Tesla breaks ground on lithium refinery in Texas
Brendon Thorne/Getty Images News
No automaker in North America currently refines its own lithium, but Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is looking to change that by breaking ground on a $375M refining facility in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The move will help the EV pioneer ease its supply chain and meet ambitious EV sales targets, as it expands outside its core focus of car manufacturing and into raw materials.
Elon Musk, who previously likened lithium refining to "printing money," expects the new Tesla (TSLA) plant to produce enough battery-grade lithium to build 1M electric vehicles by 2025.
"Texas wants to be able to be self-reliant, not dependent upon any foreign hostile nation for what we need," Texas Governor Greg Abbott added at the ceremony. "We need lithium."
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