Tesla has announced that it will invest $US3.6 billion ($A5 billion to expand its Giga Nevada battery manufacturing facility expansion and add production of its 4680 battery cells and a new factory for the Tesla Semi.
The news, released a day before it presents its latest quarterly results, will translate into more than 3,000 new jobs at the expand facilities..Ā
One of these new factories will produce some 100 GWh of Teslaās latest battery cell technology, the 4680 cells, while the other factory will be the site of Teslaās electric truck, the Semi. It was announced on Teslaās official Twitter page today.
Today, weāre announcing $3.6B of new investment in Giga Nevada.
– 4M sq ft of new manufacturing footprint
– 3k additional team members
– 2 new manufacturing facilities: a 100 GWh 4680 cell factory & our first high-volume Semi factoryĀDetails ā https://t.co/4CBOIFLwAW pic.twitter.com/rqXzyE7eRK
— Tesla (@Tesla) January 24, 2023
The new plans to produce 100 GWh of upgraded cell production translates to enough cells for over 1.5 million passenger EVs a year.
On top of that, the facility to produce Tesla Semi will be the first high-volume fully electric truck factory the company has constructed.
The Tesla Semi is a fully electric truck made by Tesla that was unveiled in 2017 and delivered to first customers last month in December 2022. The first customers included the US softdrink giant PepsiCo and snacks maker Frito-Lay.
This is a huge investment by Tesla in the state of Nevada. The stateās Governor, Joe Lombardo, announced Teslaās investment as part of his State of the State speech:
āCase in pointā¦I am looking forward to joining Elon Musk and the team at Tesla tomorrow when they unveil plans to build a brand new $3.5 billion advanced manufacturing facility in northern Nevada for the companyās all-electric semi-trucks,” he said.
“Economic development matters. Iām proud to declare that Nevada is back open for business, effective immediately,ā
On top of this, the Biden administration has also acknowledged Tesla as they assist to deliver the stateās sustainable energy and transportation plans. The Infrastructure Coordinator for the Biden Administration, Mitch Landrieu, mentioned Tesla in his comments:
āThe manufacturing boom of President Bidenās first two years continues today with Teslaās announcement that they will invest more than $3.6 billion in battery and electric semi-truck manufacturing in Sparks, Nevada,ā
He continued to state the impact of clean energy investments for the US including Teslaās latest investment in Nevada:
āThis announcement is the latest in more than $300 billion in private sector investment in clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing announced since the President took office. It will create more than 3,000 good-paying jobs in Nevada, helping America lead in clean energy manufacturing, strengthening our energy security, and ultimately lowering costs for families.ā
This expansion comes on top of the already $A8.9 billion Tesla has already invested in the state of Nevada since 2014.
According to Tesla, in Nevada, Tesla has produced:
- 7.3 billion battery cells (37 GWh+ annually)
- 1.5 million battery packs
- 3.6 million drive units
- 1 million energy modules (14 GWh+ total)
For context, 35 GWh of annual battery cell production equates to enough cells for 500,000 vehicles.Ā
Bold investments in manufacturing, technology, sustainable energy and electric vehicles are what have bought Tesla to become the global leader in electric transportation.Ā
With the latest announcement of investing billions in Nevada, it goes to show that even in tough economic times, the company continues to charge ahead with its mission.
RizĀ is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.