Tesla's Lithium Battery Factory in Texas Will Be Discussed by Nueces County Commissioners Behind Closed Doors

Image: Tesla

Tesla's lithium battery factory in Texas will be discussed by Nueces County Commissioners behind closed doors to get information on which to form an opinion without outside influence. Tesla officially confirmed the plan to build the factory back in October.

Tesla is advancing plans to build a lithium refinery on the Gulf Coast of Texas. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk confirmed the move on the Q3 2022 Earnings Call in October in response to an analyst's question about progress in developing the company's new 4680 battery cell technology.

“Yes. We're also building lithium refinery,” he said. Another company executive said the location is in Corpus Christi, Nueces County, which up until the Earnings Call had been considered a potential location, with no official confirmation from Tesla.

The manufacturer considered the project for several months. The company has told the state regulators that it plans to build a battery-grade lithium hydroxide processing plant near Corpus Christi that will process raw ore. At this facility, it would package and ship battery-grade lithium hydroxide to “various Tesla battery manufacturing sites supporting the necessary supply chain for large-scale and electric vehicle batteries,” according to an application it sent to the Robstown Independent School District under the state's Chapter 313 tax incentive program.

Further discussions with Nueces County and Tesla about the planned opening of the Robstown lithium battery plant will now be conducted by commissioners behind closed doors, KIII TV said. This decision was made at a meeting of the Nueces County Commissioners on November 16. The court voted unanimously to move negotiations between county leaders and Tesla to executive session.

“You don't typically, put your lawyer on camera to give you legal advice that your supposed to listen to that helps you formulate your opinion. Because your negotiating with the other,” said Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales.

This factory will be the first of its kind in North America and will be able to process and refine materials used in batteries in addition to lithium hydroxide. As previously reported, early construction could begin in Q4 2022. The commercial operation could begin by Q4 2024.

Tesla plans to invest $365 million to build the factory. During the construction phase, this will create up to 250 jobs in the next two years. For the further operation of the factory, 162 permanent jobs will be needed. Of these, 10 will pay $81,000/year with benefits, while the remaining positions will pay close to the regional average of about $53,000/year and will not qualify for benefits.

Lithium prices have become very expensive in recent years, although the earth is very rich in the metal. Musk has repeatedly urged entrepreneurs to start recycling lithium to eliminate supply bottlenecks of the key material used in lithium-ion batteries. Obviously, the industry has not developed at the pace that is needed, and if it does not start mining lithium now, then in a few years the industry will face a serious shortage of material, which will prevent the production of the required number of batteries.

© 2022 by Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

_____________________________

We appreciate your readership! Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Article edited by @SmokeyShorts; follow him on Twitter

Follow @EvaFoxU