LG Energy Solution and Snow Lake Lithium team up to establish lithium supply chain for EVs in North America
Carbon-conscious mining company Snow Lake Lithium and battery production specialist LG Energy Solution announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish a domestic supply chain of lithium in North America. When Snow Lake’s lithium mining operation gets up and running in 2025, it plans to supply LG with the precious Earth material essential to current EV battery chemistry. This domestic supply chain could help several automakers qualify for US federal tax credits as well.
Snow Lake Resources Ltd. ($LTIM) is a publicly traded mining company looking to source precious battery materials in new and more sustainable ways. The company has already made a commitment to provide completely traceable, carbon-neutral, and zero harm lithium to the EV and battery market in North America by utilizing hydroelectric power and zero emission mining machinery.
The lithium-rich land is located in Manitoba, Canada, where Snow Lake has been consolidating the area and conducting surveys to determine its resource potential. It kicked off its initial assessment of the land in early 2022, but said it will take 18-24 months for environmental work such as permitting to be complete before commercial lithium mining can actually begin in North America.
Snow Lake Lithium still has a lot to accomplish before it can mine this rich supply of lithium to automakers in North America, but based on early assessments, the company believes it will be able to provide enough lithium to power five million EVs on the continent alone, while simultaneously reducing US automakers’ dependency on China.
With its latest announcement, LG Energy Solution – a major battery provider to EV automakers in North America – is onboard to establish a viable domestic supply chain of lithium that can lead to financial benefits to the automakers themselves, in addition to their US customers.
Snow Lake to provide Lithium to North America with LGES
The companies announced their non-binding MOU in a press release today, outlining some of the early terms and expected timelines for domestic lithium distribution to support EVs. When Snow Lake Lithium begins approved lithium mining in Canada, it will supply LG Energy Solution (LGES) with the chemical element for EV battery cell production in North America over a ten year period.
LGES is a newer battery production unit of the larger LG Group, originally spun out of LG Chem toward the end of 2020. Its main focus is the development of lithium-ion batteries for EVs, Mobility & IT applications, and Energy Storage Systems (ESS).
Following an early partnership with Hyundai Motor Group, LGES has shared plans for a 45 GWh battery cell factory in Canada with Stellantis, in addition to three new battery plants in the US for GM on the wings of a massive $2.5 billion grant from the US Department of Energy. Through its collaborations with American automaker Ford, LGES has already begun exploring other sustainable ways to source lithium with companies like Compass Materials International.
Based on these movements, an agreement with Snow Lake Lithium and the potential of its colossal, 55,000-acre domestic mining site for the EV industry feels like a natural next step. LG Energy Solution CEO Youngsoo Kwon shared a similar sentiment:
As we have recently announced our mid- to long-term strategy to focus on North America, the fastest growing EV market, these partnerships serve as a crucial step towards securing a stable key raw material supply chain in the region. By constantly investing in upstream suppliers and establishing strategic partnerships with major suppliers of critical minerals, LGES will continue to ensure the steady delivery of our top-quality products, thereby further advancing the global transition to EVs and ultimately to a sustainable future.
Both companies state that completion of the partnership outlined in the MOU will be subject to a number of conditions, including “the completion of due diligence from both parties.” Should both companies find the partnership terms and mining prospects agreeable, a massive supply of lithium available domestically could benefit EV automakers and customers alike.
Under new terms outlined in the recently signed Inflation Reduction Act, EVs and a majority of their battery components must be assembled in North America in order to qualify for federal tax credits up to $7,500. Furthermore, a majority of those critical battery materials like lithium must be sourced in North America, or from countries with free trade agreements with the US.
Currently, most EVs sold in the US no longer qualify under these terms that will officially kick in January 1, 2023, but automakers are already pivoting their production strategies toward US assembly. Since several major automakers already have working relationships with LGES, obtaining battery cells built with materials from North America could prove fruitful as long as Snow Lake Lithium can complete the necessary measures to ensure approval for mining in Canada.
As previously mentioned, this process will still require years, but if Snow Lake remains on schedule, the global EV production landscape could make a pivotal shift toward significantly larger manufacturing in North America. Additionally, Canada is expected to rank third in the global production of the raw materials needed for electric vehicle batteries by 2025.
When you think about how significant North America’s current dependency is on China for a lot of these resources, the fact that Canada could be a major player in less than three years again demonstrates how quickly this industry is moving, and how much opportunity could soon be coming to the US and its neighbor to the North, by way of EV adoption.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.
After a month off trying to wrap our heads around all the chaos surrounding EVs, solar, and everything else in Washington, we’re back with the biggest EV news stories of the day from Tesla, Ford, Volvo, and everyone else on today’s hiatus-busting episode of Quick Charge!
It just gets worse and worse for the Tesla true believers – especially those willing to put their money where Elon’s mouth is! One believer is set to lose nearly $50,000 betting on Tesla’s ability to deliver a Robotaxi service by the end of June (didn’t happen), and the controversial CEO’s most recent spat with President Trump had TSLA down nearly 5% in pre-morning trading.
