Planning road trip to Tesla and SpaceX facilities - access questions

[ElectricKen]

Planning a big road trip and will be visiting several Tesla & SpaceX factories / sites. Below are points on itinerary and bold ones I have questions about:

• Gigafactory Nevada - can I drive right up to the building, or is the parking lot security checked? Is there public charging at site, if so what kind?
• Vegas Loop (Boring)
• Gigafactory Texas
• Starbase
• McGregor Rocket development site - can I get close, is there anything to see / take pics of? It's about 45 minutes out of my way just want to know if it worth the drive
• SpaceX Hawthorne

I probably will skip Freemont on the way back home. Thanks in advance!

 

[Tam]

• Gigafactory Nevada - can I drive right up to the building, or is the parking lot security checked? Is there public charging at site, if so what kind?

I've never been there but by using google map "street view" vehicle, the furthest it could get is the gate:

Good luck!

 

[HookBill]

Just visited SpaceX Hawthorne but not much to see except the booster on display in front. Security is tight. The Tesla Design Center is not open for visitors but security will tell you how to get back there. The access alley will take you between the main SpaceX building and other external buildings and if you are lucky like we were you might get up close and personal with some engine and fuel tank parts.

 

[Ostrichsak]

I've never been there but by using google map "street view" vehicle, the furthest it could get is the gate:


View attachment 713473

Good luck!

The security guard in that booth pictured will make you turn around at that point and go back. As you can see, not a very good view of the gigafactory from that vantage point. It's still pretty far away.

If you look off to your right though as you approach that booth you may spot a herd of wild horses which was probably the highlight of our sparks Nevada Gigafactory visit. There's a little access road that went right up to them so we raised the suspension fully and just crept really slowly right up close to them. Since there was no sound they just stood there and looked at us. It was pretty funny. I know for a fact that a gas powered car would have scared them off long before we got anywhere near them.

I wouldn't recommend driving out of your way to go here though because you basically won't be able to see anything. Also, there is no charging as it's basically out of town (Sparks) in the middle of the desert. I don't recall there even being charging in town either. That may have changed since we were there though.

 

[ElectricKen]

I've never been there but by using google map "street view" vehicle, the furthest it could get is the gate:


View attachment 713473

Good luck!

Ugh, I was afraid they'd have something like that. Thanks for the heads up. I'll so some more research before but not looking good if the gate is that far out.

 

[ElectricKen]

The security guard in that booth pictured will make you turn around at that point and go back. As you can see, not a very good view of the gigafactory from that vantage point. It's still pretty far away.

If you look off to your right though as you approach that booth you may spot a herd of wild horses which was probably the highlight of our sparks Nevada Gigafactory visit. There's a little access road that went right up to them so we raised the suspension fully and just crept really slowly right up close to them. Since there was no sound they just stood there and looked at us. It was pretty funny. I know for a fact that a gas powered car would have scared them off long before we got anywhere near them.

I wouldn't recommend driving out of your way to go here though because you basically won't be able to see anything. Also, there is no charging as it's basically out of town (Sparks) in the middle of the desert. I don't recall there even being charging in town either. That may have changed since we were there though.

Thanks for the details! This is rather disappointing but good to know.

 

[ElectricKen]

Just visited SpaceX Hawthorne but not much to see except the booster on display in front. Security is tight. The Tesla Design Center is not open for visitors but security will tell you how to get back there. The access alley will take you between the main SpaceX building and other external buildings and if you are lucky like we were you might get up close and personal with some engine and fuel tank parts.
View attachment 713475View attachment 713476View attachment 713477

Ok that's pretty cool. I got my photo in front of that booster a couple years ago, but would be cool to drive between the buildings and hope to see something cool being moved or stored. I live 2 miles from where they design and build the Starlink Satellites and or Hardware. Not really sure, but I am pretty sure they make the actual satellites here - I've seen some odd stuff but I don't really know what it is (ground station shells I think). Still fun to check out though.