Electric Vehicle and Battery Company Tesla recently filed an application with the Texas regulatory authorities to build a

battery-grade lithium hydroxide refining facility on the Texas Gulf Coast. That means Tesla has

filed the initial paperwork required to build a lithium refining plant in Texas that would provide

it, in the words of Tesla CEO Elon Musk with a, quote, license to print money, end quote.

Musk was being hyperbolic there, but not by much. This facility would be the first of its kind in North America

and would allow the company to take raw, lithium, ore, and convert it into a state that could be used in battery production.

That processing capability has been an object of desire for Tesla since at least 2014,

when it tried unsuccessfully to purchase a California-based lithium extraction startup

called Symbol Materials for $325 million in Tesla stock.

By all indications, Symbol, which was a relatively small company without a lot of demonstrated

success, had a technology that allowed it to extract lithium at a scale and of a quality

that would allow it to serve as the foundation of a U.S.-based lithium battery supply chain.

The theory was that, as is the case with many complex technologies,

if they could own as many steps along the way from initial raw material sourcing or production,

all the way to the finished product at the other end,

they could keep more of the money required to produce that finished product,

because less of it had to be spent paying other companies to source and mine, lithium,

or refine that lithium, or convert the refined lithium into a battery

of a high enough quality that it can be used in a high-end vehicle. This also gives them more control over their supply chain.

There's less risk that a competitor will swoop in and pay their lithium supplier more money for first dibs on something, for instance,

which makes their profit margins more consistent and secure and reassures their stockholders,

which is good for business and for market valuation.

...