PARIS — Stellantis has taken a $52 million equity investment in Vulcan Energy Resources, an Australian-German startup that plans to mine lithium, a key element in electric car batteries, with zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The investment gives Stellantis an 8 percent stake in Vulcan, making it the second-largest shareholder, and will be used to expand the miner’s efforts in the Upper Rhine Valley in Germany, Stellantis said Friday. The two companies have also extended to 10 years a five-year agreement announced last November.
“Making this highly strategic investment in a leading lithium company will help us create a resilient and sustainable value chain for our European electric vehicle battery production,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said.
Stellantis, with its partners Mercedes-Benz and Total/Saft, plans to open at least three battery factories in Europe in the coming years, in France, Germany and Italy.
The automaker says it will need 150 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity to reach its 2030 goal of selling only electric vehicles in Europe.
As part of the initial five-year agreement, Vulcan said it would supply between 81,000 and 99,000 tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in Europe to Stellantis starting in 2026.
Vulcan is one of a number of companies testing a direct lithium extraction (DLE) method that uses less land and groundwater, making it more sustainable than the most common existing methods of open-pit mines and brine evaporation ponds.
In addition to Stellantis, Vulcan has signed supply agreements with Renault Group, battery maker LG Chem and Belgian recycling group Umicore.
This article was originally published by Autonews.com. Read the original article here.