Gigafactory 2

Tesla’s earnings report for 2016 was released moments ago, with information regarding two, possibly three future gigafactory plants.  Tesla’s current “Gigafactory 1“, which will be the largest factory building in the world by footprint, isn’t even finished yet and Tesla is already looking to finalize the locations of future plants by the end of this year.

This is the first solid announcement of additional gigafactories which Tesla has made.  They’ve referenced the future need for “several” gigafactories before, and talked about choosing a location for Gigafactory 2, but this is the first time, in writing, that they have solidified an actual count of multiple additional gigafactories and a timeframe for these future gigafactories.

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In the few weeks since Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the automaker will decide on a location in Europe next year for what the company has been referring to as ‘Gigafactory 2’, an electric car and battery factory modeled after Tesla’s first Gigafactory in Nevada, a few countries have already launched efforts to convince Tesla to build the new plant on their own soil.
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When Tesla CEO Elon Musk first announced the Gigafactory project, he said that even though the planned capacity of the factory is equal to the entire global production of lithium-ion batteries in 2013, the world would sill need around 200 more giant factories of similar size to support the auto industry’s transition from fossil fuels to electric.

Tesla named the factory in Nevada: “Gigafactory 1”, implying that the company plans to eventually introduce “Gigafactory 2” and so on. Late last year, German Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel confirmed being in contact with Elon Musk over the possibility of building a battery factory in the country. Now we learn that Tesla is also reportedly in talks to build another Gigafactory in South Africa.
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