Inside the only lithium producer in the U.S., which provides critical mineral used in batteries by Tesla, EV makers
SILVER PEAK, NV — On the edge of Western Nevada, hours from a major city and miles down private dirt roads, lies the United States’ only lithium-producing plant.
The nearest town is Tonopah – population 2,179 – where a prospector discovered silver at the turn of the twentieth century. The town’s mining roots are still on display, but the action has shifted to the country’s largest lithium brine operation 45 minutes away.
Silver Peak has been producing lithium since the 1960s. Specialty chemicals company Albemarle acquired the site in 2015 from Foot Mineral Company, and has owned it ever since.
Silver Peak has gained newfound attention in recent years as the energy and transportation sectors race to wean themselves off climate-warming fossil fuels. Lithium’s unique properties make it the common denominator across battery technologies. Forecasts for just how much will be needed in the decades to come varies. Under the International Energy Agency’s most ambitious climate scenario, lithium supply will have to grow 40-fold by 2040 from today’s levels.
The U.S. used to be a leader in lithium production, but it’s since ceded that position to foreign nations, including China. Now the Biden Administration has said that bringing battery supply chains back to U.S. shores is a matter of national importance, and the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act – the largest climate package in U.S. history – underscores this new push towards domestic production of vital materials.
Part of the trouble with bringing new supply online, however, is the sheer amount of land required. The scale of Silver Peak is hard to grasp from picturs. It spans 13,000 acres, and seems to appear out of nowhere, tucked between mountain ranges in the Nevada desert.
Evaporation ponds at Albemarle’s lithium operation in Silver Peak, NV.
Pippa Stevens | CNBC
The sun bears down and it hardly rains – ideal conditions for this type of lithium extraction, which depends on solar evaporation. There’s also salt, a byproduct of production, everywhere.
The huge site is not bustling with activity, which makes it seem even larger than it is. The sun provides much of the labor, and less than 80 people total work at the facility. But it’s sites like these – vast, sweeping operations – that will power the future.
“The U.S. is at the start of really expanding and developing its supply chain domestically for this critical mineral lithium, as well as the broader supply chain for electric vehicles and electrification,” said Karen Narwold, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Albemarle.
“From Albemarle’s perspective, we think the United States can bring the full supply chain here.”
From hundreds of feet underground…to your car
Lithium can be produced from brine, hard rock or clay, and each method requires its own set of conditions and extraction processes. Silver Peak produces lithium from brine tapped from the Clayton Valley basin.
Salty brine that contains lithium is pumped from between 300 and 2,000 feet underground to the surface. Then, over the course of 18 to 24 months, solar evaporation concentrates the lithium.
This is one of the first of 23 ponds that lithium-rich brine travels through over the course of 24 months at Albemarle’s Silver Peak site. Brine is pumped from as much as 2,000 feet underground to the surface.
Pippa Stevens | CNBC
The brine flows through a series of 23 ponds at the site as it becomes more concentrated, taking on an increasingly vivid turquoise color. The ponds range in size, and the largest is bigger than 700 football fields. As more brine is evaporated, the ponds get smaller and smaller.
About halfway through the process, lime is pumped through the brine, which separates out magnesium that’s found alongside the lithium. Once the brine has moved through all 23 ponds, the remaining lithium is chemically processed into a white powder form known as lithium carbonate.
What happens next depends on the lithium’s end use. Lithium isn’t only used in batteries, but is also found in pharmaceuticals and glass, among other things. Some of the carbonate from Silver Peak is sent to Albemarle’s processing facility in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. There it can be further refined into lithium hydroxide, which is used for electric vehicle batteries. Albemarle counts major automakers, including Tesla, as customers.
Lithium prices skyrocket
Lithium has garnered significant attention in recent months due to a sharp price spike, surging more than 700% since January 2021, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. In some places, including the Chinese spot market, prices are up even more.
In a boom-and-bust cycle of sorts that mirrors other commodity markets, prices rose over the course of 2017 and into 2018 before cratering halfway through the year and falling throughout 2019. At that point the market was oversupplied, which led to a lack of investment in new production. The effects of that slowdown are still being felt. Today, supply is racing to catch up with demand, and some are warning that it simply won’t.
