Great Article, thanks. Albany Graphite could sort the environmental footprint from the graphite component in the batteries. I would like to see this mentioned in the Zen PEA.

Risky business
What does this mean for shareholders? Earning market share in a growing industry (lithium-ion batteries are used in everything from smart phones and tablets to cars and external power storage) presents Tesla with a great deal of revenue opportunity from development services. But it's not all great news, because this endeavor is environmentally risky, to say the least.

Lithium-ion batteries have a huge environmental footprint that Tesla must address if it is going to negate the risks intrinsic to producing as many batteries as its Gigafactory is expected to. Tesla's new endeavor could double graphite demand, thus requiring the opening of six new mines in order to keep up with projected development.

Study up
Tesla's CTO JB Straubel has confirmed that the company has done it's own internal study in order to determine the environmental impact of its manufacturing processes. He went on to say that the company would likely release a white paper to address this topic sometime soon. Unless Tesla did a full life-cycle cost analysis on the effect of graphite mining in its production, not just on the energy used to manufacture its fleet, the electric-car company will have a lot to environmental concerns to address.

The inherent risk in using a material such as graphite will prove to be a hurdle that Tesla will have to navigate with finesse. Shareholders should be on the look out for the company's white paper on this volatile supply chain concern.