Tesla’s efforts to build a stronger domestic battery supply chain have hit another delay, with Syrah Resources confirming another extension to the cure and qualification deadlines under its graphite offtake agreement, the second such extension in as many months.
The partnership between Tesla and Australia-based Syrah Resources dates back to 2021, when the automaker secured rights to the majority of battery-ready graphite from Syrah’s Vidalia, Louisiana facility—the only vertically integrated, commercial-scale anode material plant in the Western Hemisphere.
That plant processes natural graphite shipped from Syrah’s Balama mine in Mozambique, producing active anode material for lithium-ion batteries destined for Tesla’s U.S. production lines.
In a press release this week, Syrah confirmed the cure deadline has been moved from November 15, 2025 to January 16, 2026, with a final qualification cutoff on February 9, 2026. The original deadline was September 16, 2025.
While Syrah maintains it is “not in default” under the contract, both sides agreed to the extension to allow more time to meet the automaker’s technical requirements. However, Tesla retains the right to terminate the agreement in February if the February deadline is not met.
Tesla’s default notice, issued in July 2025, did not stem from payment or delivery failures, but rather from material that did not meet the automaker’s performance metrics required for EV battery integration. Producing active anode material at commercial scale is a complex process that involves meeting precise specifications for purity, particle size distribution, electrochemical behavior, and thermal stability—areas where new facilities often face steep learning curves.
Industry experts note that qualification for automotive battery materials can take months—even years—given the volume of testing required across multiple performance parameters. The latest extension suggests the Vidalia facility continues to face challenges scaling consistent, conforming batches of processed graphite, yet the supply remains important enough to Tesla to continue to allow extensions.
