If you didn’t think it was possible, just wait until you hear this one… an enormous Tesla Gigafactory Texas has officially opened in the middle of the desert, out of nowhere.
The name that’s been given to this brand new factory? Gigafactory Texas-Is-Officially-OPEN – sounds almost like the next chapter in some sort of sci-fi novel, doesn’t it? Let me give you the details about this amazing new development for Tesla.
What is the Tesla Gigafactory
The Tesla gigafactory, officially called Gigafactory 1, is a lithium-ion battery production facility that aims to produce enough batteries for 500,000 Tesla vehicles per year by 2020. That’s about 3 times as many cars as Tesla was making in 2017. The first phase of construction began in May 2014 and included $2 billion worth of equipment from suppliers across all 50 U.S. states and other countries. Construction on stage 2 began in 2016, with completion expected by 2018-2019. In July 2017, Tesla brought on an additional partner for stage 2 construction: Panasonic Corporation (ADR) (OTC: PCRFY). This would increase Panasonic’s investment from 30% to 50%.
The location of Tesla’s gigafactory was a big question for a while. By May 2017, we knew that Tesla would build its lithium-ion battery factory in Nevada, close to its car manufacturing facility in Fremont. In June 2017, Tesla filed an application with New Mexico seeking incentives to build in New Mexico instead of Nevada. In July 2017, Tesla confirmed that it had withdrawn from discussions with New Mexico and was moving forward with building in Nevada.
Tesla’s Giant New Factory Is Now Open For Business in Nevada – A Tesla spokesperson stated that production has already begun on lithium-ion battery cells, which will be used to power Tesla’s energy storage products and Model 3. The factory began mass production in January 2018. The factory’s first product was Powerwall 2, a home-based rechargeable lithium-ion battery system.
Tesla Gigafactory Texas is Officially OPEN – Description: Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently tweeted a short video showing off what he calls Gigafactory 1 at work producing battery packs for electric cars, according to CNN Money. Musk describes it as alien dreadnought shit. We want that alien dreadnought shit too Elon!
The Future of Cars
Tesla has just announced that its newest gigafactory (an even larger factory for producing lithium-ion batteries) will be built in Shelby, Texas. The plant will allow Tesla to continue to expand its production of electric vehicles and further its vision of a clean energy future. Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla, said Tesla continues to increase our battery production in order to accelerate mass-market adoption [of sustainable transportation]. Tesla has plans to begin shipping lithium-ion batteries from their gigafactory as early as late 2017. This exciting news has people wondering—what is a gigafactory? What will it mean for our planet if we start using more sustainable forms of transportation? Can we really curb global warming through sustainable transportation initiatives alone? Is it realistic or feasible?
So, what exactly is a gigafactory? The term was first coined by Tesla to describe its enormous factory in Nevada. Since then, however, other companies have begun using it as well. A gigafactory produces batteries for large-scale projects (typically electric vehicles). Tesla’s gigafactory in Nevada produced enough lithium-ion batteries to power half a million cars during its first year of production alone. While Tesla was originally only selling 80,000 cars per year, Elon Musk expects that number to double within a few years and soon reach 500,000 cars per year with help from their new gigafactory in Texas.
What will a gigafactory mean for our planet? Elon Musk said that Tesla will continue to increase their battery production in order to help accelerate mass-market adoption of sustainable transportation. Because lithium-ion batteries are so powerful, they can significantly reduce carbon emissions when applied to vehicles and electricity production. This fact was demonstrated by Tesla who, despite only selling 80,000 cars during their first year of sales with their original gigafactory (and about 6 million cars worldwide at that time), still managed to cut more than 20 million tons of carbon emissions from being released into our atmosphere. That’s enough carbon emissions being released into our atmosphere.
Facts About The Tesla Factory
How big is it? The Tesla factory measures 5.5 million square feet, which makes it roughly three times bigger than New York’s Empire State Building, and five times bigger than Tesla’s first plant in Fremont, California. What kind of batteries is being made? At full capacity, each Tesla gigafactory will be able to produce more lithium-ion batteries annually by 2020 than were produced globally in 2013. What else is made there? The Tesla factory will also produce Model 3 drive units as well as electric motors for an array of its vehicles including Model S sedans and Model X SUVs. How many people will work there?
It’s pretty huge, no matter how you slice it. The factory will employ 6,500 people full-time once it hits its peak in 2020, and up to 10,000 when construction is complete. Tesla also estimates that its gigafactory will add $37 billion to Nevada’s economy over a 20-year period and create about 22,000 jobs for local businesses. As for expenses?
In order to save money, Tesla will repurpose an existing structure when it comes to building out its gigafactory. This isn’t unusual—companies like Google, Facebook and Tesla’s Model S rival, BMW, have built manufacturing plants on old military bases in recent years. Tesla will also work with Panasonic on much of its construction process, which should help keep costs down. That’s what we know so far about Tesla’s new factory—how do you think they’ll fare?
