Elon says Tesla Semi to scale up production in 18 to 24 months

[ecarfan]

At the shareholders meeting this week, Elon said that he anticipates Tesla Semi production starting to scale up in 18 to 24 months. Which amazed me. Clearly there is no space at Fremont to build the trucks: they don't even have enough parking for the employee workforce right now. And where would a new production line fit in the plant?

So...where is Tesla going to build the Semi?

 

[Chuq]

At the shareholders meeting this week, Elon said that he anticipates Tesla Semi production starting to scale up in 18 to 24 months. Which amazed me. Clearly there is no space at Fremont to build the trucks: they don't even have enough parking for the employee workforce right now. And where would a new production line fit in the plant?

So...where is Tesla going to build the Semi?

Elon has said
- Future Gigafactories will be the whole vehicle - not just the battery packs
- 2-4 more Gigafactories will be announced before the end of the year
- All vehicles worldwide are currently manufactured at Fremont

It is possible that shifting European/Asian manufacturing to Europe/Asia will free up 50% of space in Fremont. It will take time to tool up those factories, but they can basically replicate what they have done in Fremont.

On the other hand, if they did manage to free up space at Fremont, it would make more sense to increase production of the Model 3.

Perhaps a section of Gigafactory 1 will be for Semi manufacturing? There is certainly the space, and wasn't a larger footprint approved a few months ago?

 

[HankLloydRight]

Don't forget about this:

Fremont approves Tesla factory expansion plan to nearly 2x in size

There's lots of space to expand the factory. Also, when I was there last week, there was a ton of construction going on on that empty lot area on the north end of the property bordered S. Grimmer Blvd.