Source Links
Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.
Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Hyundai is getting ready to shake things up. A new electric crossover SUV, likely the Hyundai IONIQ 2, is set to debut in the coming months. It will sit below the Kona Electric as Hyundai expands its entry-level EV lineup.
Is Hyundai launching the IONIQ 2 in 2026?
After launching the Inster late last year, Hyundai is already preparing to introduce a new entry-level EV in Europe.
Xavier Martinet, President and CEO of Hyundai Europe, confirmed that the new EV will be revealed “in the next few months.” It will be built in Europe and scheduled to go on sale in mid-2026.
Hyundai’s new electric crossover is expected to be a twin to the Kia EV2, which will likely arrive just ahead of it next year.
It will be underpinned by the same E-GMP platform, which powers all IONIQ and Kia EV models (EV3, EV4, EV5, EV6, and EV9).
Like the Kia EV3, it will likely be available with either a 58.3 kWh or 81.4 kWh battery pack option. The former provides a WLTP range of 267 miles while the latter is rated with up to 372 miles. All trims are powered by a single electric motor at the front, producing 201 hp and 209 lb-ft of torque.
Although it may share the same underpinnings as the EV2, Hyundai’s new entry-level EV will feature an advanced new software and infotainment system.
According to Autocar, the interior will represent a “step change” in terms of usability and features. The new system enables new functions, such as ambient lighting and sounds that adjust depending on the drive mode.
It’s expected to showcase Hyundai’s powerful new Pleos software and infotainment system. As an end-to-end software platform, Pleos connects everything from the infotainment system (Pleos Connect) to the Vehicle Operating System (OS) and the cloud.
Pleos is set to power Hyundai’s upcoming software-defined vehicles (SDVs) with new features like autonomous driving and real-time data analysis.
As an Android-based system, Pleos Connect features a “smartphone-like UI” with new functions including multi-window viewing and an AI voice assistant.
The new electric crossover is expected to start at around €30,000 ($35,400), or slightly less than the Kia EV3, priced from €35,990 ($42,500). It will sit between the Inster and Kona Electric in Hyundai’s lineup.
Hyundai said that it would launch the first EV with its next-gen infotainment system in Q2 2026. Will it be the IONIQ 2? Hyundai is expected to unveil the new entry-level EV at IAA Mobility in September. Stay tuned for more info. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Tesla has unveiled its lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery cell factory in Nevada and claims that it is nearly ready to start production.
Like several other automakers using LFP cells, Tesla relies heavily on Chinese manufacturers for its battery cell supply.
Tesla’s cheapest electric vehicles all utilize LFP cells, and its entire range of energy storage products, Megapacks and Powerwalls, also employ the more affordable LFP cell chemistry from Chinese manufacturers.
This reliance on Chinese manufacturers is less than ideal and particularly complicated for US automakers and battery pack manufacturers like Tesla, amid an ongoing trade war between the US and virtually the entire world, including China.
As of last year, a 25% tariff already applied to battery cells from China, but this increased to more than 80% under Trump before he paused some tariffs on China. It remains unclear where they will end up by the time negotiations are complete and the trade war is resolved, but many expect it to be higher.
Prior to Trump taking power, Tesla had already planned to build a small LFP battery factory in the US to avoid the 25% tariffs.
The automaker had secured older manufacturing equipment from one of its battery cell suppliers, CATL, and planned to deploy it in the US for small-scale production.
Tesla has now released new images of the factory in Nevada and claimed that it is “nearing completion”:
Here are a few images from inside the factory (via Tesla):
Previous reporting stated that Tesla aims to produce about 10 GWh of LFP battery cells per year at the new factory.
The cells are expected to be used in Tesla’s Megapack, produced in the US. Tesla currently has a capacity to produce 40 GWh of Megapacks annually at its factory in California. The company is also working on a new Megapack factory in Texas.
Ford is also developing its own LFP battery cell factory in Michigan, but this facility is significantly larger, with a planned production capacity of 35 GWh.
Electrek’s Take
It’s nice to see this in the US. LFP was a US/Canada invention, with Arumugam Manthiram and John B. Goodenough doing much of the early work, and researchers in Quebec making several contributions to help with commercialization.
But China saw the potential early and invested heavily in volume manufacturing of LFP cells and it now dominates the market.
Tesla is now producing most of its vehicles with LFP cells and all its stationary energy storage products.
It makes sense to invest in your own production. However, Tesla is unlikely to catch up to BYD and CATL, which dominate LFP cell production.
The move will help Tesla avoid tariffs on a small percentage of its Megapacks produced in the US. Ford’s effort is more ambitious.
It’s worth noting that both Ford’s and Tesla’s LFP plants were planned before Trump’s tariffs, which have had limited success in bringing manufacturing back to the US.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike