Inspenet, February 6, 2023
General Motors Co. and Lithium Americas Corp. announced that they will co-invest to develop the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada, which is the largest known source of lithium in the United States and the third largest in the world.
GM will make a $650 million equity investment in Lithium Americas, representing the largest investment ever made by an automaker to produce battery raw materials. Lithium Americas estimates that the lithium mined and processed from the project can support the production of up to 1 million electric vehicles per year.
Thacker Pass’s lithium carbonate will be used in GM’s own Ultium battery cells. Lithium is a key material in lithium-ion batteries and stands up well to repeated charging and discharging (including fast charging), offers higher energy density, and offers more usable capacity than other types of batteries.
GM is launching a broad portfolio of trucks, SUVs, luxury vehicles and light commercial vehicles using the Ultium platform, including the GMC HUMMER EV truck and SUV, GMC Sierra EV, Cadillac LYRIQ, Cadillac CELESTIQ, Chevrolet Silverado EV, Chevrolet Blazer EV, Chevrolet Equinox EV, BrightDrop Zevo 400 and BrightDrop Zevo 600.
Production at Thacker Pass is projected to begin in the second half of 2026. Lithium Americas expects Thacker Pass to create 1,000 construction jobs and 500 in operations.
Photo: ShutterStock
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