The groundbreaking ceremony for the new factory in Texas
Quelle: picture alliance/dpa/Corpus Christi Caller-Times via AP
Tesla has broken ground on a new lithium refinery in Texas. It is scheduled to start production as early as next year. This gives Tesla a decisive advantage and at the same time gives hope to a German company.
Et was an event that couldn’t be more Texan: Tesla boss drove in a huge cybertruck decorated with the Lone Star flag of the US state Elon Musk late Monday evening German time at a construction site in the unknown Texan city of Corpus Christi.
The latest Tesla factory is to be built here, but none will be in Corpus Christi electric cars roll off the production line, but a refinery is created. However, none for oil and gasoline, of which there are plenty in the region, but one for refining lithium ore into lithium hydroxide so that it can be used in battery cells.
While Musk was still explaining that there is no global shortage of lithium ore, but there is capacity for the production of lithium hydroxide, the excavators were already rolling through the picture behind him. The construction work should be completed as early as next year, and a year later, i.e. in 2025, full production capacity should be reached.
Tesla wants to invest 375 million dollars in Texas for this. And as usual with Tesla promises Musk also a revolutionary environmentally friendly technology and a cost reduction of about a third.
With the refinery, Tesla would unite the entire value chain within the group. Some time ago the e-car manufacturer Mining rights for lithium ore secured in the US state of Nevada. In the future, the ore from the company’s own mine can be refined in Texas and then installed in the battery cells in the Gigafactory, which in turn are then installed in the electric cars in Fremont or other Tesla factories.
Local politicians enthusiastically celebrated the project and Musk. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said you shouldn’t visit anyone important raw material be dependent on “a hostile nation”. This refers to China, which has so far dominated the market for lithium and lithium hydroxide. A “secure domestic value chain” is now being created, according to Corpus Christi.
Tesla isn’t the only company to bet on the shortage of lithium hydroxide refining capacity. In Brandenburg, for example, the start-up Rock Tech Lithium is currently building its first lithium refinery. The foundation stone has already been laid there, too. Mercedes-Benz has also announced that it will buy from Rock Tech if lithium hydroxide is actually manufactured there.
However, the initial euphoria about Rock Tech Lithium has subsided in the past few months, at least on the stock exchanges. Over the year, the share lost almost half of its value and is now trading at just over EUR 1.50.
In the meantime, the papers had been worth almost six euros. Now the start-up could possibly benefit from the new momentum Tesla benefit. On Tuesday, after the laying of the foundation stone in Texas, Rock Tech temporarily rose more than five percent on the stock exchange.
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