Mike Cannon-Brookes lobbies for Australian Gigafactory

[Maximillan]

It's a long shot, but it's great to see Cannon-Brookes continuing to fill some of the leadership void within the country at the moment.

Aussie billionaire pushes Elon Musk on local Tesla factory

 

[moa999]

With respect, Mike should stick to software.

It's a bit like Elon telling Mike that he shouldn't outsource any coding to India and do everything in Australia and the US.

If Tesla build a dedicated RHD factory it will be in Thailand or India.

 

[nativewolf]

Australia has minerals that would make it an ideal location for battery manufacture. They just need refining and if there is any place in developed world to build a lithium refinery it would be Australia.

With respect, Mike should stick to software.

It's a bit like Elon telling Mike that he shouldn't outsource any coding to India and do everything in Australia and the US.

If Tesla build a dedicated RHD factory it will be in Thailand or India.

 

[Chuq]

I think the best we could hope for would be a dedicated battery manufacturing plant - we have all the natural resources here, and unlike EVs, the market for home batteries and grid scale battery systems is huge here.

While unlikely, it could theoretically also act as a sort of "final assembly" plant for vehicles, where vehicles made elsewhere are shipped to Australia and have their Australian made batteries installed. Sort of like Tilburg in the Netherlands (although in that case, it was for EU tariff reasons - this would be purely logistical). This is less likely, however, as they move to structural battery packs.

My other thought - Mike isn't stupid, he might know things we don't and is making this public statement in order to elicit public statements from certain people - politicians, etc.

 

[paulp]

Australia has minerals that would make it an ideal location for battery manufacture. They just need refining and if there is any place in developed world to build a lithium refinery it would be Australia.

Most refineries have closed down in Australia. Probably a reason for that.

 

[MC3OZ]

I think the best we could hope for would be a dedicated battery manufacturing plant - we have all the natural resources here, and unlike EVs, the market for home batteries and grid scale battery systems is huge here.

IMO grid scale LFP 4680 batteries are a real possibility...

The main market would be grid and perhaps home energy storage batteries here and elsewhere...

The factory would not need to be overly large/expensive... staff required probably 200-300 or so...

It is hard to see how car factory would be viable....

 

[m4rtin]

With respect, Mike should stick to software.

It's a bit like Elon telling Mike that he shouldn't outsource any coding to India and do everything in Australia and the US.

If Tesla build a dedicated RHD factory it will be in Thailand or India.

Coding isn't outsourced to India at Atlassian, the Bengalaru office is a peer to Sydney, SF, Mountain View, Austin etc.

Also if Mike hadn't pinged Elon that time the Tesla battery in SA might not have happened. Not keen on your gatekeeping, with respect.

 

[nativewolf]

I think the best we could hope for would be a dedicated battery manufacturing plant - we have all the natural resources here, and unlike EVs, the market for home batteries and grid scale battery systems is huge here.

While unlikely, it could theoretically also act as a sort of "final assembly" plant for vehicles, where vehicles made elsewhere are shipped to Australia and have their Australian made batteries installed. Sort of like Tilburg in the Netherlands (although in that case, it was for EU tariff reasons - this would be purely logistical). This is less likely, however, as they move to structural battery packs.

My other thought - Mike isn't stupid, he might know things we don't and is making this public statement in order to elicit public statements from certain people - politicians, etc.

Hobart, that's a great spot. Really enjoyed our short time in Tasmania.

 

[nativewolf]

With respect, Mike should stick to software.

It's a bit like Elon telling Mike that he shouldn't outsource any coding to India and do everything in Australia and the US.

If Tesla build a dedicated RHD factory it will be in Thailand or India.

Just have to disagree here. I'd love to see Australia do more on refining metals and if Tesla helps push that forward -great. As others have mentioned batteries in Australia would actually make a lot of sense. The need for grid battery is huge across the region. No reason not to do this in Australia, human capital is pretty small cost on a per unit basis.

Australia really needs the refining though.

 

[Vostok]

With respect, Mike should stick to software.

It's a bit like Elon telling Mike that he shouldn't outsource any coding to India and do everything in Australia and the US.

I think that’s a ridiculous position to hold. Mike - or anyone else for that matter - can make whatever propositions or suggestions to Elon that they like. Ditto in reverse. Given MCB had a hand in firing Elon up for the big battery in SA, his odds would be better than mine. He also has a few billion bucks more than I do, so is more likely to get noticed.

Elon will choose to either ignore it or engage with it as he sees fit.

