House plants
Austin-based Tesla to spend $3.6 billion on tractor-trailers and battery plants in Nevada
Austin-based automaker Tesla said Tuesday it plans to spend $3.6 billion building new factories in Nevada to build its electric tractor-trailer and batteries for its vehicles.
Tesla said the new investment “will continue the growth of Gigafactory Nevada,” the 5.4 million square foot facility east of Reno-Sparks that the company announced in 2014. The new projects will add 3,000 employees , Tesla said in a blog post, in “two new factories: a 100 GWh factory of 4680 cells (capacity to produce enough batteries for 2 million light vehicles per year), as well as our first large semi-factory volume.”
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo first mentioned the proposed new facilities Monday night. Lombardo said during his state of the state address that he was “looking forward” to joining Musk and Tesla in unveiling plans to build the manufacturing plant, which will produce batteries and tractor-trailers.
The White House on Tuesday confirmed plans for Tesla’s new facilities, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Tesla said it has already invested $6.2 billion in the existing Nevada plant, hiring 11,000 workers and creating 17,000 construction jobs while the plant is built.
Tesla said the Nevada plant has already produced 7.3 billion battery cells, 1.5 million batteries, 3.6 million drive units and 1 million energy modules.
Following:‘Like it’s from the future’: Austin-based Tesla delivers its first tractor-trailer
Last month, Tesla officially delivered its first tractor-trailers to PepsiCo during an event streamed live on Twitter. It happened about three years after CEO Elon Musk said the company would start manufacturing the trucks. Competitors Renault Trucks and Daimler have produced electric heavy trucks in recent years, and Nikola has produced hydrogen trucks.
Musk said the Tesla Semi has a range of 500 miles when pulling 82,000-pound loads, and said the trucks have similar characteristics to other Tesla vehicles, such as quick acceleration and braking regenerative. The company did not disclose pricing at the time.
Musk also said the Tesla Semi looks “from the future”.
In October, Musk Tesla planned to rapidly ramp up production of Semis this year, aiming to produce 50,000 of the trucks in North America by 2024. At the time, the company listed semis as in “first production” in Nevada, according to an update for investors.
Following:Elon Musk lays out Tesla’s grand vision for its Austin operations
Tesla also continues to ramp up production at its Austin plant. The automaker moved its headquarters to the site of its $1.1 billion Central Texas plant in late 2021 and held a grand opening for the facility in April 2022 as it delivered the first Model Y vehicles made in Austin.
At Austin’s grand opening, Musk said the plant would also build Model 3 and Semi vehicles, but the company has yet to list Austin as a production site for semis. As of October, Austin is listed to produce the Cybertruck from this year, along with batteries.
Tesla recently cut prices for vehicles sold in the United States, cutting costs by 6% to 20% for Model 3 and Model Y SUVs and some high-end models. Lower prices mean some models are now below the cap needed to qualify for electric vehicle tax credits.
Tesla reported fewer deliveries than expected for 2022. Tesla is expected to release its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, but has already said it sold 1.3 million vehicles last year, a record for the company, but in fell short of Musk’s goal of increasing sales. 50% every year.
