Tesla Inc. on May 8 broke ground on its new lithium refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, which CEO Elon Musk said should produce enough battery-grade metal to build 1 million electric vehicles by 2025.
The move would make Tesla the only major car manufacturer in North America that will refine its own lithium.
The facility will push Tesla outside its core focus of building cars and into the complex area of lithium refining and processing, a step Musk said was necessary if the auto giant was to meet its ambitious electric vehicle (EV) sales targets.
“As we look ahead a few years, a fundamental choke point in the advancement of electric vehicles is the availability of battery-grade lithium,” Musk said….