EnergyX captures lithium to help power electric cars

With gas prices soaring to record highs, some drivers are considering buying electric cars. 

Have you ever thought about what makes up an electric car battery?

"That’s a thing not a lot of people think about," said Teague Egan. 

Teague has been driving a Tesla since 2013. Up until 2018, he never gave the battery a second thought. 

Then, everything changed during Teague’s trip to Bolivia. 

He visited the world’s largest salt flat, which is also the world’s largest lithium reserve. 

Teague learned that lithium is what powers Tesla’s batteries. 

"I said to myself, ‘this is the biggest opportunity I’ve ever seen’" Egan said. 

Soon after, he founded EnergyX. 

"We come up with a way to more efficiently and cost-effectively produce lithium," he said. 

They’ve developed technology to retrieve lithium.

"Lithium is found in really salty water. The problem is Lithium is mixed in with a bunch of other salts, magnesium, sodium, calcium. The whole idea is ‘how do you separate just the lithium from the "impurities" so you can use the lithium in batteries?" he said. 

Get your top stories delivered daily! Sign up for FOX 11’s Fast 5 newsletter. And, get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.

Egan continued: "We have developed a highly selective lithium filter when you put the brine through the filter, only the lithium passes through…therefore giving you lithium in a much more cost effective way," he said. 

Egan said there will be a need for such technology as the demand for lithium grows. 

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom set a goal that all cars be zero emission by 2035. 

President Biden’s recently signed infrastructure bill allocates $7.5 billion for a national electric vehicle charging system. 

The future is electric. We are inevitably transitioning to electric vehicles and to a renewable energy future," Egan said. 

Energy X hopes its technology makes that transition easier. 

"What this basically means for the average consumer is electric cars are going to be more affordable," he said. 

Elex Michaelson co-anchors FOX 11 News weeknights at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. with Christine Devine and hosts The Issue Is, California's only statewide political show. He co-hosts the "FOX 11 Special Report" with Marla Tellez weeknights at 7 p.m.