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Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. is a step closer to building a proposed $375 million lithium refinery in South Texas to support production of its electric vehicles.
After a public hearing Monday, the Nueces County Commission voted 4-0 to establish a tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, for a site just south of Robstown, west of Corpus Christi.
Austin-based Tesla is seeking about $16.2 million in tax breaks over 10 years from the Robstown Independent School District to build the facility there, according to an American-Statesman analysis of the automaker’s application for tax breaks under the state’s Chapter 313 program.
READ MORE: Tesla seeks tax breaks for ‘first of its kind’ lithium refinery on Texas Gulf Coast
Creation of a reinvestment zone allows Robstown ISD to enter an agreement with the automaker.
Tesla is still considering its options, but has said it could begin construction of a facility in Nueces County before the end of this year and start operations by the fourth quarter of 2024. It’s been eyeing sites in Texas and Louisiana with access to Gulf Coast shipping.
Amid a global shortage of the batteries needed for EV production, Musk has been pushing for development of lithium mining in North America. In July, he put out a call to entrepreneurs to enter the business. “You can’t lose, it’s a license to print money,” he said.
In its application for the Chapter 313 tax breaks, Tesla said its Neuces County lithium hydroxide refinery would be “the first of its kind in North America,” with the ability to process and refine the metals used in making batteries.
“Tesla will process raw ore material into a usable state for battery production,” it said. “The final product, battery-grade lithium hydroxide, will be packaged and shipped by truck and rail to various Tesla battery manufacturing sites supporting the necessary supply chain for large-scale and electric vehicle batteries.”
Musk’s attempt to build a lithium refinery in Nueces County represents a continued push to expand his companies’ footprint in the Lone Star State.
Musk’s Tesla, SpaceX, Boring Co. and Neuralink have stood up facilities and in Central and South Texas, with expansions planned. His SpaceX company operates the Starbase compound in Boca Chica, outside of Brownsville.
In Austin, the automaker has filed for a building permit to expand its $1.1 billion Gigafactory Texas to make cathodes, a key component for its line of lithium-ion batteries. The status of the project remains unclear.
eric.killelea@express-news.net
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