According to forecasts from Benchmark, 600,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent will be mined this year — that’s 10,000 tons less than needed. By the end of the decade, the firm envisions annual supply reaching 2.15 million tons of LCE, which will lag demand by a whopping 150,000 tons.
One of the intermediate-stage ponds at Albemarle’s lithium facility. As the brine becomes more concentrated with lithium the pools take on more of a turquoise color.
Pippa Stevens | CNBC
The surge in lithium demand comes from countries and companies doubling down on climate goals in the past few years. That includes automakers, which are announcing ambitious all-electric fleets.
Lithium isn’t the only mineral in these batteries — they also require cobalt, graphite and nickel. Each has its own limitations, and scientists are experimenting with different battery chemistries.
But while it’s possible to swap out some materials, at this point there’s no viable alternative to lithium.
Although lithium is not a scarce resource, getting a new mine up and running can take about seven years. These projects are capital intensive and require many permits, all of which means the industry is slow moving.
Lithium Americas has been trying for more than a decade to get production going at its Thacker Pass clay mine in Nevada, against opposition from environmentalists and Native American tribes. Piedmont Lithium is in the process of developing a spodumene mine in North Carolina, which it hopes will begin producing by 2026.
Albemarle is working on its own North Carolina mine at Kings Mountain. It’s a brownfield mine – meaning it was previously producing – which the company hopes will help it speed past the hurdles that delay new projects. Albemarle also has processing facilities in the state.
Extractive industries are resource-intensive by their very nature and can be highly disruptive to local ecosystems. But it’s hard to see how the world can move away from fossil fuels without new lithium production. An electric vehicle requires more than six times as many mineral inputs relative to internal combustion vehicles, according to the IEA. Under the Paris-based agency’s most ambitious climate scenario, it forecasts 230 million electric cars, buses, vans and heavy trucks on the road by 2030.
This is the last of the 23 evaporation ponds at Albemarle’s Silver Peak lithium site. From here, the lithium is sent for on-site processing where it’s turned into lithium carbonate.
Pippa Stevens | CNBC
Still, some believe these forecasts are far too ambitious, and the world should instead focus on existing resources rather than developing new sites.
Recycling could also become an option – Albemarle is one of the companies working on this – but the market hasn’t yet reached critical mass. Technologies are also being developed to make operations more efficient so that mines yield as much as possible.
Albemarle sets its sights on expansion
Silver Peak is Albemarle’s largest U.S. lithium production site at present, but it constitutes only a small portion of the company’s overall lithium production. Silver Peak produces about 5,000 metric tons per year of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), while Albemarle’s Chile operation – in the Salar de Atacama region – has the capacity to produce 85,000 metric tons per year. The operation there uses the same brine production process that was first developed in Nevada.
The company also co-owns two mines in Australia, and operates a number of processing facilities, including in China.
Albemarle is also increasing its footprint at Silver Peak. In Jan. 2021 the company announced plans to double capacity to 10,000 metric tons a year, which the company said is enough to power around 160,000 electric vehicles.
Bags of lithium carbonate at Albemarle’s Silver Peak facility. Some of it is sent to the company’s processing plant in North Carolina, where it can be turned into lithium hydroxide, which is used for EV batteries.
Pippa Stevens | CNBC
Albemarle’s Narwold said the expansion, initially slated for completion in 2025, is ahead of schedule. The company spent the last year and a half constructing 22 new brine-pumping wells, completing the first stage of the expansion.
By the end of this year Albemarle will be pumping at 20,000 acre feet annually, which is equivalent to roughly 18.5 million gallons of water per day. That represents the full extent of Albemarle’s water rights, which is also the entirety of the rights available in the Clayton Valley.
Albemarle is not just a lithium company: it also has bromine and chemicals divisions. But the lithium segment has grown in importance following the price spike and Albemarle’s expansion plans. Lithium now accounts for about two thirds of the company’s revenue, according to Meredith Bandy, vice president of investor relations and sustainability at Albemarle. That’s up from a few years ago, when each division was about one third of overall revenue.
“We’ve been investing in the lithium market for the last couple of years, and that’s starting to pay off in terms of volumetric growth as well as price performance,” she said.
Traditionally Albemarle had long-term, fixed contracts with customers. But this year the company restructured some of those contracts in an effort to capture upside from rising prices. It seems to be paying off.
One of the bright blue ponds at Albemarle’s lithium plant in Silver Peak, Nevada.
