Tesla is transferring ahead with plans to construct a lithium refinery on the Texas Gulf Coast in a bid to realize extra management over the availability chain for electrical car batteries.
Chief Government Officer Elon Musk confirmed the transfer Wednesday on a convention name in reply to an analyst’s query on progress creating the corporate’s new 4680 battery cell expertise.
The Austin, Texas-based firm has been weighing the venture for months, as Bloomberg Information beforehand reported, however had been contemplating at the very least one different web site in Louisiana. The corporate has advised state regulators it plans to construct a battery-grade lithium hydroxide refining facility close to Corpus Christi that may course of uncooked ore materials into one thing extra production-ready.
Musk referred to as lithium costs “loopy costly” and has repeatedly inspired entrepreneurs to begin refining lithium as a option to ease provide bottlenecks of the important thing materials utilized in lithium-ion batteries.
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