

News
Mercedes breaks ground on new battery recycling facility in Germany
Mercedes has broken ground on a new battery recycling facility in Germany, focusing on “closing the loop” and allowing the automaker to source more battery materials sustainably.
Two of the biggest challenges in the industry of electric vehicles are the price of battery materials and what happens with batteries when they are at the end of their useable lives. Yet more and more manufacturers are finding that these two problems can help solve each other through the use of battery recycling. In efforts to source more materials more sustainably and cheaply, Mercedes has broken ground on its first battery recycling facility that will slowly ramp to help meet the automaker’s material demand.
Mercedes’ new facility in Kuppenheim, Germany, aims to achieve a remarkable 96% recovery rate for four key materials; lithium, cobalt, nickel, and eventually graphite. It will have an annual recycling capacity of 2,500 tons and aims to begin processing by the end of this year.
“This foundation symbolizes the decisive step towards closing the material cycle for batteries from Mercedes-Benz,” says Jörg Burzer, Member of the Board of Management at Mercedes-Benz. “With a recycling rate of more than 96 percent, a ‘mine of tomorrow’ is being created here in Kuppenheim. The innovative technology approach enables us to incorporate the valuable raw materials into new Mercedes-EQ vehicles. We are consistently expanding our expertise of the battery value chain and are taking an important step in our strategy towards ‘Electric Only.’”
Mercedes also specifies that the new facility will be 100% carbon neutral as part of the German automaker’s continuing efforts to decarbonize its production facilities in the coming years. This is achieved through a mix of solar energy installed at the facility and green energy purchased from the grid.
German regulators were quick to point out that the new facility will also be a vital part of the country’s efforts to limit dependence on rare earth imports, which were particularly affected on the European continent due to the COVID pandemic, COVID restrictions in China, and the Rissian invasion of Ukraine.
“This is of particular importance in view of the limited availability of important and highly sought-after raw materials such as lithium, cobalt or nickel,” noted Thekla Walker, Minister for the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector Baden-Württemberg. “Crises such as the corona pandemic or the brutal Russian war of aggression against Ukraine have clearly demonstrated our dependence on supply chains and primary raw materials. Increased recycling can help to reduce this dependence on critical raw materials and thus strengthen the resilience of the economy.”
Mercedes joins the likes of Tesla, General Motors, and many others, establishing battery recycling capabilities worldwide. Tesla has already announced that it would make recycled materials a bigger part of its production with the help of Redwood materials. General Motors has worked closely with Lithion to establish battery recycling as part of its planned introduction of numerous EVs in the near future. While at the same time, national governments are also incentivizing many of these projects to help reduce the waste that could become an issue in a wholly electrified future.
Late last month, the U.S. Department of Energy granted one of its first-ever lithium battery recycling loans to a battery recycler in Upstate New York, LiCycle. And with the growing need for this infrastructure, the agency is expected to continue to invest in the future.
As Mercedes rapidly grows the number of electric vehicles it sells globally over the coming years, battery recycling plants like this will be critical to its growth and success. Hopefully, it can pose as an example for other manufacturers moving forward, helping to make EVs increasingly more sustainable.
What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!
News
Tesla is thriving in Japan and outpacing homegrown EVs
Imports, which include vehicles from Tesla and BYD, now claim about 75% of overall EV sales in the country.

Tesla is seeing robust sales in Japan. This was hinted at in data from the Japan Automobile Importers Association’s “others” category, which indicated a 56% yearly increase to 2,120 units in Q1 2025.
Tesla constitutes most of the vehicles in the Japan Automobile Importers Association’s “others” category, as noted in a Nikkei Asia report.
Japan’s Tesla Boom
Car sales by “others” in Japan soared 89% to 1,249 units in March, a monthly high, Nikkei noted. Fueling this surge in vehicle demand seemed to be the rollout of the new Model Y, as well as incentives like a five-year free Supercharging offer for previous-generation Model Y units.
Japan’s overall electric vehicle market, however, shrank 33% to 59,736 units in 2024, comprising under 2% of total auto sales, the lowest among major economies. Imports, which include Tesla and BYD, now claim about 75% of overall EV sales in the country.
Weak Local Competition
One of the reasons behind Tesla’s surge in Japan could be the subpar EVs offered by Japanese automakers. So far, only eight models are available from homegrown automakers, and none could really hold a candle to vehicles like the new Model Y in terms of features and performance.
This was highlighted by the Nissan Leaf, which saw a 32% sales drop to 1,133 units, and the Toyota bZ4X, which saw a 76% drop in sales to just 85 units in the first quarter. Combined, Japanese brands sold a total of 2,063 EVs, less than Tesla’s estimated figures for the quarter.
Yoshiaki Kawano, an analyst at S&P Global, noted that the weak EVs from Japan’s homegrown automakers result in consumers opting for imported vehicles like Teslas. “There are few homegrown EV options, so in some cases people who want to buy EVs reluctantly choose imports,” Kawano stated.
Elon Musk
xAI poised for funding surge as Musk seeks “proper value” for AI startup: report
The report was initially shared by CNBC’s David Faber during a segment on the Faber Report.

