Tesla has revealed plans to finish the construction of its Cybertruck factory in Austin, Texas, as soon as May 2021.
Austin was named as the location for the company’s next gigafactory, at which it plans to build the rule-breaking Cybertruck ute (known as a pickup in the US).
The Cybertruck is currently slated for first deliveries in the US in late 2021 in a dual-motor and tri-motor format, but it could be that early units will be rolling off the factory floor somewhat sooner.
According to a document filed on August 27 with the Texan state authorities, Tesla has slated a May 1 completion in its project schedule for the Austin factory, which the electric car maker broke ground on in summer (media reports state mid-August while the document itself states mid-July).
“They’re going very fast. They started this summer with mining and they already are building building pads in 60 days,” Andy Linseisen, Austin’s assistant director of development services told Biz Journals which reported on the document. “This plant opens next year.”
If Tesla can keep to its May schedule, it would appear that Tesla has successfully taken lessons learned from its Shanghai factory, which was completed in 10 months from start to finish, and applied them to its Austin construction.
According to Biz Journals, the factory falls in the City of Austin’s jurisdiction and as such it is the city that is handling water quality and drainage for the new Tesla factory site, which is located just down the road from the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
All other project details are to be handled by Travis County, which has given Tesla $US60 million ($A84 million) worth of tax breaks and rebates in return for meeting job creation and other investment goals.
Musk first announced the location for the Cybertruck gigafactory in July, after hinting that Tesla was eyeing a central US location at which to build the Cybertruck.
According to Biz Journals, Tesla was able to start grading the site even before Musk announced the location, fast-tracked thanks to permits it inherited from the purchase of the property.
Even so, construction of the new gigafactory is coming along at a cracking pace.
According to a video shared by Tesla vlogger Joe Tegtmeyer, there is a “large excavation occurring in the south part of the larger foundation near the casting machine pit. This could be the area where stamping machines are going to be installed.”
He says that a mobile concrete batch plant is also about 85% complete indicating that, “concrete production is just about ready to begin.”
“For a project of that size to be open by next year would be extremely impressive. It’s fast,” said Sam Owen, senior vice president of Stream Realty Partners’ industrial division in Austin according to Biz Journals.
“In comparison to traditional tilt-wall warehouse development, the timeline is impressive and very quick … just a standard project would take that long.”
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.