PARIS -- Stellantis has taken a $52 million equity investment in Vulcan Energy Resources, an Australian-German startup that plans to mine lithium, a key element in electric car batteries, with zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The investment gives Stellantis an 8 percent stake in Vulcan, making it the second-largest shareholder, and will be used to expand the miner's efforts in the Upper Rhine Valley in Germany, Stellantis said Friday. The two companies have also extended to 10 years a five-year agreement announced last November.
“Making this highly strategic investment in a leading lithium company will help us create a resilient and sustainable value chain for our European electric vehicle battery production,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said.
Stellantis, with its partners Mercedes-Benz and Total/Saft, plans to open at least three battery factories in Europe in the coming years, in France, Germany and Italy.
The automaker says it will need 150 gigawatt-hours of battery capacity to reach its 2030 goal of selling only electric vehicles in Europe.
As part of the initial five-year agreement, Vulcan said it would supply between 81,000 and 99,000 tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in Europe to Stellantis starting in 2026.
Vulcan is one of a number of companies testing a direct lithium extraction (DLE) method that uses less land and groundwater, making it more sustainable than the most common existing methods of open-pit mines and brine evaporation ponds.
In addition to Stellantis, Vulcan has signed supply agreements with Renault Group, battery maker LG Chem and Belgian recycling group Umicore.
Stellantis takes $52 million stake in sustainable lithium miner Vulcan Energy
Stellantis deepens a collaboration with Vulcan Energy, a startup that is seeking to extract lithium in Germany's Rhine Valley with zero emissions.
The full-electric Fiat New 500. Stellantis plans to sell only electric cars in Europe by 2030, and says it will need battery capacity of 150 gigawatt-hours to reach that target.