During a recent investor call, Elon Musk reportedly hinted at a major valuation adjustment for his artificial intelligence startup, with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO stating that he was looking to put a “proper value” on xAI.
The report was initially shared by CNBC’s David Faber during a segment on the Faber Report.
Investor Call Sparks Speculation
Citing sources who were reportedly involved in the call, Faber noted that while Musk did not specifically state that he was looking to initiate another funding round, his comments about a “proper valuation” for xAI were interpreted by Faber’s sources that xAI may be setting the stage for a notable capital raise in the near future.
“Let me give you some takeaways from the call itself. It was with a number of the companies, the investors in xAI going over a number of important things, that included the closing of the X transaction… Remember, xAI and X are now one company valuing X at $33 billion going in. xAI had a value of as much as $80 billion.
“What I’ve heard is the company is setting up for another capital raise of great significance… But on the call, Musk is quoted as having said, ‘We’re going to put a proper value on the company in reference to xAI,’ and people took that to mean, and again this is speculation, that they will have a large raise,” Faber stated.
xAI’s Growth and Ambitions
Launched in July 2023, xAI introduced its Grok chatbot to challenge Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In March, Musk merged xAI with X. “xAI and X’s futures are intertwined,” Musk wrote on X. “Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent.”
The merger leverages X’s data to train Grok, boosting xAI’s competitive edge. xAI has also made a lot of headway in the artificial intelligence space, thanks in part to its speed, which allowed it to set up Colossus, a supercomputer cluster comprised of 100,000 GPUs, in just 122 days. Colossus has since been expanded to 200,000 GPUs, and plans are underway to expand the supercomputer even further.
Investor's Corner
Tesla (TSLA) Q1 2025 earnings: What to expect
Tesla stock reached as high as $488.54 per share in 2024, though it is trading at around $240 per share as of writing.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is expected to release its first quarter 2025 results after markets close today, April 22, 2025.
At 4:30 p.m. Central Time / 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, executives such as CEO Elon Musk will also be holding a Company Update and the Q1 2025 earnings call.
Tesla Q1 Deliveries and Production
Tesla missed estimates in the first quarter, with the company delivering a total of 336,681 vehicles worldwide. A total of 362,615 vehicles were also produced during this period.
While the delivery results of Tesla’s electric vehicle business were subpar in Q1 2025, the company’s energy division exhibited strong performance during the quarter, deploying a total of 10.4 GWh worth of energy storage products.
Earnings Estimates
As noted in a Forbes report, expectations are high that Tesla will report a gain of $0.35/share on $21.85 billion in revenue. Whisper numbers, however, reportedly suggest that the electric vehicle maker will only post a gain of $0.31 per share.
Analysts polled by the FactSet, however, expect Tesla to see an EPS of $0.41 per share on revenues of $21.27 billion, as noted in an Investors’ Business Daily report.
Tesla Stock So Far
Tesla stock reached as high as $488.54 per share in 2024, though it is trading at around $240 per share as of writing. Tesla stock has been naturally volatile, however, so it is prone to notable moves depending on its Q1 earnings.
If the numbers are good, Tesla stock could easily gap up, but if they are disappointing, it would not be surprising if TSLA shares gap down.
FSD, New Vehicle Updates
Tesla is expected to launch a dedicated robotaxi service this June in Austin, Texas. The company has also been hinting at more affordable models that will be launched in the first half of 2025. Expectations are high that CEO Elon Musk will share some updates on these projects, particularly the rollout of Tesla’s FSD Unsupervised system.
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