 

[Vostok]

Most refineries have closed down in Australia. Probably a reason for that.

Except for two oil refinieries, which the Government has seen fit to throw $1.8 Bn of taxpayers money at to keep them open. Yet another fossil fuel subsidy.

 

[paulp]

Except for two oil refinieries, which the Government has seen fit to throw $1.8 Bn of taxpayers money at to keep them open. Yet another fossil fuel subsidy.

I think that is to ensure we have some kind of fuel ability for the war machine.
Actually in the context of making batteries from minerals refinery was the wrong word, it should be smelters.

 

[ICUDoc]

Imagine making solar panels and batteries in this country- what a great symbiosis.
We have minerals.
We have sunlight.
All we need is leadership....

 

[Maximillan]

Imagine making solar panels and batteries in this country- what a great symbiosis.
We have minerals.
We have sunlight.
All we need is leadership....

And we had the world leading technology at the UNSW in the 1980s and let that all go overseas.

The world is hungry for solar panels. Why did we stop making them?

 

[paulp]

Imagine making solar panels and batteries in this country- what a great symbiosis.
We have minerals.
We have sunlight.
All we need is leadership....

Tindo solar in Adelaide manufacture very high quality panels here and massive numbers. They are currently expanding to a larger factory

 

[Zoltrix77]

Except for two oil refinieries, which the Government has seen fit to throw $1.8 Bn of taxpayers money at to keep them open. Yet another fossil fuel subsidy.

I actually think thats a good idea for the time being. Lets be realistic, thats not a fossil fuel subsidy, thats a national security issue.

 

[Zoltrix77]

I think the best we could hope for would be a dedicated battery manufacturing plant - we have all the natural resources here, and unlike EVs, the market for home batteries and grid scale battery systems is huge here.

Yes, I think with the right leadership, we can manage that.

While unlikely, it could theoretically also act as a sort of "final assembly" plant for vehicles, where vehicles made elsewhere are shipped to Australia and have their Australian made batteries installed. Sort of like Tilburg in the Netherlands (although in that case, it was for EU tariff reasons - this would be purely logistical). This is less likely, however, as they move to structural battery packs.

I don't see car manufacturing returning to Australia ever. On the "structural battery packs:. From what I can see from the Giga Berlin images, the battery packs still appear to be able to be bolted to, and unbolted from an otherwise completed car. I would stay its purely a load stressed component of the structure, but not so much as holding it in place. The load certainly doesn't look to be transfered through the cells themselves, just the pack casing. It looks like there are structural strips between the cells. You can also see the comparison between the old and the new and the outer body rails are still exactly the same just with less steel between each side of the chasiss with the new pack. I would be pretty sure the cast front and rear do not rely on the battery to keep it all together whilst the vehicle in active motion.

My other thought - Mike isn't stupid, he might know things we don't and is making this public statement in order to elicit public statements from certain people - politicians, etc.

As an outsider, t definately appeared to work with the SA battery!

 

[moa999]

I don't see car manufacturing returning to Australia ever.

In any volume terms I agree. It's a volume game, and labor costs, factory construction and land costs and shipping costs to other markets come into it.

Equally solar is a tough one because it's become a fairly commoditized product, even if the tech is gradually evolving - because it's a very small flat packed product that's pretty light weight. You can fit thousands in a container.

Batteries are a maybe - we will need a lot in Australia - because they are heavy, and thus shipping costs are a greater deterrent to imports.
But to do that you also need to develop local supply chains around the various inputs. And refining some of those metals is pretty toxic and difficult in a better regulated economy (from an environmental and oh&a perspective)

As an outsider, t definately appeared to work with the SA battery!

Was undoubtedly good publicity, but the reality is SA was always going to and did go to a public tender for the big battery.

From a googled article.

Tesla/Neoen was selected on a merit basis after a multi-stage procurement process attracted around 90 responses to the Expression of Interest, with 14 proponents invited to supply, and 5 shortlisted for detailed assessment.

Those that expressed interest are believed to have included all the leading battery storage manufacturers, including LG Chem, AES, Kokam, and others, and developers such as Zen Energy, Carnegie Clean Energy and AGL Energy.

 

[paulp]

As an outsider, t definately appeared to work with the SA battery!

you mean the french battery made by americans paid for by south australians? Not sure why everyone involved thought it was a good idea to just gift it to neoen.

 

[Culfy]

Car manufacturing industry in Australia? Hmm, we know how that will go. Based on the way Aussies avoided Aussie cars this seems like a sure fire way to reduce sales in Australia?