Lithium

In a lengthy report published yesterday, the Desert Sun described the demise of a young lithium extraction startup and how Tesla tried and failed to buy it for $325 million in TSLA stock back in 2014. It offers an interesting look at Tesla’s acquisition process, something rare for the automaker. The company only made one acquisition: a tool and die company in Michigan.

The article is a long read, but a very interesting one if you have the time. Here’s a much shorter version if you just want the main takeaway points.

Local news reports in Chile are stating that “senior Tesla executives” met with government officials to evaluate a partnership with state-owned mining company Codelco in order to source lithium in the country.

The agreement would presumably be to supply Tesla’s Gigafactory under-construction in Nevada.
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When Tesla Motors negotiated with the state of Nevada to build its battery factory in the desert east of Reno, the state government agreed to give the automaker up to $1.3 billion in tax incentives over 20 years to build the $5 billion project.

But the deal came with several requirements the company needs to meet to get access to the tax breaks. Most of which have to do with employment – Tesla is expected to create up to 6,500 jobs through the Gigafactory once it operates at full capacity in 2020 – but a lesser known requirement was for Tesla to invest in educational research in the state and this week the company fulfilled the commitment by signing an agreement to invest $1 million in battery research with the University of Nevada in Las Vegas (UNLV) over the next 5 years.
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