Tesla Starts Construction of $375M Lithium Refinery in Texas

Construction of Ltihium Refinery

Tesla has begun construction of a giant, $375 million lithium refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas. There is a sign by a graveled road that is advising of large construction - this is the clue that Tesla has begun construction of this lithium refinery.

There was a Twitter user, @fungineer43 who visited the site around November of 2022 and found no signs of construction. The site was level and not cluttered with anything at that time. This set it up to begin construction very soon.

This year, January, 2023, the same Twitter user visited the site where Tesla was going to build the refinery and shared some details with Tesmanian.com. This is what he had to say:

The dirt road is now covered with gravel and that may mean it is being prepared for cars to drive on it, signaling construction beginning. The official sign was setup near the site which announced that Tesla is building a lithium refinery. The site will also produce spodumene concentrate for use in the production of 4680 batteries for Tesla.

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Will Tesla Build More?

Tesla building its own refinery is a big deal. The reason it is a big deal is because nobody else is doing it - know other auto or EV manufacturer is building their own refinery. It costs a lot and would be a lot of debt and manpower for most companies. Fortunately, Tesla has about $20 billion in cash on hand.

$375 million is a very sizeable investment and should yield more battery materials. I would imagine that eventually, these materials will be used in the standard range Model Y with 4680 batteries. It could also help supply the Cybertruck.

By building its own lithium refinery, this ensures control over the lithium supply and could also help create structural battery packs for the generation 3 platform vehicle - the very vehicles that will end gas and EV companies.

This same concept should eventually be applied to India, where Tesla could also make an affordable Model 1 vehicle for the masses. Electric vehicles at low cost are starting to gain traction there.

What do you think of Tesla building this lithium refinery in Texas? Is this the first of many to be built? Should Tesla build one in India and setup a giga factory there?

In Related News: Tesla FSD Finishes 2022 With 285K Users

BREAKING: Tesla officially begins construction of its $375M lithium refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, a first of its kind in the US. The project will reportedly reach commercial operations by Q4 of 2024 (according to Tesla's filings from Sept). https://t.co/8j9p9nZxyv— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) January 4, 2023

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Jeremy Johnson is a Tesla investor and supporter. He first invested in Tesla in 2017 after years of following Elon Musk and admiring his work ethic and intelligence. Since then, he's become a Tesla bull, covering anything about Tesla he can find, while also dabbling in other electric vehicle companies. Jeremy covers Tesla developments at Torque News. You can follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn to stay in touch and follow his Tesla news coverage on Torque News.

Image Credit, Tesla, Screenshot