Tesla's super factory has officially opened its doors. When fully completed, the “Gigafactory” will be the size of 262 football fields and will be the largest building on the planet.
Tesla's $5 billion investment in a new factory is now starting to bear fruit. Although only 14% of the work has been completed, Tesla will already start work on its “Gigafactory”, which will be built in phases over the next few years.
The launch of the Tesla Model 3 and the aim to produce 500,000 cars per year from 2018 , a number that was expected to be reached only in 2020.
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The only way to achieve this goal is to provide the company with a battery building capacity that tracks orders and significantly reduces battery costs, a reduction that could reach 30% per kWh.
To make this possible, Tesla signed a $1.6 billion deal with Panasonic , a strategic partner of the American brand and which also set the tone for the construction of the “Gigafactory”. On the side of the State of Nevada, there was also no lack of support: 1.3 billion dollars in tax breaks.
In addition to strongly supporting Tesla's growth in the automotive market, the factory “hides” another important business for the brand: the Tesla Powerwall , a solar energy storage business for homes and businesses. Elon Musk has no doubts and even guarantees that 50% of the factory's production can be delivered to this service.
10 facts about Tesla's Gigafactory
1. It will occupy almost 930,000 m2, the equivalent of 262 football fields. It will be the biggest building on the planet.
2.5 billion dollars of investment
3. 1000 people work on factory construction
4. By 2020 it will employ 10,000 people
5. Should produce 500,000 cars per year
6. Worldwide production of lithium batteries will double
7. From 2018 onwards, it will produce 35 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries annually, equivalent to the world production of batteries in 2014
8. Elon Musk guarantees the factory is capable of producing 150 GWh of batteries per year
9. New York City annually consumes 52 GWh of energy.
10. A community of 10,000 wild horses live next to the “Gigafactory” and drink water from the reservoirs that support the construction. Elon Musk considers it a “romantic” vision and that it feels like the “Wild West”.