Key Highlights:
- Tesla has applied for a permit to produce cathodes at the existing Austin car factory.
- The permitting process is under the name ‘Cathode’ throughout the permit.
- Tesla still requires permission for air quality control at manufacturing sites.
Tesla Inc. has recently initiated the permit process to extend Austin’s car factory and includes the production of cathodes for battery manufacturing. The following has been confirmed through filings and spokeswoman.
The application for Austin building permit was under the program named ‘Cathode’, and Colorado River Project LLC was listed as the co-applicant. The cathode has been used as the name throughout the permitting process for the Austin-based factory—both state and local level.
The spokeswoman of the city’s development services department commented, “I can confirm that this is for the Tesla project and this permit is for a cathode building.” Although there was no additional information on the city development plans.
Tesla expands Vehicle factory
Tesla already has a vehicle factory set near the airport, on the eastern outskirts of Austin. With the addition of this new building, the Tesla factory will expand to a size of 1.6 million sq. ft.
Earlier this year, Tesla began the manufacturing of vehicles at the Austin-based factory. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, had intended towards the company’s expansion plans to build a cathode facility as part of the battery cell production plant in September.
Commission Permit still pending
On January 20th, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permitted the Tesla vehicle manufacturing site. Although, several other permits still stand pending from the commission. It needs to provide an air quality permit for polluting manufacturing sites.
In the permit filed with Commission in 2020, Tesla stated that the emission sources for battery cell production will include anode and cathode mixing dust. In the battery, manufacturing cathode is the single most expensive component of the battery. It may be profitable for the business but manufacturing cathode requires a lot of space and releases a large quantity of CO2 emissions.
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