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.

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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