Tesla has two brand new manufacturing facilities in the works near Giga Nevada, according to statements from Governor Joe Lombardo and the White House, and now confirmed by the automaker.
Following the confirmation, Tesla shared a video on Wednesday showing CEO Elon Musk’s announcement speech about expanding operations with the $3.6 billion investment.
In the announcement, Musk pointed out plans to significantly scale up production of the 4680 battery cell with a 100-GWh factory, and to debut the company’s first high-volume Semi factory, as phase 2 of Giga Nevada.
The automaker expects the investment to add 3,000 new team members to bring Giga Nevada’s total staff up to about 11,000.
On total product output, Musk explains to the employees in the video that it plans to output yearly totals of 7.3 billion Panasonic battery cells, 1.5 million battery packs, 3.6 million drive units and one million Powerwall energy modules.
The news comes after a report in October said Tesla was planning to expand Giga Nevada, adding enough floorspace with multiple floors to make up about 5.3 million square feet of operational space.
Currently, Giga Nevada makes up over 5.4 million square feet, prior to the major expansions. We can see in the screenshot above where the new manufacturing facilities will be added to the existing footprint. The Semi Manufacturing is at the front of the building near the entrance and the 4680 cell factory is near the middle.
Long term, Tesla is aiming to produce 2,000 to 3,000 GWh of 4680 battery cell production, equivalent to an additional 1.5 million Model 3 and Y vehicles, said Musk. 4680 stationary storage will be becoming as well. Musk said all of this will be in addition to their existing suppliers. He did not specify if this was Tesla as a whole or just future Giga Nevada expansion plans.
You can watch Elon Musk and Tesla’s full update on Gigafactory Nevada below, complete with new info about the production of 4680 batteries and the Semi.
