Tesla has filed a patent that aims to recover undamaged and unutilized nickel and cobalt, two crucial raw materials in battery cells. The patent outlines the use of an electrochemical dissolution to recover the Earth metals for recycling purposes, moving toward a more efficient supply chain as some battery materials are becoming hard to obtain due to global supply chain shortages.
The patent is titled “Metal Sulfate Manufacturing System via Electrochemical Dissolution” and was filed by three Tesla engineers. The automaker filed it on July 29th, 2021, just days after the Q2 2021 Earnings Call, where Tesla reported its eighth consecutive profitable quarter.
The patent
Battery manufacturing has been a central focus of electric car companies since day 1. Batteries are the lifeblood of electric cars, and as more companies enter the EV sector, batteries and battery materials are becoming less available due to growing demand. One way to utilize EV batteries after their lifespan has come to an end is to recover the undamaged and unutilized raw materials from the non-functioning cells. Battery cell recycling could be the best and most efficient way to alleviate battery material supply shortages and increase the number of available cells for a company’s products. Nickel and cobalt are two materials that would be ideal for this patent: nickel due to its low availability and cobalt due to its environmental effects and commonly immoral mining practices.
“Nickel and cobalt sulfates are often used as raw materials for lithium-ion battery cathode material precursors, nickel metal hydride battery cathodes, and nickel cadmium battery cathodes. It is sometimes difficult or expensive to purchase metal sulfate products from the market due to their limited availability,” the patent states. “As a result, several companies synthesize metal sulfate solutions via dissolution in sulfuric acid from more readily available metal products, such a nickel powder, nickel briquette, cobalt powder, and cobalt briquette. However, the growth of the electric and hybrid-electric vehicle markets is expected to continue into the future and result in a shortage of metal powders and briquettes, in addition to sulfates.”
Tesla aims to utilize an electrolyte bath container to hold a solution for battery cells to be placed in. The bath would utilize “relatively dilute sulfuric acid” in an electrochemical dissolution device with an anode and a cathode, synthesizing a metal sulfate solution from the cathodes, powders, or briquette materials. The metals can be extracted from the cells through the bath, which will have low-voltage currents applied to it, freeing the undamaged materials from the battery.
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- Credit: US Patent Office | Tesla
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- Credit: US Patent Office | Tesla
Why this is a big deal
The patent, if granted, would open doors for Tesla to recover some of the most crucial elements of an electric vehicle or energy storage battery. With the increased demand for these materials, Tesla could cut its expenditures for material mining and new battery cell production, allowing the company to remove itself from the extensive waiting list for these materials. Costs for both nickel and cobalt have skyrocketed recently. Cobalt has increased in price significantly since September 2019, increasing by 62.64% since then. Nickel is up 9.25% in the same time frame, according to Investing.com.
Musk’s callout for Nickel and Cobalt
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been requesting nickel for several quarters, even requesting a supplier to offer its services to the automaker for a “giant contract.” Tesla has signed supply deals with Australia’s BHP and has also been in talks with Canadian and Indonesian companies.
Musk said during the Q2 2020 Earnings Call:
“Well, I’d just like to reemphasize, any mining companies out there, please mine more nickel, OK? Wherever you are in the world, please mine more nickel, and don’t wait for nickel to go back to some long — some high point that you experienced some five years ago or whatever. Go for efficiency, as environmentally friendly, nickel mining at high volume. Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way. So hopefully, this message goes out to all mining companies.”
Cobalt, a highly controversial metal that is crucial for cell stability, is an element Tesla is attempting to move away from. However, if the automaker can get its hands on reusable cobalt from old batteries, it would likely not say no to the option of having it on hand. Mining practices have widely been characterized as immoral and have taken advantage of child labor. Tesla has worked its way around these issues through routine due diligence checks at its supplier’s mines, but still, getting cobalt out of the supply chain altogether is the goal. Tesla is working toward a zero-cobalt LPF cell in China, and suppliers like Panasonic have also indicated that they could have cobalt-free cells ready in 2-3 years.
Tesla’s patent is available below.
Metal Sulfate Manufacturing System via Electrochemical Dissolution by Joey Klender on Scribd
Energy
Tesla Lathrop Megafactory celebrates massive Megapack battery milestone
The Tesla Megapack is the backbone of Tesla Energy’s battery deployments.
The Tesla Lathrop Megafactory recently achieved a new milestone. As per the official Tesla Megapack account on X, the Lathrop Megafactory has produced its 15,000th Megapack 2 XL battery.
15,000 Megapack Batteries
Tesla celebrated the milestone with a photo of the Lathrop Megafactory team posing with a freshly produced Megapack battery. To commemorate the event, the team held balloons that spelled out “15,000” as they posed for the photo.
The Tesla Megapack is the backbone of Tesla Energy’s battery deployments. Designed for grid-scale applications, each Megapack offers 3.9 MWh of energy and 1.9 MW of power. The battery is extremely scalable, making it perfect for massive energy storage projects.
More Megafactories
The Lathrop Megafactory is Tesla’s first dedicated facility for its flagship battery storage system. It currently stands as the largest utility-scale battery factory in North America. The facility is capable of producing 10,000 Megapack batteries every year, equal to 40 GWh of clean energy storage.
