit with federal fines for worker safety violations at its Gigafactory Texas in Austin Traditional lithium refining is water- and energy-intensive, requires powerful acids and creates hazardous byproducts, but Tesla says the refining process it’s developed for the Robstown site is less harmful to the environment. Tesla’s process involves mixing table salt, instead of acids, with the spodumene concentrate. It is then mixed with water and agitated at high temperatures to create a lithium-rich slurry. It’s then filtered and purified to eventually produce lithium hydroxide, a key ingredient for batteries. From there, the lithium hydroxide is transported to one of Tesla’s battery plants, such as its Gigafactory Texas in Austin. “This process eliminates the use of hazardous reagents and byproducts in favor of more inert options,” Tesla said in a statement. “The byproduct from this facility, a mixture of sand and limestone, is useful in the production of construction materials, making beneficial use of traditional waste streams.” Tesla said building out the site would create nearly 1,000 temporary construction jobs as well as nearly 250 full-time employees, “including production technicians, operations managers and engineering roles to support ongoing plant maintenance and optimization.”
Tesla North America Texas Commission On Environmental Quality Wood Mackenzie Reuters Evs Liontown Resources Of Australia Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Elon Musk Greg Abbott Robstown South Texas Australia Austin Corpus Christi U.S. Gigafactory Texas China Canada Brazil Africa Piedmont Lithium Austin Traditional
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Tesla Debuts $5 Unlimited Overnight Charging Offer In TexasTesla considers 'overnight' charging between the hours of 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.
Read more »
Tesla fined by OSHA for worker safety violations in TexasElon Musk's Tesla hit with worker safety violations from OSHA for operations at Gigafactory Texas in Austin.
Read more »
Tesla fined by OSHA for worker safety violations in TexasElon Musk's Tesla hit with worker safety violations from OSHA for operations at Gigafactory Texas in Austin.
Read more »
Texas Longhorns vs. Texas A&M Aggies Lone Star Showdown Preview: Keys to VictoryThe Texas Longhorns will have a tall task ahead of them in College Station this Saturday.
Read more »
Texas Secures SEC Championship Ticket with Dominant Win Over Texas A&MTexas (11-1, 7-1 SEC, No. 3 CFP) secured a spot in the SEC championship by defeating Texas A&M (8-4, 5-3, No. 13 CFP) in a highly anticipated rivalry game. Despite some early turnovers by freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers, Texas dominated defensively and won convincingly in a physical confrontation.
Read more »
Texas A&M Aggies 'Physically Annihilated' By Texas LonghornsThe Texas A&M Aggies struggled in the trenches against their biggest rival.
Read more »