EV giant Tesla looks to expand its horizons in its Gigafactory in Reno, Nevada. The automaker announced on Tuesday, Jan. 24, that it will be spending around $3.6 billion to construct two new factories and hire 3,000 new workers.
This expansion plan easily dwarfs the initial $3.5 billion investment of the automaker when it constructed the facility in 2014.
Two New Nevada Facilities
Tesla will produce its 4680-type batteries in one of the two new Nevada facilities, while the other will be the business's first factory for the mass manufacturing of the Semi.
After multiple delays and five years since the company's initial demonstration of the electric rig, Tesla finally delivered its first batch of Semis to Pepsi in December 2022.
The EV giant is currently producing a small number of the trucks, but it has long intended to begin mass production in Nevada.
Tesla's Semi truck has a low energy consumption rate of fewer than 2 kWh per mile and has a range of 300-500 miles per charge.
Tesla's 4680 battery facility will help it reach its objectives of reducing battery costs by half and increasing the production of 20 million electric vehicles by 2030. The Semi factory, on the other hand, will enable the company to mass-produce its trucks.
4680 Battery
The 4680 battery was presented by Tesla as a more affordable, higher-capacity option for their automobiles.
The dry-coating method used to coat the company's cells, however, has reportedly prevented it from scaling up manufacturing. Tesla did not address these difficulties, but it did state that the new production will be able to create 4680 batteries annually, which is expected to be enough to power 1.5 million light-duty vehicles.
Reuters reported that Tesla's factories in Austin, Texas, and Fremont, California, have faced significant barriers in increasing the production of the 4680. Experts claim that the dry-coating method is novel but unproven, which may force Tesla to add more costs to its operations.
According to Tesla, the team at Gigafactory Nevada has successfully produced 7.3 billion battery cells, 3.6 million drive units, 1.5 million battery packs, and 1 million energy modules to date.
The automaker adds that since 2014, they have spent a total of $6.2 billion in Nevada to construct the 5.4 million square foot Gigafactory. It claims that it generated 17,000 local construction jobs during the building phase of the factory.