What Will Happen Next
Tesla’s electric car batteries are manufactured in a large plant in Nevada. Tesla’s first battery factory, as it’s known, took almost four years to build and is five times bigger than an aircraft carrier. Tesla claims that once at full capacity, it will produce more lithium-ion batteries in a year than were produced worldwide in 2013. Now imagine what happens when that factory reaches full capacity and then expands. That’s exactly what happened when Tesla opened its latest production facility on Thursday morning to turn out electric cars by building more battery storage.
Tesla’s newest factory in Tilburg, Netherlands, will produce batteries for electric cars to be sold outside Europe. When complete, it will be one of Tesla’s largest factories, capable of churning out 500,000 lithium-ion batteries a year. Demand for Tesla’s electric cars has been driven largely by word-of-mouth. That’s because very few people have ever driven a Tesla and they don’t know what they are missing until they get behind its wheel and feel its power and performance; once there, word spreads quickly among enthusiastic owners who also tell their friends to buy one and love to talk about how much fun it is to drive a Tesla. Imagine if more people got behind those wheels?
Tesla plans to build two more Gigafactories, one in Europe and one in China. While Tesla will sell electric cars in Europe and China, it won’t necessarily manufacture them there; however, a factory does not have to be located near where its vehicles are sold for it to make a big difference for Tesla. To begin with, since battery production lines take about nine months to build from scratch, Tesla must expand its facilities just to keep up with the growing demand for its cars. That means people who want a Tesla must wait longer before they can get their hands on one; by comparison, other car manufacturers can produce electric cars more quickly than batteries because they buy them off the shelf.
The Benefits Of This Gigafactory
The Tesla gigafactory will have a 5.8 million square foot footprint, making it one of the largest buildings in existence. The factory also houses 17.6 acres of solar panels, with another 10 acres to be added soon. This was one of Tesla’s key design requirements: to create a building that relied as little as possible on fossil fuels—primarily natural gas—to generate electricity for its operations and at least 2/3s of its power needs would come from renewable energy sources by next year. Even now, during construction, two-thirds of all electricity used in construction comes from solar panels donated by SolarCity and their many local partners throughout North America!
In addition to being eco-friendly, Tesla has engineered their gigafactory to be as cost-efficient as possible. By constructing a building with a foundation embedded into bedrock rather than traditional above-ground footings, and minimizing airflow resistance through design features such as automatic nose cone extensions to push warm air out of natural air inlets (which can reduce cooling costs by 30% year-round), Tesla expects that they will have reduced cooling costs alone by approximately 50%. The factory is also designed so that robots are used wherever possible and human labour only occurs when absolutely necessary. And of course, every bit of raw material used at Tesla’s gigafactory comes from within North America or an adjacent country.
Tesla’s factory in Nevada was originally expected to be a finished product by late 2016, but it wasn’t until last month that Tesla employees moved into their offices and started preparing for operations. While workers at first focused on the final assembly of Powerwalls and Powerpacks, now they have begun producing Tesla’s new Model 3 electric car as well. Production of lithium-ion battery cells will begin in early 2017 and Model 3 parts will roll off Tesla’s assembly line sometime after that. By 2018, Tesla expects to have its factory operating at full capacity, producing batteries for 500,000 vehicles per year—more than twice what most auto plants can manufacture today. Even then, however, Musk has stated that he would like to expand further.
Exciting Things To Come
The Tesla gigafactory in Nevada—which produces batteries for their electric cars and also happens to be one of the largest factories in history—is ramping up production, which is great news for consumers. Their batteries are better than other electric car companies due to their innovative use of copper and nickel (the only two materials that can handle high-energy lithium-ion cells), but they’re also getting an edge because they manufacture them all at once. Many of these competitors produce bits and pieces, which makes updating hard. This factory allows Tesla to design, assemble, test and ship products more efficiently.
Tesla’s new $5 billion gigafactory will add to that efficiency and benefit their customers even more. The massive plant will produce 500,000 lithium-ion batteries per year, creating a ripple effect that also benefits smaller businesses in Nevada, not just Tesla. As electric car sales continue to climb, Tesla’s products are likely to be in high demand—which means consumers should take advantage of attractive incentives and rebates on offer right now. This includes tax credits and special state-funded promotions that reduce prices by up to $3,750 for eligible drivers who purchase or lease a new electric vehicle from a participating dealer.
The Giga factory in Nevada produces batteries for Tesla’s cars. These aren’t your average electric vehicles; their lithium-ion batteries are more innovative than any other companies due to their use of nickel and copper, which can handle high-energy cells. This means that they hold a lot more power than competitors’ products. They also produce everything at once, rather than making pieces and putting them together later.
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