A domestic supply chain for graphite — an electric vehicle battery mineral that China dominates — took another step forward Thursday as Lucid, an American EV maker, inked a deal to buy graphite from Alaska-based Graphite One.
Lucid, the California-based EV maker, entered into a nonbinding supply agreement through which it will purchase synthetic graphite from Graphite One Inc. The agreement, which kicks off once Graphite One starts producing synthetic graphite, will last for five years.
Graphite One hailed the agreement as yet another step in its plan to build out a domestic graphite supply chain, a plan that centers on the company’s push to mine a large graphite deposit known as Graphite Creek in Alaska on the Seward Peninsula.
Last year, the Biden administration, upon the urging of Alaska’s lawmakers, offered up a $37.5 million grant for Graphite One to develop the graphite mine. The Department of Defense is providing those funds under the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, which will allow Graphite One to mine for graphite near Nome, Alaska.
