Tesla Lithium Refinery in Full Operation Showcased in New Video

Tesla released a video today that shows their lithium refinery in action just outside Corpus Christi, Texas. Jason Beavenon, the site manager, gives us a tour of the facilities. What’s impressive is that this is a fresh new, one-of-a-kind factory in North America that can convert spodumene ore into battery-grade lithium hydroxide in a cleaner manner than typical lithium refineries.

Construction on this project began in 2023, and raw materials entered the kiln in 2024. By 2025, this place was completely operational. They were able to speed up the development process by completing several of the feasibility, design, and construction phases simultaneously, rather than one at a time.

The refinery is specifically designed to handle spodumene, which is a hard rock loaded with lithium. The process involves feeding spodumene into a kiln by conveyor belting, where it is heated and cooled. Following that, there is alkaline leaching and various purification stages before arriving at the final product, lithium hydroxide, which is used to make batteries.

Unlike traditional refineries, which use a variety of harmful chemicals such as sulfuric acid and can generate large amounts of hazardous waste that requires special management, Tesla’s approach eliminates all of that. Instead, their reagents produce inert byproducts such as analcime, which is beneficial in concrete mixes, as well as useable sand, both of which reduce harmful waste and emissions.

At full production, they hope to produce 50 gigawatt-hours of battery-grade lithium each year, enough to power approximately a million electric vehicles or 50,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent. That would make them the largest lithium processor in North America, ensuring a consistent supply of lithium for their automobiles, energy storage goods, and other production requirements.

Essentially, it’s a vertical integration play. By owning their own lithium refining processes, they reduce their susceptibility to price swings and supply interruptions while also creating jobs locally, from construction to ongoing operations, which is a significant benefit to the Coastal Bend community.