Panasonic doubled its investment in the Tesla Gigafactory during the last quarter [Q1 2016 Activity Report]

Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) published its Q1 2016 Quarterly Activity Report for the Tesla Gigafactory and judged the company’s progress to be satisfactory. You can read the full report embedded bellow.

The most interesting bit of information coming out of the report is the fact that Panasonic invested more in the plant during the last quarter than it did since the beginning of the project.

The GOED wrote:

“In Q1 2016, Tesla reports an investment of $67 million, for a PTD investment of $380 million; PENA reports an investment of $64 million for a PTD investment of $128 million; or a combined PTD investment of $508 million through Q1 2016. That $131 million invested in Q1 2016 is 35% greater than the amount invested in Q4 2015.”

Interestingly, Panasonic (PENA) invested in the Gigafactory almost as much as Tesla during the last quarter. The increase is a good indicator that the Gigafactory is gearing up to manufacture its first battery cells, which is Panasonic’s role in the factory.

Tesla manages the whole plant and builds the battery packs, but Panasonic is behind battery cell production, which is expected to start by the end of the year. Tesla is already building battery packs for its ‘Tesla Energy’ division, but it imports the cells used in the packs.

The number of employees working at the plant significantly increased during the last quarter:

“As of the end of Q1 2016, Tesla and PENA have 317 and 52 Gigafactory employees, respectively; or a combined total of 369 employees which represents a 36% increase of total employees from the previous quarter. Of the 369 total employees, 334, or 90% are residents of Nevada.”

There also was a weekly average of 599 construction workers at the factory during the first quarter 2016 as Tesla is still expanding the plant, which is currently only 13.8% completed in term of footprint.

You can take a look at the previous report – Q4 2015 – as a reference point.

Featured Image: Stunning new 4k drone footage of the Tesla Gigafactory – March 2016 [Video]