Tesla Giga Texas Seeks Approval to Produce the New 4680 Battery Cell

Tesla has filed documents with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality stating that the company will plan to use a "cell-manufacturing unit" to produce the battery packs that are used in its vehicles, according to the Austin Business Journal.

“The facility is proposing to operate a cell-manufacturing unit to produce the battery packs that are installed in the vehicle,” says Tesla's filing.

In September, at Battery Day, the company revealed that it plans to produce batteries for its vehicles in-house. Test production has already started at Fremont and has been running for several months. The company's plans include both expanding production at Fremont and building production lines at Giga Berlin and, according to new data, at Giga Texas.

The exact location of the battery production is unclear from the documents. It can be located both on the previously acquired 2,100-acre site, where all the production buildings will be located or on the 381 acres that Tesla bought last month.

Tesla Giga Texas Expands 18%+ Land Holdings by Purchasing Additional 381 Acreshttps://t.co/Rz45xrvNHi

— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) September 26, 2020

"The filing with the TCEQ in July was for a permit-by-rule registration for the processes to construct equipment that will be used at the manufacturing facility. GHD Services Inc. submitted the registration on Tesla's behalf, and the application said six nitrogen-blanketed tanks, each with a volume of 20,000 liters, will be necessary to manufacture the cells," writes the Austin Business Journal.

September 29, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence has confirmed that Tesla will build a spodumene recycling plant near Giga Texas. The company aims to launch production in Q4 2022.

An on-site chemical nickel spin-off, which becomes the center for battery materials production in the United States, will strengthen control over both nickel production and of the mid-stream of the battery to the EV supply chain.

The new conversion/refining plant will turn hard rock spodumene concentrate into lithium hydroxide for direct use in its battery cells—a process that traditionally occurs in China using Australia-sourced spodumene.

 

Most importantly, this step will save the company time, reduce cost, and also remove third-party suppliers from Tesla's supply chain. This, in turn, will help the company scale battery production more independently—minimizing exposure to the lithium market and potential supplier issues.

© 2020, Eva Fox. All rights reserved.

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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter

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