Thanks to the success of the Megapack, Tesla has expanded its energy business by building and launching the Shanghai Megafactory, which is also expected to produce 40 GWh of energy storage per year. The ramp of the Shanghai Megafactory is quite impressive, with Tesla noting in its Q1 2025 Update Letter that the Shanghai Megafactory managed to produce over 100 Megapack batteries in the first quarter alone.
Tesla Energy’s Potential
During the first quarter earnings call, CEO Elon Musk stated that the Megapack is extremely valuable to the energy industry.
“The Megapack enables utility companies to output far more total energy than would otherwise be the case… This is a massive unlock on total energy output of any given grid over the course of a year. And utility companies are beginning to realize this and are buying in our Megapacks at scale,” Musk said.
Energy
Tesla Megapacks powers the xAI Colossus supercomputer
Tesla Megapacks step in to stabilize xAI’s Colossus supercomputer, replacing natural gas turbines. Musk’s ventures keep intertwining.
Tesla Megapack batteries will power the xAI Colossus supercomputer in Memphis to ensure power stability. The collaboration between Tesla and xAI highlights the synergy among Elon Musk’s ventures.
The artificial intelligence startup has integrated Tesla Megapacks to manage outages and demand surges, bolstering the facility’s reliability. The Greater Memphis Chamber announced that Colossus, recently connected to a new 150-megawatt electric substation, is completing its first construction phase. This transition addresses criticism from environmental justice groups over the initial use of natural gas turbines.
“The temporary natural gas turbines that were being used to power the Phase I GPUs prior to grid connection are now being demobilized and will be removed from the site over the next two months.
“About half of the operating turbines will remain operating to power Phase II GPUs of xAI until a second substation (#22) already in construction is completed and connected to the electric grid, which is planned for the Fall of 2025, at which time the remaining turbines will be relegated to a backup power role,” the Chamber stated.
xAI’s rapid development of Colossus reflects its ambition to advance AI capabilities, but the project has faced scrutiny for environmental impacts. The shift to Megapacks and grid power aims to mitigate these concerns while ensuring operational continuity.
The Megapack deployment underscores the collaboration among Musk’s companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. Tesla appears to be the common link between all of Musk’s companies. For example, The Boring Company built a tunnel in Giga, Texas. In addition, Musk has hinted at a potential collaboration between the Tesla Optimus Bot and Neuralink. And from January 2024 to February 2025, xAI invested $230 million in Megapacks, per a Tesla filing.
Tesla Energy reported a 156% year-over-year increase in Q1 2025, deploying 10.4 GWh of storage products, including Megapacks and Powerwalls. Tesla’s plans for a new Megapack factory in Waller County, Texas, which is expected to create 1,500 jobs in the area, further signal its commitment to scaling energy solutions.
As xAI leverages Tesla’s Megapacks to power Colossus, the integration showcases Musk’s interconnected business ecosystem. The supercomputer’s enhanced stability positions xAI to drive AI innovation, while Tesla’s energy solutions gain prominence, setting the stage for broader technological and economic impacts.
Energy
Tesla Energy celebrates one decade of sustainability
Tesla Energy has gone far since its early days, and it is now becoming a progressively bigger part of the company.
Tesla Energy recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a dedicated video showcasing several of its milestones over the past decade.
Tesla Energy has gone far since its early days, and it is now becoming a progressively bigger part of the company.
Tesla Energy Early Days
When Elon Musk launched Tesla Energy in 2015, he noted that the business is a fundamental transformation of how the world works. To start, Tesla Energy offered the Powerwall, a 7 kWh/10 kWh home battery system, and the Powerpack, a grid-capable 100 kWh battery block that is designed for scalability. A few days after the products’ launch, Musk noted that Tesla had received 38,000 reservations for the Powerwall and 2,500 reservations for the Powerpack.
Tesla Energy’s beginnings would herald its quiet growth, with the company later announcing products like the Solar Roof tile, which is yet to be ramped, and the successor to the Powerwall, the 13.5 kWh Powerwall 2. In recent years, Tesla Energy also launched its Powerwall 3 home battery and the massive Megapack, a 3.9 MWh monster of a battery unit that has become the backbone for energy storage systems across the globe.
Key Milestones
As noted by Tesla Energy in its recent video, it has now established facilities that allow the company to manufacture 20,000 units of the Megapack every year, which should help grow the 23 GWh worth of Megapacks that have already been deployed globally.
The Powerwall remains a desirable home battery as well, with more than 850,000 units installed worldwide. These translate to 12 GWh of residential entry storage delivered to date. Just like the Megapack, Tesla is also ramping its production of the Powerwall, allowing the division to grow even more.
Tesla Energy’s Role
While Tesla Energy does not catch as much headlines as the company’s electric vehicle businesses, its contributions to the company’s bottom line have been growing. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Tesla Energy deployed 10.4 GWh of energy storage products. Powerwall deployments also crossed 1 GWh in one quarter for the first time. As per Tesla in its Q1 2025 Update Letter, the gross margin for the Energy division has improved sequentially as well.
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