Elon Musk attends the ground-breaking ceremony of Tesla's lithium refinery in Texas

9 May 2023, 07:35:54

CNBC reports that Elon Musk has broke ground on a Tesla lithium refinery that is planned to be built in Corpus Christi, Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott also attended the ceremony. Tesla will invest USD 3.75 million in this project as one of the company's steps to secure a domestic supply of lithium hydroxide for its batteries. The report cites Elon Musk who said that this refinery should provide enough lithium for Tesla to produce 1 million vehicles annually. This means that the amount will surpass that of the rest of North America's refining capacity combined. To put this in another perspective - so far, the USA accounts for 1% of the world's lithium processing and refining, while China controls more than 50% of it. During the groundbreaking event, it has also been explicitly stated that the whole process will not be harmful to people and the environment. However, no details have been provided on how the potentially hazardous pollutants will be worked around.Source

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