Tesla Exploring Texas Gulf Site for Battery Plant

Tesla is looking at a Texas Gulf location to build a new lithium-hydroxide refining plant. It’s focusing on an area near Robstown, in Nueces County, as one of two proposed sites. The other site is in Louisiana.

Tesla is prepared to invest $365 million into the Nueces County facility through 2024 and ultimately hire 162 full-time workers by 2025. Tesla also would hire 250 temporary construction workers to build the facility at an average salary of $52,500 a year.

In a public filing, Tesla said the facility would be the first of its kind and would “process raw ore material into a usable state for battery production.” Tesla would then ship that battery-grade lithium to its other battery manufacturing plants to be used in electric vehicles. If the Robstown site is chosen, it could start construction as early as December. The facility would take about two years to build. If the application is approved, Tesla is expected to get nearly $16.2 million in property tax relief over a 10-year period.