Tesla is not shy when it comes to confirming, dispelling, or even further complicating rumours circulating the Internet. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has been historically active on Twitter answering questions or Tweeting photos of whatever might be going on at Tesla or one of his other side projects. Recently, Musk sat down to talk about the state of renewable resources and how Tesla was planning on handling increased demand for its services.
We have been expecting more Gigafactories around the world for some time this year. Musk has previously confirmed that between two and four Gigafactory locations would be announced, however details have still been fairly scarce. Some countries like India have even expressed their desire to be one of the locations for Tesla’s Gigafactories, offering numerous incentives to the auto manufacturer to choose their country. At the 2017 Tesla annual shareholder meeting, Telsa once again confirmed the existence of three new Gigafactories, but left out their locations. It has come to fruition during the National Governors Association 2017 Summer Meeting that Tesla has picked out the United States for at least two (possibly three) locations where it will build its Gigafactories. A great time for Musk to mention the opportunity to the attending politicians, as many of them would have the opportunity to return to their constituents with new economic opportunities revolving around offering up Tesla entry to provide stimulation in their local economies
These Gigafactories would be responsible for the manufacturing process of not only Tesla’s fleet of the Model 3, Model S, Model X, upcoming Model Y, and potentially the Next Generation Roadster, but also Tesla’s PowerPacks; something which Musk stresses will be a large component of its business plan for both home use, as well as for use at its new charging stations. Tesla plans for Gigafactory 1 to begin pumping out 35 GWh of battery storage in 2018, which is enough to power 500,000 Tesla Models 3s. Long-scale plans include production of 150 gWh, which is enough to power well over 1,000,000 electric vehicles per Gigafactory worldwide.
But don’t think that these factories come at little to no cost. The first Gigafactory Tesla has been working on is a $5 billion investment. Musk explains that the Gigafactory itself is a huge economic stimulous, creating nearly 10,000 jobs in its wake. Despite the first Gigafactory not being completed, Tesla will continue to invest in itself, building several more over the next few years (with no specific timeline mentioned as of yet). It will be interesting to see just how much Tesla ramps up production to electrify the future.