U.S. electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has signed a new supply agreement with Graphite One to receive natural graphite sourced from Alaska, starting in 2028, as it continues efforts to secure a domestic battery material supply chain.
The deal covers both Lucid and its battery cell suppliers and follows a 2023 agreement between the companies for synthetic graphite sourced from Graphite One’s planned facility in Ohio, also expected to come online in 2028. The new agreement is set to run for five years, with pricing “based on a price formula agreeable to both parties,” according to Graphite One.
Graphite One said it would supply natural graphite concentrate from its Graphite Creek deposit near Nome, Alaska, and process it into active anode material (AAM) at a future site in Warren, Ohio, which remains subject to financing.
“This agreement complements the deal we struck with Lucid in 2024 – which marked the first synthetic graphite agreement between a U.S. graphite developer and a U.S. EV company,” Graphite One CEO Anthony Huston said. “We made history then – and we’re continuing to make history now.”
Huston added that the agreement strengthens U.S. supply resilience amid growing policy support: “From Presidential Executive Orders to increase mineral resource production and leveraging Alaska’s resource potential… we are building momentum for our efforts to develop a fully domestic graphite supply chain.”
Lucid is also set to begin receiving natural graphite from Syrah Resources in 2025 under a separate three-year offtake agreement announced in February. Syrah’s active anode material will come from its vertically integrated facility in Vidalia, Louisiana.
With the deals, Lucid aims to establish a reliable U.S.-based sourcing strategy for key battery materials. “A supply chain of critical materials within the United States drives our nation’s economy, increases our independence against outside factors or market dynamics, and supports our efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of our vehicles,” said Lucid interim CEO Marc Winterhoff.
The Arizona-based EV startup has struggled to achieve profitability but saw improvements in 2024, with record quarterly deliveries of 3,109 vehicles in the first three months of the year.