Tesla’s Lithium supply chain mapped out.

This video maps out the Tesla lithium supply chain. There are also some great videos on lithium batteries in the links below. The popularity of electric vehicles has caused great demand for batteries. This demand is also causing supply chain problems. There will be more supply chain issues arising because the demand for lithium batteries will only be increasing.

Tesla’s lithium supply chain is complex and global. The company sources lithium from a variety of suppliers around the world, including:

Ganfeng Lithium (China)
Albemarle (United States)
Livent (United States)
Liontown Resources (Australia)
SQM (Chile)
BHP (Australia)

Tesla also has plans to mine its own lithium in Nevada.

Once the lithium is mined, it is shipped to refineries where it is processed into battery-grade lithium compounds. Tesla’s main lithium refiner is Ganfeng Lithium, which has refineries in China and Argentina.

The refined lithium compounds are then shipped to battery cell manufacturers, such as Panasonic, LG Chem, CATL, and Samsung SDI. Tesla’s battery cell manufacturers are located in the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.

The battery cells are then shipped to Tesla’s vehicle assembly plants, where they are installed in Tesla’s electric vehicles. Tesla’s vehicle assembly plants are located in the United States, China, and Germany.

Supply Chain and Autonomous Vehicle quotes

“About three years from now, we’re confident we can make a very compelling $25,000 electric vehicle that’s also fully autonomous.” ~Elon Musk
The first to fully integrate the following technologies will create a near autonomous supply chain: IoT, big data, blockchain, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning.” ~EverythingSupplyChain.com
“Connectivity offers a great opportunity for General Motors. When you look at the investment we have made in OnStar and putting 4GLT in and the access you have to not only put data in, and we haven’t really tapped into the data you can use from the vehicle.” ~Mary Barra, GM CEO.
“We take better care of our smartphone than ourselves. We know when the battery is depleted and recharge it.” ~Arianna Huffington
“Today’s batteries can’t scale fast enough. They’re just too small.” ~Elon Musk
“Supply Chain automation using emerging technologies such as IoT and artificial intelligence will drive efficiency like we have never seen before.” ~Dave Waters.