Tesla Produces First Cybertruck with Lithium Refined in Texas

Tesla recently produced the first Cybertruck with 4680 battery cells, whose lithium was refined at the company’s own plant located on the Texas coast, making it the first automaker to carry out this process in-house.

The milestone, which had been quietly in the works for years, was revealed by the official Cybertruck account with the caption, “First Cybertruck built with 4680 cells containing lithium from our Gulf Coast lithium refinery.”

Considered by Tesla to be the largest facility of its kind in North America, construction of the plant began in May 2023, when CEO Elon Musk laid the cornerstone in Robstown, a suburb of Corpus Christi.

It officially began operations in January 2026 and reached full capacity last July. Lithium arrives at the refinery and is converted into battery-grade lithium hydroxide, which is then shipped to the 4680 cell production lines at Giga Texas in Austin.

According to reports from enthusiast blogs, Tesla’s lithium refinery features a process that sets it apart. Instead of the sulfuric acid used by most of the industry, the tech company employs an acid-free alkaline leaching method that, it claims, reduces emissions by approximately 30% and reagent costs by 60%.

The main byproduct is anhydrite, a non-hazardous mineral that can be sold to the construction industry rather than treated as waste.

Lithium hydroxide is the most volatile component on a battery cell’s bill of materials. Contract prices ranged from approximately $10 per kilogram in 2020 to over $80 at their peak in 2022, before plummeting below $15 in 2024.

Each of these fluctuations affected Tesla’s gross margin, as the company purchased refined raw materials on global spot and contract markets.