Pippa Stevens | CNBC
During the second quarter, Albemarle said net sales from its lithium division jumped 178% year over year. The company raised its full-year guidance three times between May and August, when Albemarle posted second-quarter results. The company will report third-quarter earnings on November 2.
For the full year, Albemarle now expects adjusted EBITDA for its lithium division to grow between 500% and 550% on a year-over-year basis. That’s up from prior expectations of a 300% jump.
“There’s a tremendous amount of demand. The industry really is having to work hard – Albemarle is having to work hard – to keep up with that demand,” said Bandy.
Investors have rewarded the company’s performance. The stock climbed to an all-time high on September 14, during a rocky period in the broader market. Shares have since fallen 18%, but the stock is still up about 8% for the year, with a company valuation around $30 billion.
By comparison the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are down 25% and 33%, respectively, for 2022.
Climate bill: a game changer?
While the vast majority of battery production takes place outside the U.S. — China is a key player, currently refining 56.5% of global lithium, according to Benchmark — the Biden Administration is trying to change that.
In February, the White House announced funding for domestic production of materials and minerals critical to the energy transition. Then, in March, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act for these materials.
Albemarle’s Silver Peak lithium plant spans 13,000 acres.
Pippa Stevens | CNBC
“To promote the national defense, the United States must secure a reliable and sustainable supply of such strategic and critical materials,” a March statement from the White House read, citing lithium as among the “critical materials.”
But the most meaningful initiative, by far, is the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act. The bill, which is the largest climate funding package in U.S. history, focuses on incentives and credits aimed at accelerating the U.S.’ shift towards renewable energy while also jumpstarting domestic manufacturing.
The bill includes measures that will help battery companies on both the supply and demand side. Over time, a greater portion of an electric vehicle’s battery materials must be sourced from the U.S. or one of its free-trade allies in order for consumers to qualify for the tax rebates. Producers can also take advantage of the manufacturing tax credits.
Narwold called the Inflation Reduction Act a “great step forward.”
“It really does give the impetus to start focusing domestically on building that supply chain. No reason why the United States can’t be a significant contributor to that supply chain with the right support, both from the government – state and federal – as well as from the industry,” she said.
Bags of lithium carbonate. This is the end product after the lithium-rich brine has spent about 24 months travelling through evaporation ponds at Albemarle’s Silver Peak plant.
Pippa Stevens | CNBC
– CNBC’s Katie Brigham contributed reporting.
Seventeen state attorneys general and DC are fighting a Trump executive order that froze permits and funding for all onshore and offshore wind projects on January 20.
The coalition is asking a federal judge to declare the executive order illegal and prevent the Trump administration from obstructing wind energy development. It was filed in federal court in Massachusetts.
New York attorney general Letitia James is leading the coalition. James said, “This arbitrary and unnecessary directive threatens the loss of thousands of good-paying jobs and billions in investments, and it is delaying our transition away from the fossil fuels that harm our health and our planet.”
Federal agencies have stopped issuing permits for wind projects across the board and even pulled the plug on the fully approved Empire Wind in New York, which was already under construction. Developer Equinor, majority owned by the Norwegian government, went through a seven-year permitting process and is considering separate legal actions.
Massachusetts attorney general Andrea Joy Campbell said that Trump’s “attempts to stop homegrown wind energy development directly contradict his claims that there is a growing need for reliable domestic energy.”
The coalition argues that the action violates the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal laws because the Trump administration, “among other things, provides no reasoned explanation for categorically and indefinitely halting all wind energy development.”
Trump’s executive order puts billions of dollars in state investments at risk, jeopardizing everything from wind industry infrastructure to supply chains and workforce training that’s already well underway.
The coalition consists of attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.
Read more: Trump admin halts $5 billion NY offshore wind project mid-build
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Professional salespeople love to talk about “the steps of the sale,” a tried-and-true process that guides every customer from curiosity to closed. But when it comes to electric cars, that old-school hustle can fall flat, leaving dealers struggling with how to fit them into their familiar playbook. But what if I told you, dear dealer, that there’s a whole category of vehicles on existing dealer lots that need to be approached in exactly the same way as an EV to score a successful sale that you’re already familiar with?
That category: Heavy-duty tow trucks. Here’s how selling one is a lot like selling the other.
