Tesla Gigafactory

[AZ Desert Driver]

I asked this elsewhere, but have not found the answer. What about Parking?
Do the gigafactory workers leave Reno in a company shuttle bus? Is there a stream of private cars coming down the highway for shift change? Will the self-driving TeslaTaxi be of use for the Gigafactory worker? Will they build a massive, perhaps multi story structure to hold the workers...making for another urban environment.
What are they doing NOW, and what is the long term plan for Giga traffic jambs.

 

[Fallenone]

I asked this elsewhere, but have not found the answer. What about Parking?
Do the gigafactory workers leave Reno in a company shuttle bus? Is there a stream of private cars coming down the highway for shift change? Will the self-driving TeslaTaxi be of use for the Gigafactory worker? Will they build a massive, perhaps multi story structure to hold the workers...making for another urban environment.
What are they doing NOW, and what is the long term plan for Giga traffic jambs.

Currently they seem to just drive their private cars.

 

[wdolson]

I asked this elsewhere, but have not found the answer. What about Parking?
Do the gigafactory workers leave Reno in a company shuttle bus? Is there a stream of private cars coming down the highway for shift change? Will the self-driving TeslaTaxi be of use for the Gigafactory worker? Will they build a massive, perhaps multi story structure to hold the workers...making for another urban environment.
What are they doing NOW, and what is the long term plan for Giga traffic jambs.

They could eventually build parking garages for the cars. The Gigafactory is built in an area with a number of distribution warehouses and has the road structure to handle semis 24/7. It's also close to I-80, only a bout 1 mile from the highway to the plant. It's probably a fairly reasonable commute and I would suspect there already are vanpools from Reno to the industrial park around the Gigafactory.

Elon has talked about making a mini-bus on the Model X platform. That would make a good vanpool vehicle. They could probably get 10 people in such a bus. It wouldn't have great aerodynamic efficiency because of it's shape, but even if it just had a 200 mile range, that would be perfectly viable as a vanpool vehicle. If they had dedicated vanpool charging stations in prime parking spots near the doors, it would add an incentive for people to take the van pool - less walking in from the parking lot.

 

[JRP3]

If they had dedicated vanpool charging stations in prime parking spots near the doors, it would add an incentive for people to take the van pool - less walking in from the parking lot.

Van could drop people at the door then drive to remote charging location, should be easy to do in a dedicated lot doing the same thing every day.

 

[wdolson]

Van could drop people at the door then drive to remote charging location, should be easy to do in a dedicated lot doing the same thing every day.

True. That's low hanging fruit in autonomous driving tech terms.

 

[Lon12]

Latest picture of the factory from 38,000':

 

[dc_h]

Who's next door? Suppliers? The parking lots are connected.

 

[wdolson]

A bunch of retailers have their warehouses in the neighborhood. The closest one is for Thrive Markets, there are also warehouses for PetSmart, Chawy.com, jet.com, Zulily, and Walmart nearby as well as some other industrial concerns like AZZ Galvanizing and Dynamic Isolation Systems. The names of the buildings show up on Google maps if you zoom in far enough.

One of the advantages for Tesla was the area was already a large scale industrial park and was built for semis coming and going.

Tesla also plans to build a rail spur to the plant. Other warehouses in the neighborhood may go in with Tesla on building the spur.

 

[ValueAnalyst]

Is there a way we can estimate Gigafactory output in annualized GWh as of October? Estimated by year-end? And 1Q18?

IIRC Elon has said something along the lines of Gigafactory already producing more than any other battery factory in the world a few months back.

Tesla Gigafactory is already producing more batteries than any other factory in the world, says Elon Musk

Tesla aims to be at a production rate of 35 GWh in 2018 and they will need to reach at least half that production rate just to support their planned production ramp for Model 3 by the end of the year.

FWIW, my current DCF assumption: Enter 2018 at annualized 10 GWh, 2018 output = 30 GWh, exit '18 at annualized 45 GWh.

Tesla (TSLA) Q1 2017 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha

Jonathan McNeill - Tesla Motors, Inc.

And we initially forecast about 35 gigawatt hours of cell capacity, and 50 gigawatt hours of pack capacity, and we anticipate to surpass that cell capacity in 2018. So, that's going well, and with the increasing improvements in the production density and speed at the Gigafactory, we actually ultimately believe, and I think we've said this before, that we can fit substantially more capacity than 35 gigawatt hours at Gigafactory 1.

Elon Reeve Musk - Tesla Motors, Inc.

Yeah, and we said publicly that we think cell upward capacity at Gigafactory 1 is likely to exceed 100 gigawatt hours over time.

Jonathan McNeill - Tesla Motors, Inc.

So yeah, so the end status of 35 gigawatt hours is really a passing point at this stage, and we'll continue on from there.

 

[dc_h]

Is there a way we can estimate Gigafactory output in annualized GWh as of October? Estimated by year-end? And 1Q18?

IIRC Elon has said something along the lines of Gigafactory already producing more than any other battery factory in the world a few months back.

Tesla Gigafactory is already producing more batteries than any other factory in the world, says Elon Musk

Tesla aims to be at a production rate of 35 GWh in 2018 and they will need to reach at least half that production rate just to support their planned production ramp for Model 3 by the end of the year.

He said gf had more capacity, not production.

 

[electracity]

Is there currently footprint expansion going on at the gigafactory?

 

[killhate]

Is there currently footprint expansion going on at the gigafactory?

nothing visible here
Building Tesla - Gigafactory 1

 

[dhanson865]

Is there currently footprint expansion going on at the gigafactory?

I don't think there will be until they get money coming in from Model 3. In early 2018 when they have thousands per week being delivered and that gets cash flowing...

 

[dc_h]

Is there currently footprint expansion going on at the gigafactory?

Why do you ask?

 

[doctoxics]

Is there currently footprint expansion going on at the gigafactory?

The only information that I have seen is a statement in a recent article by Steven Loveday on InsideEVs:

Panasonic To Increase Battery Cell Production In U.S., Asia

"Reportedly, Panasonic and Tesla are working on an agreement to begin a second round of construction that will up capacity by as much as 50 percent."

 

[AZ Desert Driver]

Whenever I get depressed, frustrated, annoyed at how many stupid things people in politics and business are doing that hurt others...I come to read what Tesla and partners are doing. Here, a partnership has developed amazing new battery lines that help Puerto Rico, and Australia, and power my fancy dancy new car. There ARE people that have good intentions, good vision and ideas that help each other. And they make money doing it. The simple act of increasing capacity at the gigafactory by 50% says they are an to something great. Very comforting. Makes me glad I bought a handful of stock on Tesla dip.

 

[AZ Desert Driver]

I just decided to update my avatar. My Titanium car is a rare color. It started as a 60D and was upgraded to a 75D and just now uncorked to be a P-75D. I now have a rare combination - a car that changes - transform's - into a new car while parked in my garage. How rare is that??!!

 

[Cloxxki]

P?
Did you get P bits mounted or are you referrring to the software updates?

 

[AlMc]

Beautiful car. Is this the GF thread?

Anyone have access to a recent drone fly by? Thanks

 

[mspohr]

Elon posted an Instagram photo of sunset at the Gigafactory so it looks like he's babysitting the battery production again.
Instagram post by Elon Musk • Nov 12, 2017 at 4:16am UTC