In Southern California, a couple walks toward the Salton Sea’s shore. The tiny saline lake was formed accidentally in 1905 when a canal diverting water from the Colorado River to the Imperial Valley’s agricultural sector burst. Getty Images | Robert Alexander | Archive Photos Through a strategic investment and partnership with Controlled Thermal Resources, GM is moving to secure U.S.-sourced lithium, a metal critical to electric vehicle batteries. GM announced the arrangement on Friday as a way to hasten the implementation of environmentally friendly lithium extraction processes while also increasing domestic lithium supply. As automakers deliver a spate of new EVs this decade, both are key issues for the Biden administration as well as investors. The majority of lithium used in electric vehicle batteries is now mined and processed outside of the United States. It is projected to put the country at a disadvantage when it comes to domestically making battery cells, which GM is currently investing billions in with intentions to manufacture in the future years. CTR wants to collect lithium from the Salton Sea Geothermal Field near Imperial, California, and GM says it is investing “multi millions” of dollars in the company. GM has refused to reveal the amount of its contribution. As the first investor, GM stated it will have first rights to lithium produced by the project’s initial stage, with the possibility of a multiyear arrangement if CTR’s lithium extraction technology succeeds. “It has a lot of potential,” Tim Grewe, GM’s general director of electrification strategy and cell engineering, told CNBC. “GM is the first investor to collaborate with them to actually attempt to expedite it.” The first stage of the project, dubbed “Hell’s Kitchen” by CTR, is projected to start producing lithium in 2024. Officials expect it to aid GM in meeting its goal of eliminating tailpipe emissions from light-duty vehicles by 2035. In a statement, Doug Parks, GM executive vice president of global product development, purchasing, and supply chain, said, “By securing and localizing the lithium supply chain in the United States, we’re helping to ensure our ability to make powerful, affordable, high mileage EVs while also helping to mitigate environmental impact and bring more low-cost lithium to the market as a whole.” When compared to typical procedures like pit mining or evaporation ponds, CTR’s lithium extraction process features a closed-loop, direct extraction process that results in a smaller physical footprint, no production tailing, and lower carbon dioxide emissions, according to GM./n
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