Tesla considers opening lithium refinery in Texas, users vote on supercharger locations

Automotive reporter Pras Subramanian outlines Tesla's proposed plans to build a lithium refinery for their EV batteries and the vote between Tesla owners to decide the locations of supercharger stations.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: Tesla looking to gain more control over its supply chain, specifically when it comes to one particular material. Pras Subramanian has the details on that. Pras.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Hey, Seana. Elon Musk on the Q1 earnings call asked investors, do you like minting money? Then the lithium business is for you. Well, he actually is taking a page out of his own book. It seems Tesla filed an application with the Texas comptroller to build a lithium refinery on the Gulf Coast. It would process raw material for battery production, and they would ship that to other factories in Fremont and Texas.

Tesla said the decision will be based on tax credits received by the Texas government. And if approved, it would start building that refinery at the end of Q4, and then production of lithium would happen in 2024. So I want to note that Tesla-- many automakers have actually invested in lithium, actually the raw materials, but Tesla will be the first to build their own refinery that would directly refine lithium here in the United States.

- And Pras, Tesla is taking an unusual approach to map out its upcoming charging locations. What do we know about that?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, when this story came out, it was kind of shot down originally that Tesla was not going to allow people to vote on these supercharger locations. But then actually, Tesla tweeted out to users, supercharger voting coming soon. Reply with location suggestions. Replies the most likes will be included in the poll. So there's [? going to ?] be a two-stage process here where we'll take those most voted locations and have people vote on those.

So it's great news for Tesla owners if Tesla actually follows through on this. They don't actually have to. But they have around 3,600 locations worldwide. And at these locations, you'll have anywhere from 5 to 10 to 20 different plugs to charge. So it definitely depends on how many stalls you'll have at these locations.

So you got to ask, though, is this happening because there's now money involved because the White House is now offering $7.5 billion earmarked for a US charger network? And then also the bigger news, Rachelle, is will Tesla actually open up their network to non-Tesla owners? That's a huge thing people are watching, because their network as of right now is the most extensive.

SEANA SMITH: Pras we'll wait and see whether or not Tesla follows through. Only time will tell. Pras Subramanian, have a great weekend.