Electric vehicle giant Tesla showed significant progress in its lithium refinery development in Texas, based on the drone photos captured by a longtime Tesla watcher.
Drone photo highlights
Drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer shared the aerial shots he took from Tesla’s upcoming lithium refinery near Corpus Christi on the social media platform X on Monday.
As you can see in the X post, Tesla has already built the foundations of the upcoming Production Line 1. It has also started the development of Production Line 2.
“…The first half (production line 1) has most of the foundations, superstructure & work underway, while there is some work underway on the second half (production line #2) as well!”
Drone Operator Joe Tegtmeyer
Mr. Tegtmeyer further noted that the Musk-led company is also about to complete a new electrical substation on the site.
Brief background
Tesla announced plans to build a new lithium factory in Texas during its Investor Day in March 2023.
It officially broke ground on the planned lithium refinery in Robstown, Texas, in May 2023.
Since then, Tesla has ramped up its recruitment at the lithium refinery. As of now, the Musk-led company has 40 open job positions on its official careers page.
Production capacity
Tesla expects the new lithium refinery to hit an annual production capacity of 50 GWh of battery-grade lithium.
Tesla expects to complete the lithium refinery’s construction this year, according to Electrive. It aims to start producing sufficient battery-grade lithium hydroxide to power 1 million EVs at the site near Corpus Christi.
Nonetheless, it seems that Tesla still has more work to do at its lithium refinery in Texas before becoming fully operational. We can expect the longtime Tesla project observer Tegtmeyer to share new updates about the construction progress every now and then.
This major investment is part of Tesla’s efforts to establish a “sustainable energy economy,” potentially enabling the company to benefit from a more stable and reliable supply chain in the US.
