As Tesla’s stock currently continues to rise along with its current market cap valuation approaching $800 billion, it’s safe the say the American EV automaker is doing okay. Tesla currently produces four electric vehicles at its various factory locations around the world. These Gigafactories also produce battery and solar technologies for the brand. With a semi-truck, Cybertruck, and 2nd generation Roadster already confirmed, plus goals to produce a $25,000 model, Tesla is continuously growing.

expand full story

Tesla has been on a tear lately, and it looks like CEO Elon Musk is trying to think of new ways to spend some money. Tonight he dropped a hint that, in addition to current gigafactory projects in China and Germany, Tesla is considering one in Texas.

expand full story

After confirming Gigafactory 3 in China, Tesla is reportedly in talks with local governments in Germany and the Netherlands to secure a location for ‘Gigafactory 4’ to produce batteries and electric vehicles in Europe. expand full story

There has been a lot of talk about Tesla soon announcing a new Gigafactory in China as the company confirmed discussions with the Shanghai government to build a plant in their Free-Trade Zone.

But the company has also been talking about a European factory.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk now says that Germany is the “leading choice” for a factory in Europe. expand full story

Panasonic is currently an important part of Tesla’s first two Gigafactories; Gigafactory 1 in Nevada does battery production and Gigafactory 2 in New York handles solar panel and tile production.

Tesla says that it has several other Gigafactories planned and Panasonic says that it is now considering partnering up again with Tesla for a new Gigafactory in China. expand full story

2018 is going to be an important test for Tesla Gigafactory 1 in Nevada. After starting battery cell production in early 2017, Tesla set a goal to reach a production of 35 GWh in 2018 to support the Model 3 ramp up.

Tesla increased its hiring effort this week in order to achieve that goal. expand full story

Companies are having difficulties getting their hands on cylindrical battery cells for their products and now a report coming out of Korea, where several major battery manufacturers are located, is blaming Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada. expand full story

Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted that Gigafactory 1 in Nevada could be one of the “production bottlenecks” slowing the Model 3 production ramp.

Now it looks like it’s confirmed as Panasonic, Tesla’s battery cell manufacturing partner at the factory, comments on the situation. expand full story

Panasonic is reportedly putting in place a ~$800 million plan to increase production across all its battery factories, including through its partnership with Tesla at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada. expand full story

The completion of a new highway was part of Tesla’s deal with the state of Nevada when they chose Sparks for the location of their first Gigafactory to produce batteries.

Now the automaker brought a new Model 3 to inaugurate the ‘game changer’ highway near Gigafactory 1. expand full story

We get our latest look at Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada, which CEO Elon Musk claims is already producing more batteries than any other factory in the world, thanks to a new flyover and drone video. expand full story

Tesla has always been clear about its ambitious goal to produce more batteries at its Gigafactory in Nevada than the entire industry combined, but the production ramp up has been less clear.

In order to give an idea of the current capacity, CEO Elon Musk now says that the factory is already producing more batteries than any other factory in the world. expand full story

We get our closest and most beautiful look at the progress made at Tesla Gigafactory 1 in Nevada in a while –  thanks to a new drone video by Duncan Sinfield. expand full story

Tesla has confirmed to Bloomberg that its longtime battery technology director, Kurt Kelty, has left the company. expand full story

While Tesla CTO JB Straubel said that he doesn’t expect the Gigafactory to be a bottleneck for the production of the Model 3, the company still needs to expand its production capacity if it wants to hit next year’s target of 35 GWh of battery production.

We now learn of their latest expansion projects through new building permits. expand full story

Since he announced a planned hyperloop route from New York to Washington DC yesterday, Elon Musk has been talking about other possible routes for his new Boring Company.

Now a Hyperloop route all the way up to Tesla Gigafactory 1 in Nevada is apparently being considered for cargo. expand full story

Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada has expanded significantly over the last year in preparation for the start of Model 3 production and the ramp up of Tesla’s energy storage business.

We now get a good look at just how much it expanded through satellite images of the battery factory. expand full story

Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have been talking for a few months about upcoming new Gigafactories with the new locations to be announced by the end of the year.

While some oversea factories have been rumored for a while, it has never been clear where those factories will be built and if the US will get some of them.

Musk now says that “2 or 3” more Tesla Gigafactories are coming to the United States. expand full story

Tesla has been able to turn its manufacturing plants into some kind of attractions. The company offers regular tours of its Fremont factory for Tesla owners to see where their cars are coming from and it even pushed an “industrial tourism” bill that would have enabled out-of-state buyers to pick up their cars at the factory.

Now, Tesla also plans to open up Gigafactory 1 in Nevada for regular tours. expand full story

We haven’t seen a new picture of the Tesla Gigafactory 1 in Nevada in about two months and during that time, they have been busy preparing for the production of Model 3 battery packs and drive units.

Now a new aerial shot of the giant battery factory shows lots of activity as they are starting production. expand full story

Following the series of reports stating that Tesla reached a deal with the Shanghai Municipal Government to build a factory in the region, the company has now confirmed that they are working with the local government to establish a manufacturing facility – without confirming that a deal has been reached, as previously reported.  expand full story

The rumors that Tesla finally signed an agreement to build a Gigafactory in China have intensified today.