That’s right, greenpeas – selling a tow-rated pickup truck to someone who’s buying it primarily to haul a trailer, boat, or RV is a delicate thing that requires salespeople (and sales managers) to approach their customers with a lot more patience and empathy, and a lot less, “what can I do to get you to drive this home, today?” And, as we go through the whys and hows, I think you’ll agree that all the heavy truck selling wisdom we’re going to cover today will help you sell more electric cars, more often, and for more money.
1. Discovery is where the deal gets done
When it comes to heavy-duty tow vehicles, most smart dealers understand that their customer probably has a better understanding of their individual needs than they do – but it’s still a good idea to go over that understanding during the discovery phase of the sale.
Has the customer factored in the weight of the trailer and the weight of everyone and everything else inside it? What about the weight of water, tools, or animals? Do they fully understand the concepts of GVWR and GCWR, and the difference between trailer weight and tongue weight? Will they have enough range, when fully loaded, on their standard fuel tank or will they need an aux. tank? What about the future – are they thinking about upgrading their RV or hauling bigger loads longer distances?
In other words, the customer has to trust that the vehicle they’re about to buy from you will meet their needs and fit into their lives today, while also meeting their needs in the foreseeable future. That’s what it looks like in a truck, but now apply that to an EV.
Has the customer mapped out the routes they take every day to make sure they can make the drive? That might sound ridiculous to you and me, but what if they’re depending on a single DC fast charger out on a rural stretch of highway to get the EV to meet their needs? What if they think 200 miles of range is 200 miles of range, but they like to drive 80+ mph (on Chicago’s I-290, that’s a minimum safe travel speed), do they understand that speed impacts range as much as weather?
Tools like Chargeway are great for helping dealers explain EV charging speeds, the impacts of speed and topography on range, and – especially in this era of NACS adapters – where buyers of used or off-lease EVs can charge up and get back on the road.
In either case, the salespeople who take the time in discovery to understand their customers’ needs and become consultative partners will make a sale, the ones who rush through the process won’t, and the ones who sell their customers the wrong thing will make a problem (if not an expensive lawsuit) for the dealership.
2. Options really do matter
When you’re selling a conventional ICE-powered crossover to a typical suburbanite, moving your customer up or down a trim level doesn’t typically impact their use case. Sure, they might have to keep their foot planted a little longer to get up to highway speeds or learn to live with cloth when they really wanted leather or vinyl vegan leather, but they’ll still be able to get five-to-seven adults from point A to point B with the same general effectiveness.
That’s not true when it comes to trucks that are going to get put to work. There, the difference between one axle ration and another can have a huge impact on driver comfort, towing capabilities, and fuel economy – and going from a one-ton truck that’s just outside the customer’s budget to a half-ton that you happen to have on the lot could get someone seriously hurt or killed.
On an EV, the difference might not be so dramatic, but the difference between a Nissan LEAF SV Plus with a 212 mile range and a Nissan LEAF S with 149 miles of range? That could mean the difference between getting to grandma’s house in three hours or five – that’s assuming your customer could even find a CHAdeMO port in the first place!
It may be tempting to switch the customer to a vehicle you have on the lot (especially if that vehicle happens to be an aged unit with a fat spiff on it), but the long-term pain isn’t worth the short-term gain on this one.
3. Information is your friend
This might feel like a duplicate of the discovery phase, but think of it as a member of the “measure twice, cut once” advice genre. That is to say that, sure – the customer thinks that new 5th wheel RV they have on order weighs 11,000 lbs., but does it? Did they add any options of features (see no. 2) that make it heavier? Get the information from the RV manufacturer or dealer and confirm as much as you can. That extra work will help keep your customer safe and build trust.
Similarly, you’ll want to verify your assumptions when it comes to EVs. Is that once-a-month 300 mile drive really 300 miles, or is it 330? Is there more than one charging option available on their preferred route? Is the customer able to make their trip without changing the way your they drive? Are they willing to change up where they stop, or for how long?
When it comes to EVs, especially used ones that came onto your lot as part of a trade deal that you may not be intimately familiar with, I cannot stress how much route planning apps like Chargeway or A Better Route Planner can help salespeople answer questions about electric vehicles confidently and correctly, generate trust, and drive referrals.
