Stellantis invests $100M to get cleaner lithium supply

Stellantis is investing more than $100 million in a California geothermal lithium project that aims to create a more environmentally friendly electric vehicle supply chain.

The investment will help make the automaker’s EVs eligible for consumer incentives under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.

The Hell’s Kitchen project being undertaken near the heavily polluted Salton Sea by Controlled Thermal Resources Holdings is the world’s largest geothermal lithium sourcing effort. It’s expected to produce up to 300,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent each year.

The companies expanded the initial supply agreement, which now calls for Controlled Thermal Resources to supply up to 65,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate each year, nearly triple the original agreement, for a decade.

Hell’s Kitchen “will recover lithium from geothermal brines using renewable energy and steam to produce truly ‘green’ battery-grade lithium products in a fully integrated process,” the companies said in a Thursday statement announcing the deal. “This eliminates the need for evaporation brine ponds, open pit mines and fossil-fueled lithium processing.”

Stellantis is a developing a supply chain to power its EV agenda. The automaker, as part of its Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, is targeting EVs to make up half of its passenger car and light-duty truck sales mix in the U.S. and all sales in Europe by 2030.

To achieve these goals, the company is securing approximately 400 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity, which will be supported by six battery manufacturing plants in North America and Europe. Stellantis is looking to go carbon net-zero by 2038.

Controlled Thermal Resources is scheduled to begin supplying Stellantis with the lithium hydroxide monohydrate in 2027.

“The foundation of our industry-leading decarbonization drive includes low-emissions production and sustainable supply as the building blocks for our electric vehicles,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said in a statement. “The latest agreement with CTR is an important step in our care for our customers and our planet as we work to provide clean, safe and affordable mobility in North America.”