The automotive maker Tesla has started its mass production of lithium-ion battery cells at its Gigafactory in Nevada along with Panasonic Corporation in Japan. This was officially announced by Tesla on Wednesday.
Tesla's Gigafactory Is Up, Running And Building Battery Cells
Tesla, along with its main battery production partner Panasonic Corporation, is building custom-developed cylindrical "2170 cells." It will be used to power the products of Tesla's energy storage and the new Model 3 sedan. The battery has been jointly designed by both Tesla and Panasonic and it is said to be a longstanding battery partner.
The Gigafactory will initially produce battery cells for the company's very own Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2 energy products, Tesla said. According to CNBC, the production of cells for Tesla's first mass-market car, the Tesla Model 3, is expected to begin in the second quarter. Tesla's Gigafactory will produce 35 gigawatt-hours per year of lithium-ion battery cells by the year 2018.
According to The Verge, the factory is being built in stages and has almost doubled in size since July. It will continue to grow and expand, with the company aggressively building out the construction.
As of today, the facility has a total of 4.9 million square feet of operational space across several floors. the whole production is now 30 percent complete. In terms of workers, Tesla said that Gigafactory is expected to employ 6,500 manpower and create between 20,000 and 30,000 additional jobs for the people in the surrounding regions.
Tesla Missed Its Delivery Goals
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced over the weekend that the company missed its delivery and production goals for the second quarter in a row. Despite missing the company's goal delivering 16,000 vehicles during the first quarter, as reported by Recode, Musk expected the company to be able to produce 20,000 cars and ship 17,000 of them in the second quarter.
Unfortunately, Tesla missed that goal, producing 18,345 cars and shipping 14,370 during that period. “In total, Tesla expects to produce and deliver about 50,000 vehicles during the second half of 2016, approximately equal to all of 2015,” Tesla said in a statement.
Indeed, Tesla's Gigafactory is up, running and building battery cells. For Elon Musk and Tesla Motors, the only way to do anything is “big.” And that’s what happened Wednesday when its gigantic new Gigafactory became operational east of Reno, Nevada.
