Tesla will create a lithium refinery factory in Texas
Tesla
Tesla has broken ground on a new lithium refinery in Texas, with CEO Elon Musk setting the ambitious goal of producing enough battery-grade lithium to manufacture 1 million electric vehicles by 2025. This step expands Tesla's focus beyond automobile production and into lithium refining and processing, a critical aspect of fulfilling the company's EV sales objectives and addressing the lithium bottleneck that Musk sees as a significant barrier to EV production.
Addressing the Lithium Bottleneck for EV Production
For years, Musk has been emploring entrepreneurs to get into the lithium business, he referred to it as printing money, but also a necessary part of the vision of creating a future with sustainable transportation. Now, he has taken his own advice.
Musk has expressed concerns over the availability of battery-grade lithium, considering it a potential bottleneck for the advancement of electric vehicles. The new Texas refinery aims to alleviate this constraint by producing a substantial amount of lithium, positioning Tesla as a leader in automobile manufacturing and lithium refining. The groundbreaking initiative also reflects Tesla's commitment to advancing the EV market and promoting clean energy transportation.
Watch Tesla's Lithium Groundbreaking Event
Strengthening Self-Reliance and Reducing Dependency
Musk announced that Tesla aims to complete the factory construction by next year and achieve full production capacity by 2025. The move positions Tesla as the only major automaker in North America to refine its lithium, a domain currently dominated by China. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony, emphasized the importance of Texas being self-reliant and not dependent on foreign hostile nations for lithium. Tesla will continue to buy lithium from existing suppliers while refining its own, diversifying its supply sources and increasing security.
Tesla is committed to using environmentally-friendly materials for its lithium refining process, forgoing conventional methods that rely on sulfuric acid and other strong chemicals. The new refining technology will use less hazardous reagents and create usable byproducts, making it a cleaner and safer operation. Musk assured that living near the refinery would not cause any adverse effects, although some environmental advocates have expressed concerns.
As Tesla spearheads its lithium production, it not only strengthens the company's self-reliance but also helps revolutionize the lithium refining industry with a greener and more sustainable approach, ultimately addressing the lithium bottleneck and paving the way for increased EV production.
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Tesla has begun rolling out some map updates, including a brand new geographic area. These updates include two regional map updates, with one confirming Tesla’s entry into India and the other improving the maps in Europe.
Indian Launch
The biggest addition is a new map region for India, which was discovered by Tesla hacker Greentheonly. This move, while seemingly minor, is a prerequisite for Tesla launching vehicles in the region.
For years, discussions about Tesla’s arrival in India have focused on manufacturing plans, import duties, and retail store plans. However, the vehicles themselves must all be technically ready for the region.
This is more than just data entry; it involves integrating local points of interest, Tesla’s internal routing logic, and displaying regional road information correctly. In past market entries, Tesla has activated the necessary navigation regions in its software shortly before officially launching in a country, and just this morning, news broke that Tesla will open its first showroom in India.
On July 15th, Tesla will open its first showroom in Mumbai, marking its entry into the Indian market.
For those who have imported Tesla vehicles in advance of the official market entry, this means they will finally receive official maps and navigation support, and will likely begin receiving official software updates in the near future.
European Maps Update
In addition to the India map update, Tesla has also starting roll out a map update for Europe. The new map update for Europe is version EU-2025.14, bringing users up from EU-2025.2.
You’ll need to connect to WiFi in order to download map updates and similar to software updats, Tesla will roll them out gradually. If you want to learn more about map updates, be sure to check out our Tesla maps and navigaiton guide.
This map update will likely be fairly minor, but it should include newer roads, speed limits and more details. It could also include additional information that’s required for launching FSD in Europe.
While map updates aren’t as exciting as FSD updates or major software updates like the upcoming Grok AI update, they’re especially useful for Tesla owners who travel on new roads that may not be in Tesla’s current map version.
Tesla has officially scheduled its 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting for Thursday, November 6, 2025. The date was confirmed in an 8-K form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission this week. Shareholders can expect to begin receiving official notifications by email or letter this week.
While we don’t know what, if anything, is up for vote this year, shareholders should ensure their investment accounts are linked up at ir.tesla.com if they plan to vote on upcoming proposals.
While these meetings cover standard corporate governance, they’ve also become a key venue for Tesla to share updates on its future projects.
Let’s take a look back at Tesla’s 2024 shareholder meeting to see what we can expect for 2025.
A Look Back: Shareholder Meeting 2024
The 2024 Shareholder Meeting was packed with news and updates. Some of the highlights included details on Cybercab, the first mentions of AI5, and the move of Tesla’s incorporation to Texas following the re-ratification of Elon’s 2018 compensation plan.
The 2025 meeting may provide progress updates on several key items.
First up is the final status of Elon Musk’s pay package. While it was successfully re-ratified following the 2024 Meeting, the Court of Delaware ruled against it, creating a legal situation that resulted in Tesla amending its letter of incorporation and moving to Texas.
While the messy legal situation hasn’t been completely sorted out yet, there’s a chance we could see more on this at the 2025 Meeting.
Next up is a status update on the Robotaxi Network pilot, as well as progress for Tesla’s Cybercab program. We’ve seen early prototype castings for the Cybercab outside Giga Texas, and they recently provided an updated timeline in their 2024 Impact Report. This is going to be the next big step for Tesla’s growth as it starts its Robotaxi service business.
The Tesla Semi and Tesla Energy are also two massive programs undergoing upgrades and revamps. The volume production of Semi is supposed to begin by the end of 2025, and Tesla is constantly working on expanding Tesla Energy’s manufacturing footprint to meet the never-ending demand for Megapack and Powerwall. We’re anticipating some major updates here, along with some updates on Tesla’s next-generation battery tech, including the Gen 3 Cybercell that includes dry-cathode manufacturing.
There’s a lot to be excited about - and November 6th is the day we may find out a lot about Tesla’s future products. The meeting will be a big event that we’ll cover in detail, so don’t worry, even if you miss it. We’ll have a full set of recap notes and longer in-depth articles following the event, as usual.
