Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, January 12 (Xinhua)-- last September, Elon Musk announced that Tesla would smelt lithium ore in the United States to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide. According to the latest report from AutoEvolution, Tesla has started a large construction project at a construction site in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Most importantly, a sign has been erected along the dirt road declaring that Tesla will build America's first lithium refinery there. Although Musk is known for his flamboyant personal style, he is unusually low-key in this matter.

Last year, it was reported that construction of the project would begin as early as the fourth quarter of 2022, and commercial production would not be possible until the fourth quarter of 2024. Tesla previously explained to Texas regulators that it planned to build a battery-grade lithium hydroxide refinery near Corpus Christi to process the ore into more suitable products.

Before that, Musk tweeted that lithium batteries were the new oil to affirm the value of lithium in the modern economy. In addition, during the Tesla earnings conference call in July last year, he also urged entrepreneurs to enter the lithium refining business, saying that the competition for lithium should not be lost, which is the same business as printing money.

Tesla previously said he planned to invest about $375 million in the lithium refining plant, which will employ about 165 full-time employees, as well as 250 construction jobs with a construction period of about two years, which is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2024.

In addition, Tesla mentioned that compared with the "traditional process", in the process of converting lithium concentrate into battery-grade lithium hydroxide, the new smelter will adopt an "innovative process", which requires less harmful substances on the one hand and produces more available by-products on the other.

It is well known that lithium is the lifeblood of the electric vehicle industry. It has been reported that an average of 8 kilograms (17.63 pounds) of lithium per vehicle is needed to make batteries, and China is currently the leader in lithium refining, with more than half of the world's production capacity. CTOnews.com reminded that Tesla had cooperated with Ganfeng Lithium Industry for a long time before.

Last spring, Tesla signed two important contracts with Australian lithium mining companies Core and Liontown Resources to buy spodumene concentrate from the two companies.

Specifically, starting in 2024, Tesla will buy 100000 dry metric tons (DMT) of lithium concentrate from Liontown Resources in the first year, increasing it to 150000 dry tons per year in subsequent years, while Core Lithium will supply up to 110000 tons of spodumene concentrate to Tesla within four years, with production of the first spodumene concentrate expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2022 and Tesla in the second half of 2023.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.