November 18, 2024 - The reelection of former president Donald Trump to the White House could extend efforts to develop a domestic lithium supply chain for electric vehicle batteries, according to an industry expert, despite suspicion of EVs among some Republicans in Congress.

Genevieve Cullen, president of the Electric Drive Transportation Association, expressed hope that the incoming Trump administration would maintain federal support for domestic lithium mining.

"The fact is, domestic resource development is very much part of their platform, and this is absolutely within the ambit of that," Cullen said during a Nov. 7 interview.

Lithium is used in most batteries for EVs as well as utility-scale energy storage projects, and President Joe Biden's administration is trying to build up the domestic battery industry to reduce dependence on suppliers from China.

Trump's election has led to significant uncertainty for the clean energy industry in the US, as the former president has often shown hostility to green sectors. In May, he promised an executive order banning offshore wind projects. Trump has also vowed to roll back the Inflation Reduction Act, whose subsidies for EVs have received sharp criticism from many Republican politicians.

At the same time, Trump has a close relationship with Elon Musk, the CEO of EV-maker Tesla Inc., and some analysts suggest that link might influence future Trump administration policy regarding EVs.

Cullen also predicted that "progress on permitting reform would be enhanced in a Trump administration," making it easier for miners to develop new projects.

In January 2021, Trump's previous administration permitted a major lithium mine, the Thacker Pass project in Humboldt County, Nevada, despite vocal opposition from environmental groups. The Biden administration offered its own financial support to the project the week before the election.

Thacker Pass developer Lithium Americas Corp., which is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, announced Oct. 28 that the US Department of Energy had closed a $2.26 billion loan to finance the construction of the mine's first phase. The project is located in the McDermitt Caldera, which the miner says holds the largest known lithium resource in North America.

According to Lithium Americas, the mine's first phase would produce 40,000/mt/year of lithium carbonate -- enough for about 800,000 EV batteries. The company said it aims to make a final investment decision on the project this year, with production from the first phase set to come online in 2027.

The DOE's Thacker Pass loan is part of the $3 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan program authorized by the IRA. That program is part of a broader effort to bolster the domestic supply of critical minerals needed for the energy transition.

As part of that effort, on Sept. 20 the Biden administration selected 25 projects across the country to receive almost $3.2 billion in funding aimed at increasing domestic production of batteries and battery components. The largest federal grants in that announcement went to two projects to produce lithium carbonate in the Smackover Formation in Arkansas and Texas.

Lithium ore mined at Thacker Pass would be processed at the site into lithium carbonate, which would then be sent on to General Motors Co. to produce EV battery cathodes. Last month, the automaker acquired a 38% stake in the Thacker Pass mine for $625 million, and GM also has an offtake agreement to take all production from the mine's first phase for up to 20 years.

Lithium Americas also has plans for a second phase that would double the mine's output of lithium carbonate to 80,000 mt/year. The company says it plans to commence that expansion as soon as the first phase is commissioned.

For that second phase, the miner says the offtake deal gives GM 38% of that production as well for 20 years, with the carmaker also having the right of first offer for the rest of the second phase's output.