Tesla has announced it’s moving forward with plans to build a lithium refinery on the Texas Gulf Coast, in a bid to gain more control over the supply chain for electric vehicle batteries. The facility would support Tesla’s electric-vehicle battery production. The plant would be focused on developing “battery-grade lithium hydroxide” and would be the first of its kind in North America. If approved, construction could begin as early as Q4 of 2023.
Tesla’s plan to construct a lithium refining site in the US represents an important shift in automakers’ upstream strategy within the EV supply chain. This move is expected to lead to additional automakers looking to vertically integrate their upstream operations in the EV supply chain by also onshoring or nearshoring refining facilities, particularly in North America and Europe where refining capacity is low.
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