Several Chinese and US publications were reporting that the deal was coming over the last week, while Tesla stayed silent. Those same publications are now reporting that it is done.

Update: Tesla has confirmed that they are working with the Shanghai government without confirming that a deal has been reached.  expand full story

Tesla has confirmed that it started production of the new Model 3 battery cell at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada over the weekend – an important step toward launching the production of the Model 3.

The new battery cells are believed to be key to Tesla achieving the necessary cost reductions that enable the Model 3’s $35,000 starting price tag before incentive.  expand full story

At Tesla’s 2017 Annual Shareholder Meeting yesterday, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that work at Tesla Gigafactory 1 is on schedule and that he expects that it will soon produce more li-ion batteries than the entire world production combined.

A recent third-party audit of Tesla’s Gigafactory project shows that it is indeed progressing according to plan and it even unlocked another $11 million in transferable tax credits through the company’s deal with the state of Nevada. expand full story

At today’s shareholder meeting, we heard more from Tesla CEO Elon Musk about “the machine that builds the machine.”

While Tesla’s first Gigafactory is not yet fully operational, the company is currently finalizing three additional locations for future gigafactories, with an announcement to come about those locations. Musk mentioned that it is likely Tesla will eventually build 10-20 gigafactories worldwide, in the long-term.

Musk also stated that Tesla will have to find or build a new factory to manufacture the Model Y, while the Model 3 will still be built at Tesla’s main factory in Fremont, along with the Model S and Model X.

expand full story

Since Tesla confirmed its intention to announce locations for 3 to 4 more upcoming Gigafactories to produce batteries and electric vehicles, a lot of regions have been very excited about to potential opportunities.

While CEO Elon Musk was asked a few times to confirm where those new factories will be located and he refused, he now disclosed that they will be ‘close to the end customer’ and have ‘very high headcount’ around the factories. expand full story

As we reported earlier this month, new building permits at Tesla Gigafactory 1 were acquired for a first new section of the plant in 2017 and new satellite images showed construction starting on the north side.

Now a flyby of the battery factory gives us our first good look at the new section. expand full story

Earlier this year, Tesla reached over $1 billion in construction spending on the Gigafactory in Nevada, according to building permits. Despite the large investment, the current structure, which hasn’t changed much so far this year, only represent a fraction of the planned final building.

We now learn that they are working on adding another expansion to the building with a new section. expand full story

Tesla surprised its shareholders earlier this year when they wrote in their quarterly letter that they plan to announce 2 or 3 more Gigafactories by the end of the year.

Considering the ‘Gigafactory 1’ in Nevada is one of Tesla’s biggest and most important projects, it was surprising that the company would build 2 to 3 more, but now CEO Elon Musk said that it will “probably be 4”. expand full story

Nevada’s Lt. Gov. Mark Hutchison recently went on a trade mission to China to promote tourism and his “biggest takeaway” from the mission is surprising: touring Tesla’s Gigafactory was a “near-constant theme” brought up by Chinese industrial spies tourism officials.

Hutchison says that he plans to bring it up to Tesla officials in order to set up tours of the battery factory. expand full story

You know that everything having to do with Tesla is being looked under the microscope when spilling a few gallons of cleaning solvent makes it to Reuters with the headline “Chemicals spill at Tesla battery factory, no serious injuries“.

Tesla confirmed that as part of their safety protocols, they called the authorities after “a drum of standard construction cleaning solvent” was spilled on the loading docks at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada, which prompts the reports. expand full story

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other company officials have talked about building a Gigafactory to manufacture batteries and electric vehicles in China for the past 3 years and while they have been several reports of finalized plans, they have all been shut down.

A new one came this week after a report in the Southern Metropolis Daily, citing multiple sources, claimed that Tesla had struck a deal to build a factory without a joint-venture in China’s Guangdong province. The company denied the report, but without necessarily denying that a factory is coming to China. expand full story

Tesla and Panasonic are expected to soon significantly increase battery production at the Gigafactory in Nevada in order to produce not only batteries for the Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2, but also for the Model 3.

Panasonic will hold a hiring event in Reno this week as it seeks to hire 2,000 workers at the battery plant this year alone. expand full story

Three years into the project, Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada is now more than 2 months into its first battery cell production. The factory is also now producing both Powerpack 2 and Powerwall 2 battery packs for stationary energy storage to use those new cells and finally, it is preparing for the start of Model 3 production with new battery cell lines and drive unit production lines.

While it’s starting to become a real producing factory, it’s still very much in construction and we now get a new look at the latest progress. expand full story

Tesla and Panasonic are not the only two companies working at ‘Gigafactotry 1’ in Nevada. Tesla set up the battery factory to house several suppliers who are part of the supply chain of li-ion batteries.

