Car manufacturer Stellantis plans to invest more than $100 million in California-based Controlled Thermal Resources, the latest move in the company's efforts to find new sources of metal for electric vehicle batteries. Stellantis plans to convert half of its fleet to electric by 2030 and has agreed to nearly triple the amount of lithium it buys from Controlled Thermal, increasing its previous order to 65,000 tonnes a year for at least 10 years.
Controlled Thermal plans to separate lithium from geothermal brines in California's Salton Sea and then use the brine to release steam to generate electricity. This renewable energy source is expected to reduce carbon emissions in the lithium production process. Controlled Thermal CEO Rod Colwell said the company's recently installed $65 million device removes silica and other unwanted metals, and DLE equipment licensed from Koch Industries will remove lithium.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said the partnership with Controlled Thermal is an important step toward providing clean, safe and affordable mobility services. Controlled Thermal aims to receive final permits by October and begin construction of a commercial lithium plant shortly thereafter. Stellantis has also invested in Vulcan Energy Resources at the DLE project in Germany.
Gm says it has a close working relationship with Controlled Thermal and believes it has enough raw material supplies to meet its goal of producing 1 million electric vehicles by 2025. However, the lithium supply target between GM and Controlled Thermal has been pushed back to 2025.
The exact amount of the investment has not been disclosed.
