Elon Musk's Gigafactory is taking shape: Drone footage reveals world's biggest building has added 2.4 MILLION square feet in just six months
- $5 billion structure in Sparks, Nevada will produce 500,000 lithium ion batteries annually to meet demand
- New drone footage of Tesla's Gigafactory shows that it is now 30 percent complete
- The north end of the massive building has been finished, adding another 4.5 million square feet of space
- The factory will be used to produce batteries for products including Tesla Model 3 car
It's deemed the biggest factory in the world – but when Tesla opened the doors to its 'Gigafactory' earlier this year, only 14 percent was complete.
Fast forward six months later, and new drone footage reveals that the electric carmaker has more than doubled the size by adding an additional 2.4 million square feet of space to the campus.
The north end of the massive building appears to be finished, making up about 4.5 million square feet of the overall 10 million square foot structure that is set to be done by 2020.
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It's deemed the biggest factory in the world – but when Tesla opened the doors to its 'Gigafactory' earlier this year, only 14 percent was complete. Fast forward six months later and new drone footage reveals that the electric carmaker has more than doubled the size by adding an additional 2.4 million square feet of space to the campus
Matthew Roberts, a digital content creator and aerial videographer, shot the latest footage of the plant using a DJI Phantom 3 drone in 4K, reports Engadget.
The electric car maker has set a goal of 10 million square feet for the finished campus, but with multiple floors in the building it could end up finishing at 15 million square feet.
The massive structure, although far from completion, stands out among the dusty, barren landscape of Spark, Nevada.
Tesla broke ground for its Gigafactory in 2014 and will produce the firm's own lithium-ion batteries in a bid to reduce costs.
The firm foresees it will drive down the per kilowatt hour (kWh) costs of their battery pack by more than 30 percent.
And keeping with Tesla's green theme, the plant will also be powered by renewable resources, 'with the goal of achieving net zero energy,' Tesla says.
CEO Elon Musk said the factory could easily employ 10,000 people in the next three to four years.
The name Gigafactory comes from the factory's planned annual battery production capacity of 35 gigawatt-hours (GWh).
'Giga' is a unit of measurement that represents 'billions'.
The north end of the massive building appears to be finished, which is about 4.5 million square feet of the overall 10 million square foot structure that is set to be done by 2020. Matthew Roberts , a digital content creator and aerial videographer, shot the latest footage of the plant using a DJI Phantom 3 drone in 4K
One GWh is the equivalent of generating (or consuming) one billion watts for one hour—one million times that of one kWh.
The Gigafactory is now producing battery packs but not yet creating the cells inside, Musk revealed.
The huge project is part of the billionaire's quest to drive down the cost of electric cars and create home battery packs to provide cheaper electricity.
Tesla broke ground for its Gigafactory in 2014 and will produce the firm's own lithium-ion batteries in a bid to reduce costs. The firm foresees it will drive down the per kilowatt hour (kWh) costs of their battery pack by more than 30 percent
The electric car maker has set a goal of 10 million square feet for the finished campus, but with multiple floors in the building it could end up finishing at 15 million square feet. The massive structure, although far from completion, stands out among the dusty, barren landscape of Spark, Nevada
The 13-year-old electric car company, which has never made a full-year profit, wants to transition from a niche maker of luxury vehicles to a full-line maker of affordable cars, pickups and even semi-trucks.
However, a major reason for this new facility is that Tesla needs batteries for its fourth electric car, the Model 3 sedan, will is expected to hit the market next year – its starting price is around $35,000.
Although it may seem like a hefty price tag to some, this is the firm's least expensive model, which is due to the reduction in battery cost.
A major reason for this new facility is that Tesla needs batteries for its fourth electric car, the Model 3 sedan (pictured), will is expected to hit the market next year – its starting price is around $35,000
Keeping with Tesla's green theme, the plant will also be powered by renewable resources, 'with the goal of achieving net zero energy,' Tesla says. CEO Elon Musk said the factory could easily employ 10,000 people in the next three to four years. Tesla has set 2020 for the official date of when its Gigafactory will be finished
Tesla is seeking to raise its global manufacturing capacity to 500,000 vehicles in 2018 from an expected production rate of about 80,000 this year.
The batteries for Tesla's current vehicles, the Model S sedan and Model X SUV, are made in Japan. To get the fund the construction of billion dollar Gigafactory, the car maker has partnered with Panasonic Corp, which has invested $1.6 billion into the project.
This money has paid for equipment in sealed, humidity-controlled rooms that manufacture the batteries.
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10,000 jobs. Cool.
by TRUMP_2016 36