You could say Tesla has a thing for batteries. From its electric cars to household gear, it’s at the forefront when it comes to rechargeable tech. No surprise then that the company’s built a massive, dedicated manufacturing centre, dubbed the “Gigafactory”, to pump out its batteries.
According to Tesla’s release, the US-based factory was designed in such a way that it doesn’t need to be 100 per cent complete before production can start. In fact, the 579,120m² facility is only “30 per cent done”. Come 2018 however, it should be making 35GW/h worth of batteries per year.
Right now the factory is producing Tesla’s lithium-ion 2170 cell, built with help from Panasonic, and are destined for the former company’s Powerwall and Powerpack devices, though hardware for the Model 3 “will follow in Q2”.
The “phased” approach to the Gigafactory also means Tesla can make improvements to its manufacturing processes and incorporate improvements in the later stages of the facility’s construction:
With the Gigafactory online and ramping up production, our cost of battery cells will significantly decline due to increasing automation and process design to enhance yield, lowered capital investment per Wh of production, the simple optimization of locating most manufacturing processes under one roof, and economies of scale. By bringing down the cost of batteries, we can make our products available to more and more people, allowing us to make the biggest possible impact on transitioning the world to sustainable energy.
Who knows, with enough research and development, Tesla might be able to give Samsung a hand with that annoying battery problem.
[Tesla]