Leading American automaker Tesla has just confirmed plans to begin operations at its first lithium refinery in Robstown, Texas, as soon as the first quarter of 2024 enters.
Plan details
As per Operations Senior Manager Jason Bevan’s remarks in an interview with KIIITV during the manufacturing day expo in Corpus Christi this week, Tesla will officially initiate commissioning the assets at the beginning of the year.
By this time, Tesla had already installed the equipment and passed them to its operations team. It plans to maintain this rate through the first six months of the new year. Meanwhile, production ramp-up will begin in the latter half of 2024.
“We will begin commissioning the assets roughly at the start of next year, and this momentum will continue in earnest during the first half of the year. Production will ramp up in the latter half of 2024.”
Operations Senior Manager Jason Bevan
The Senior Manager further implied that the Musk-led company has started considering the future of the facility and its potential benefits for the local economy.
“We have property that is well-suited for a future expansion beyond these first two trains, so I think there is ample opportunity for further economic impact beyond just those direct employees that we hire.”
Operations Senior Manager Jason Bevan
About the lithium refinery
Tesla officially broke ground at its first lithium refinery in Texas on May 8, EV-a2z reported. Notably, this important milestone materialized almost a year after the project’s initial announcement in 2022.
Tesla aims to produce a sufficient amount of battery-grade lithium to support its planned annual production of 1 million EVs by 2025.
This lithium refinery is set to supply the company’s battery cell production in Gigafactory Texas in Austin.
Job openings
Teslarati reported that Tesla launched a booth at the manufacturing day expo in Del Mar College’s Windward Campus.
According to the announcement, Tesla will recruit 165 workers at the new lithium refinery to complete vacant high-paying positions.
In retrospect, Tesla released three job advertisements in March as it looked for the following positions:
- an area superintendent
- a project scheduler
- an area construction manager
In addition, Tesla posted another job vacancy for a Senior Metallurgical Chemical Engineer just last week. Another full-time position for an electrician at the Robstown lithium refinery occurred early this week.
According to the report, Tesla already received 23 applications for the electrician position, which will join the battery materials team. The company is still accepting applicants today.
Tesla currently has 41 job openings posted on its careers website, including the following positions:
- Mechanical Commissioning Coordinator
- Chemical Operator
- Field Engineer
- Lead Lab Technician
- Analytical Chemistry Scientist, etc.
The Texas lithium refinery will boost Tesla’s standing as the first major North American electric automaker to process its own lithium. However, Tesla CEO Musk previously clarified its plans to still source some of its metal demands from its suppliers, including Albemarle and Livent.
