Construction costs for the Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada have crossed $1 billion, according to public records.
BuildZoom, a site connecting construction contractors with homeowners, has been tracking permits filed for the project, which is expected to exceed $5 billion in total.
Tesla has been issued 153 building permits from Storey County Community Development. The largest permit, issued in December for updated plans, covers work estimated at $404 million.
The Gigafactory is a joint venture with Panasonic, which began production this year of lithium-ion battery cells that will be used in Tesla’s energy storage products and Model 3.
The Gigafactory is being built in phases so that Tesla, Panasonic, and other partners can begin manufacturing immediately inside the finished sections and continue to expand thereafter. In January, the structure had a footprint of 1.9 million square feet, which houses 4.9 million square feet of operational space across several floors. Tesla said the factory is only about 30 percent done. Once complete, the Gigafactory is expected to be the biggest building in the world.