A new supplier announced its part of the production line and released rare new pictures from inside the plant. expand full story

While it was widely reported that Tesla received $1.3 billion in incentives from the state of Nevada to build its factory east of Reno, the automaker has only received a small fraction of that amount and the rest is gradually being unlocked as tax credits as Tesla reaches job and investment requirements under the agreement.

The company passed its latest audit of the project and unlocked $11,567,061 in transferable tax credits. expand full story

With the confidence of a well-oiled pizza shop, Elon Musk “seriously” said that Tesla could deliver a more than 100 MWh Powerpack project to Australia in 100 days – or it will be free.

The promise is a clear show of confidence from the CEO in Tesla and Panasonic’s new battery production at the Gigafactory in Nevada. expand full story

Tesla’s former Vice President of Supply Chain Management, Peter Carlsson, has officially launched his new startup called North Volt along with another former Tesla supply chain executive, Paolo Cerruti, and financed by Swedish investors.

The executives plan to build their own Gigafactory for li-ion batteries in Europe – possibly Sweden or Finland. They have the ambitious goal to bring down the cost of batteries below $100/kWh. expand full story

Nevada State Treasurer Dan Schwartz has been a strong opponent of the deal that brought electric vehicle maker Faraday Future to the state. He went as far as calling it a “Ponzi scheme.”

Schwartz is turning up the scrutiny on the company and dragged Tesla into it by calling for an audit of the deals they made with Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). expand full story

The news that Tesla is looking at not only one location but possibily 3 more locations for Gigafactories got a lot of countries, states, and regions quite excited this week. Some European countries had already launched efforts to attract Tesla after they announced last year that they would be looking for a location in Europe to build another massive factory to manufacture both batteries and vehicles.

Now that the number of plants went up, the US could apparently also get another Gigafactory. expand full story

For those of us who believe that the entire automotive industry is rapidly transitioning from being powered by fossil fuels to electricity, it becomes important to transfer any asset from one to the other not only from an environmental standpoint, but also from a financial standpoint.

We have reported before on a growing movement to divest from fossil fuels – now reaching over $5.2 trillion – but the question is where do you reinvest that money? What is the new petrol?

The minerals used to make batteries are obvious contenders, but there are a lot of different kinds of batteries using all different minerals. Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada is alone expected to double the global battery production over the next year and therefore, it could create a resource boom. expand full story

Recent studies show that average electric vehicle battery cost dropped 80% in 6 years down to ~$227/kWh. It’s exciting progress for the electric vehicle industry, but it’s still not enough to make long-range electric cars affordable.

You need batteries significantly below the average – battery cell and pack cost – in order to achieve the price point for mass market appeal and that’s what Tesla is trying to do with the Gigafactory. The company was aiming for at least a 30% reduction from its battery cost before the Gigafactory and it now claims a “35% cost reduction” in a new promotional video. expand full story

The Gigafactory 1 in the Nevada desert is central to Tesla’s strategy. It’s seen among supporters as Tesla’s main advantage by securing low-cost battery supply that will enable ramping up production of long-range and affordable electric vehicles.

But it’s seen by detractors as a Potemkin village – no more than an empty shell with little chance of ever seeing any significant production of battery cells. expand full story

As Tesla and Panasonic started battery cell production at the Gigafactory in Nevada last month, the company acquired several new building permits to continue expanding its already massive battery factory.

The addition and modification of 9 permits in January pushed the total construction cost of the plant passed $1 billion.  expand full story

Elon Musk may be a workaholic, but in his spare time he’s quite fond of video games.  His first programming project was a Space Invaders-style game and he’s recently tweeted about his enjoyment of Blizzard’s Overwatch.  So how better to appeal to him than by building a video game recreation of Tesla’s Gigafactory?

That’s what a team of Lithuanians thought, anyway.  41 gamers spent two days building and livestreaming a mockup of Tesla’s Gigafactory inside Minecraft, a “sandbox” videogame which lets players build an almost infinite variety of structures inside a virtual world.

expand full story

Things are getting busy at the Gigafactory this month. Tesla and Panasonic have confirmed the start of battery cell production. Volume production of Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2 are set to start as deliveries of the home battery pack are being confirmed in the first few markets and more Powerpack 2 projects are being announced.

That’s all being done while the battery plant is still under construction and Tesla released this week new drone footage showing the progress. expand full story

Despite an announcement earlier this month and some information leaking from a subsequent investor event, not many details are currently known about Tesla’s new battery cell production at the Gigafactory.

We now learn that an upcoming event should reveal more information. Tesla’s Senior Director of Cell Supply Chain & Business Development, Kurt Kelty, and its battery cell research partner, Jeff Dahn of Dalhousie University, will both present at the upcoming International Battery Seminar & Exhibit in March. expand full story

More and more details have been slowly trickling down since Tesla’s investor event at the Gigafactory last week following the start of battery cell production at the plant. We already reported that the company confirmed the start of battery cell production at the event and that Tesla CEO Elon Musk made an interesting comment about the Trump administration at the event.

But now we get our best look at the event through pictures and a recording of a Q&A session with Musk and CTO JB Straubel. expand full story