Elon Musk Has Ideas For Lithium Mining To Help Lower The Cost Of EV Batteries

Tesla might get into lithium manufacturing to help ease the supply problem of the metal, according to a Twitter response from the company’s CEO Elon Musk. Lithium (Li) is a key component of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, including the batteries in plug-in hybrids and Hydrogen fuel cell cars. The growth of EVs has largely contributed to the rise in llithium consumption globally, but the supply has yet to catch up. 

Price of lithium has gone to insane levels! Tesla might actually have to get into the mining & refining directly at scale, unless costs improve.

There is no shortage of the element itself, as lithium is almost everywhere on Earth, but pace of extraction/refinement is slow.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 8, 2022

According to Elon, lithium is fairly abundant, but the pace of extraction and refinement is too slow to meet the rising demand for EVs across the world. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) – the type of EV that uses the highest amount of Li metal – are the cars of the future, and their demand is rising globally. In India, the government offers substantial incentives and subsidies to buyers of select BEV models, contributing to a steady rise in monthly sales throughout 2021 and in 2022. 

Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai, one of the company's battery and EV production units  

In another tweet, Musk said, “We have some cool ideas for sustainable lithium extraction and refinement.” He hasn’t elaborated on those ideas yet, but it’s possible that The Boring Company, a tunnel construction company started by Musk, might be a part of the plans. 

Prufrock-2 is alive in Texas pic.twitter.com/Hj5H03Fd36

— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) August 21, 2021

Lithium extraction can be performed in two ways – by building a mine and extracting the metal from the clay or ore, or by pumping underground water to form brine pools. Both methods have their own challenges, but the large-scale extraction that’s required to meet the demand for EVs can only be achieved using the first method. 

The Boring Company's tunnel boring machine

Also read: 

• Samsung's New Pilot Line Will Make Prototypes Of Its Novel Solid State Battery For EVs

• Used Jaguar I-Pace Batteries Get A Second Life In Energy Storage Systems For Formula E

• New Tesla Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg To Produce Electric Cars For Europe

We are excited to see what solutions Elon Musk comes up with for the extraction. If Tesla does get into Li-mining, even to meet its own demand, it’ll help ease the lithium crunch around the world. Meanwhile, some battery manufacturers and startups are also working to develop non-Li-based battery chemistries. Large-scale production of lithium-free batteries is still several years away, so Elon Musk’s new venture is likely to be successful in the foreseeable future. 

Get latest updates on
the automobile community

Login Now

Tesla is expected to introduce its first electric vehicle in the Indian market later in 2022. Initially, Teslas are expected to be imported into India, and are likely to add a hefty premium to their prices.