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 inks multi-billion-dollar deal with LG Energy Solution to avoid tariff pressure
Tesla has reportedly secured a sizable partnership with LGES for LFP cells, and there’s an extra positive out of it.
Tesla has reportedly inked a multi-billion-dollar deal with LG Energy Solution in an effort to avoid tariff pressure and domesticate more of its supply chain.
Reuters is reporting that Tesla and LGES, a South Korean battery supplier of the automaker, signed a $4.3 billion deal for energy storage system batteries. The cells are going to be manufactured by LGES at its U.S. factory located in Michigan, the report indicates. The batteries will be the lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, chemistry.
Tesla delivers 384,000 vehicles in Q2 2025, deploys 9.6 GWh in energy storage
It is a move Tesla is making to avoid buying cells and parts from overseas as the Trump White House continues to use tariffs to prioritize domestic manufacturing.
LGES announced earlier today that it had signed a $4.3 billion contract to supply LFP cells over three years to a company, but it did not identify the customer, nor did the company state whether the batteries would be used in automotive or energy storage applications.
The deal is advantageous for both companies. Tesla is going to alleviate its reliance on battery cells that are built out of the country, so it’s going to be able to take some financial pressure off itself.
For LGES, the company has reported that it has experienced slowed demand for its cells in terms of automotive applications. It planned to offset this demand lag with more projects involving the cells in energy storage projects. This has been helped by the need for these systems at data centers used for AI.
During the Q1 Earnings Call, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja confirmed that the company’s energy division had been impacted by the need to source cells from China-based suppliers. He went on to say that the company would work on “securing additional supply chain from non-China-based suppliers.”
It seems as if Tesla has managed to secure some of this needed domestic supply chain.
Energy
Tesla Shanghai Megafactory produces 1,000th Megapack for export to Europe
The Shanghai Megafactory was able to hit this milestone less than six months after it started producing the Megapack.
Tesla Energy has announced a fresh milestone for its newest Megapack factory. As per the electric vehicle maker, the Shanghai Megafactory has successfully produced its 1,000th Megapack battery.
The facility was able to hit this milestone less than six months after it started producing the grid-scale battery system.
New Tesla Megapack Milestone
As per Tesla Asia in a post on its official accounts on social media platform X, the 1,000th Megapack unit that was produced at the Shanghai Megafactory would be exported to Europe. As noted in a CNEV Post report, Tesla’s energy products are currently deployed in over 65 countries and regions globally. This allows Tesla Energy to compete in energy markets that are both emerging and mature.
To commemorate the 1,000th Megapack produced at the Shanghai Megafactory, the Tesla China team posted with the grid-scale battery with celebratory balloons that spelled “Megapack 1000.” The milestone was celebrated by Tesla enthusiasts on social media, especially since the Shanghai Megafactory only started its operations earlier this year.
Quick Megafactory Ramp
The Shanghai Megafactory, similar to Tesla’s other key facilities in China, was constructed quickly. The facility started its construction on May 23, 2024, and it was hailed as Tesla’s first entry storage project outside the United States. Less than a year later, on February 11, 2025, the Shanghai Megafactory officially started producing Megapack batteries. And by March 21, 2025, Tesla China noted that it had shipped the first batch of Megapack batteries from the Shanghai plant to foreign markets.
While the Shanghai Megafactory is still not at the same level of output as Tesla’s Lathrop Megafactory, which produces about 10,000 Megapacks per year, its ramp seems to be quite steady and quick. It would then not be surprising if Tesla China announces the Shanghai Megafactory’s 2,000th Megapack milestone in the coming months.
Energy
Tesla launches first Virtual Power Plant in UK – get paid to use solar
Tesla has launched its first-ever Virtual Power Plant program in the United Kingdom.
Tesla has launched its first-ever Virtual Power Plant program in the United Kingdom. This feature enables users of solar panels and energy storage systems to sell their excess energy back to the grid.
Tesla is utilizing Octopus Energy, a British renewable energy company that operates in multiple markets, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States, as the provider for the VPP launch in the region.
The company states that those who enroll in the program can earn up to £300 per month.
Tesla has operated several VPP programs worldwide, most notably in California, Texas, Connecticut, and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. This is not the first time Tesla has operated a VPP outside the United States, as there are programs in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand.
This is its first in the UK:
Our first VPP in the UK
You can get paid to share your energy – store excess energy in your Powerwall & sell it back to the grid
You’re making £££ and the community is powered by clean energy
Win-win pic.twitter.com/evhMtJpgy1
— Tesla UK (@tesla_uk) July 17, 2025
Tesla is not the only company that is working with Octopus Energy in the UK for the VPP, as it joins SolarEdge, GivEnergy, and Enphase as other companies that utilize the Octopus platform for their project operations.
It has been six years since Tesla launched its first VPP, as it started its first in Australia back in 2019. In 2024, Tesla paid out over $10 million to those participating in the program.
Participating in the VPP program that Tesla offers not only provides enrolled individuals with the opportunity to earn money, but it also contributes to grid stabilization by supporting local energy grids.
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