Tesla is constructing a brand new ‘Lithium Lab’ in Sparks, Nevada, in accordance with a brand new constructing allow obtained by Electrek.

As the corporate made clear at its latest Investor Day, a lot of its focus is presently to scale its manufacturing capability 10x by the top of the last decade.

With a view to make that occur, the automaker is more and more getting concerned extra deeply within the battery provide chain.

We now be taught that Tesla is constructing a brand new Lithium Lab in Nevada as a part of this effort.

It isn’t positioned at Tesla Gigafactory Nevada, which is itself being expanded following the announcement in January that Tesla will produce Tesla Semi vehicles and 4680 battery cells.

As an alternative, the corporate is constructing what it refers to because the “Tesla Lithium Lab,” in accordance with a constructing allow obtained by Electrek, within the city of Sparks simply outdoors of Reno:

Tesla lately utilized for a constructing allow to make upgrades to the ability with a purpose to flip it right into a “Manufacturing R&D (Lithium Lab).”

The corporate wrote within the allow utility:

Tenant enchancment tasks for the aim of a Manufacturing R&D (Lithium Lab) facility. The scope of labor consists of mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and minor architectural upgrades to assist device set up and course of optimizations.

The aim of the ability is just not clear past this fast description.

Tesla has been entering into the lithium enterprise in several methods. It’s constructing a brand new lithium refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas.

This facility is anticipated to pioneer a brand new processing method to show lithium into battery-grade lithium hydroxide.

Individually, Tesla has been speaking about mining lithium in Nevada with a brand new method, however the firm hasn’t talked a lot about that effort since first saying it in 2020.

At this level, it’s nonetheless unclear what position this new Tesla Lithium Lab will play in these tasks.