4. Aftersales support is critical
Successful salespeople follow up – not just with prospects who are still shopping, but with customers who have already bought. And, just as RVers know other RVers, RV salespeople who get positive feedback about a local dealer who takes the time to make sure their customers get the right truck know RV customers who might need a right truck of their own.
Yes, those RV salespeople might expect a $100 bird dog bonus to send their customers your way, but the money on its own isn’t enough. They have to know they can trust you with their customers, and you build that trust in steps 1-3, above.
It doesn’t take a genius
If there’s one company that absolutely gets it when it comes to helping customers discover whether or not an EV can fit into the way they live, work, and drive today it’s BMW. Their take on the Apple Genius Bar helps consumers set reasonable expectations, understand charging speeds, and build customer loyalty – that’s why they’ve snatched the top spot in the J.D. Power U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Ownership Study for the last few years.
The reason BMW is consistently pulling ahead? It seems to come down to education. “First-time EV buyers are receiving minimal education or training,” explains Brent Gruber, executive director of the EV practice at J.D. Power. “Dealer and manufacturer representatives play the crucial role of front-line educators, but when it comes to EVs, the specific education needed to shorten the learning curve just isn’t happening often enough. The shortfall in buyer education is something we’re seeing with all brands.”
And, if you’re still not quite convinced that you need to learn how to sell EVs to be successful on the sales floor, think again.
Overall, 94% of BEV owners are likely to consider purchasing another BEV for their next vehicle, a rate that is also matched by first-time buyers. Manufacturers should take note of the strong consumer commitment to EVs as the high rate of repurchase intent offers the ability to generate brand loyal customers if the experience is a positive one. In fact, during the past several years, the BEV repurchase intent percentage has fluctuated very little, ranging between 94-97%. This year’s study also finds that only 12% of BEV owners are likely to consider replacing their EV with an internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered vehicle during their next purchase.
Listen to an EV convert who has desked an awful lot of car deals, greenpeas – if you treat every EV customer the same way that crusty old fleet rep treats his truck buyers, you’re going to sell a whole lot of EVs. And, if you’re a brave enough little toaster to follow up and ask for that referral, you’ll find that EV buyers know other EV buyers.
Happy hunting.
Original content from Electrek.
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Tesla’s Cybertruck inventory has skyrocketed to a new record high of more than 10,000 units. The vehicle program is in crisis.
We reported at the beginning of April that Tesla ended the first quarter of 2025 with at least 2,400 Cybertrucks in new inventory available in the US.
There’s no exact way to track Tesla’s inventory in the US, but there are ways to track Tesla’s Cybertruck listings. Sometimes, Tesla may have many vehicles with the exact same configuration at the same location and it will only publish a single listing for it.
Therefore, Tesla might have been sitting on more Cybertruck inventory.
A month later, the number of listings in the US has skyrocketed to over 10,000 Cybertrucks, according to Tesla-Info.com:
This surge could be due to an actual net increase in Cybertruck inventory, but Tesla is also heavily discounting the trucks at varying rates, creating several different prices and, therefore, more listings.
At an average sale price of $78,000, Tesla could have almost $800 million worth of Cybertrucks.
Due to low demand, Tesla appears to have significantly slowed down Cybertruck production in recent months. Therefore, this surge is likely more about Tesla discounting the vehicles, exposing the broader US inventory, than an actual major increase in inventory due to more production.
Many of the Cybertrucks in inventory were built in 2024, so they are already at least four months old. Tesla still has ‘Foundation Series’ Cybertrucks in inventory, which it stopped producing in October 2024—more than seven months ago.
Tesla recently launched the Cybertruck RWD, but it has given up on making it with a smaller battery pack and instead removed many important features.
Electrek’s Take
This is about as bad as it gets. Over 10,000 units account for about two quarters of Tesla’s Cybertruck sales.
It already looks like Tesla has slowed Cybertruck production down to a crawl, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it pauses it soon. The hard part for Tesla is to admit defeat.
The Cybertruck RWD using the same battery pack as the AWD was already a sort of admission that Tesla found the vehicle program to be too small to be worth being produced with two battery pack sizes. The automaker did the same with Model S/X when the program’s volumes shrank following the launches of Model 3 and Model Y.
It looks like under the current circumstances, Tesla will have issues selling more than 20,000 Cybertrucks per year in the US despite having planned production for 250,000 units.
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