Now it is known that Tesla is planning its own lithium refinery in Texas. This would be a large and at the same time important step in procuring the raw material that is important for electromobility. This would make Tesla the first automaker with its own refinery and direct access to the coveted metal. Construction of the refinery could start as early as the fourth quarter of this year and be completed by the end of 2024 if the plant is approved in good time. The potential refinery in Texas is not supposed to be right next to the Giga Texas in Austin, but on the Gulf Coast of the US state. The planned location is Robstown near Corpus Christi, Texas. As early as April 2022, Tesla boss Elon Musk stated on Twitter that Tesla could potentially enter the mining and refining business directly because of the rising lithium prices.
Price of lithium has gone to insane levels! Tesla might actually have to get into the mining & refining directly at scale, unless costs improve.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 8, 2022
There is no shortage of the element itself, as lithium is almost everywhere on Earth, but pace of extraction/refining is slow .
According to preliminary plans, the application mentions around 365 million dollars as an investment sum. If Robstown is chosen as the location, the largest part of the investment sum could be incurred this year. But basically, Tesla is interested in any location with access to the Gulf Coast. In principle, according to Elon Musk, there should not be a shortage of the element lithium itself, but rather the rate of extraction and refinement of lithium should be too slow.
