Tesla Gigafactory

[SW2Fiddler]

Has anyone been able to digest Elon's statement that the Gigafactory will be a "product"? He stated it more than once and I am trying to figure out the significance it.

None of us will get the significance until we've witnessed the other 4/5 of the Gigafactory v.1 be sintered-in-place by the open-patented Nanobots, which excrete left-over sand as crystalline PV across the roof as a grand finale.

 

[Krugerrand]

None of us will get the significance until we've witnessed the other 4/5 of the Gigafactory v.1 be sintered-in-place by the open-patented Nanobots, which excrete left-over sand as crystalline PV across the roof as a grand finale.

Or until someone gets to tour it. Bonnie?

 

[doctoxics]

My take is that the completed Gigafactory will be a model for construction of future Gigafactories by Tesla and others = this is how you make a gigafactory + we need to clone the Gigafactory to achieve our end goal of 100 % renewable energy.

 

[googlepeakoil]

given that Tesla have $2bn to spend on a $5bn gigafactory. That Panasonic is putting in about $200m (all i've heard) and the council are giving them $1bn in incentives including cheap electricity / utility - does Tesla have any incentive to actually put up the solar panels and wind farms that were on the drawing... I suspect not for a good many years!

 

[JRP3]

Certainly not before they are actually using large amounts of energy.

 

[Omer]

Due to the overwhelming demand for Tesla's stationary batteries, Elon said they are now analyzing how to increase capacity at the factory by 50%. If demand continues at the expected pace I would imagine initial plans for a 2nd factory might start sooner than most expect. I'm going to guess they choose a 2nd site by end of 2018 (they'll have better info by then on Gen 3 demand and stationary storage post ITC).

 

[gjunky]

I'm going to guess they choose a 2nd site by end of 2018 (they'll have better info by then on Gen 3 demand and stationary storage post ITC).

I doubt they will wait that long. I would not be surprised if they already had the second site selected. My guess (all it is) that they will announce a second one starting as soon as the first one produces the first batteries which is 2016.

 

[CalDreamin]

Due to the overwhelming demand for Tesla's stationary batteries, Elon said they are now analyzing how to increase capacity at the factory by 50%. If demand continues at the expected pace I would imagine initial plans for a 2nd factory might start sooner than most expect. I'm going to guess they choose a 2nd site by end of 2018 (they'll have better info by then on Gen 3 demand and stationary storage post ITC).

Tesla could potentially increase their battery production capacity between 2016 and 2020 by accelerating construction of Gigafactory 1. I understand that currently only the first 1/5 of Gigafactory 1 is under construction. The rest was planned to be completed between 2016 and 2020.

 

[Todd Burch]

I there a reason Gigafactory #2 couldn't be on the same site? I don't know how much land Tesla ended up buying and how much is used by Giga #1.

 

[chateauoaks]

Another Gigafactory employing 6000+ workers is too big of a political bargaining chip to build in the same spot. The new Arizona Republican governor is 51 years old and tech savvy. He loves Tesla and is dying to get them there, hates the Tesla ban. Same with Texas. Gig2 will be located in one of those two states and the ban on Tesla sales will be lifted. My money is on Texas. Had not Nevada threatened to pull the plug on the entire deal forcing Tesla to make a decision (smooth move Nevada) the Texas deal was weeks away from happening.

 

[doctoxics]

What about Gigafactory2 being located in Japan? Close to Panasonic and other Japanese and Korean battery manufacturers. Also close to Asian markets and future Chinese Tesla automobile factory.

 

[chickensevil]

What about Gigafactory2 being located in Japan? Close to Panasonic and other Japanese and Korean battery manufacturers. Also close to Asian markets and future Chinese Tesla automobile factory.

Land is quite a premium on Japan isn't it? Especially for something so large... Would be better placed in Korea or China, right?

 

[Gerasimental]

Land is quite a premium on Japan isn't it? Especially for something so large... Would be better placed in Korea or China, right?

Japan also has the problem of political tensions with China and Elon seems to have recently been on a bit of a charm offensive with the Chinese govt. which an announcement of a Japanese Gigafactory wouldn't help with.
China seems like a no-brainer to me, with the automotive factory being there and it being by far the largest market in the region. Korea has the advantage of being Samsung's home market, but I imagine costs are far more favourable in China and will be for some time.

 

[techmaven]

As I had posted in the capital raise thread, it might be interesting for Tesla to set up a battery assembly plant in Asia, possibly near the existing Panasonic Osaka factories. Since the 100k production run rate expected at the end of 2015 is with Panasonic's Osaka plant cell output only, we are looking at roughly 7.5 GWh of output. That's more than Gigafactory 1 phase 1. By adding just the battery pack assembly plant to somewhere in Asia, the cells for packs bound for Asia or Europe don't need to travel to the U.S. as part of the production. That could lower costs dramatically.

I don't know the expected top level output rate of Panasonic's Osaka plants, but Tesla is expecting 15 GWh of cell production outside of the Gigafactory by 2020. I don't know how much of that is Panasonic alone, but with 50% of Tesla's 2014 sales outside of North America, it makes sense to have the roughly 3.5 GWh of non-NA battery pack demand in 2016 be made outside of NA and this seems to be a low cost way of doing it. China alone is 1/8 of Tesla's 2014 sales, so maybe a plant there.

 

[dhanson865]

I'd be averse to putting a gigafactory in Japan because

1. Seismic (think earthquakes and/or Tsunamis)
2. Geothermal (think volcanoes)
3. Atmospheric (think typhoons)
4. Oceanic (think sea rise / erosion)
5. Mineral (think lack of local resources)

It's just too vulnerable an area to develop in and they have to ship in any missing minerals for production.

If Tesla is already dependent on Japanese production they should spread their next factory to another geographic location to reduce risk.

Let Panasonic build their own copy of the gigafactory there if they want but let Tesla focus on new ground.

 

[doggusfluffy]

What Tesla's $5 billion Gigafactory looks like - What Tesla's $5 billion under construction Gigafactory looks like | The Economic Times

 

[muleferg]

Alevo: $1 Billion Battery Startup

Not Japan , Not China, How about North Carolina?

 

[Model 3]

I was never quite sure of exactly which section of GF1 is under construction right now, but i think a shape in the dirt of the latest shots kind of helps whit that. What do you guys think?

No. The images is upside-down in comparison with the illustrations.

 

[mrdoubleb]

What Tesla's $5 billion Gigafactory looks like - What Tesla's $5 billion under construction Gigafactory looks like | The Economic Times

I was never quite sure of exactly which section of GF1 is under construction right now, but i think a shape in the dirt of the latest shots kind of helps whit that. What do you guys think?

- - - Updated - - -

No. The images is upside-down in comparison with the illustrations.

Are you sure? That little side road (green) seems to line up nicely. Or is that the other one on the other side? Would you care to post a pic using the GF illustration to show what area you think of?

 

[vgrinshpun]

Alevo: $1 Billion Battery Startup

Not Japan , Not China, How about North Carolina?

Just to put things in perspective the Alevo claims to fit 1MWh worth of batteries in what looks like a shipping container. Since the standard shipping container is 8ft x 20ft x 8.5ft, the total volume is 1360cu.ft. Judging by the pictures from the Tesla's stationary storage presentation, the Power pack is 3ft x 4 ft x 8 ft, with a total volume of 96 cu. ft. One power pack has 100kWh capacity. So shipping container has volume that is 14.2 times higher than a power pack. Based on this 1 shipping container worth of power packs will pack 40% more energy that the Alevo GridBank container.

Just to be clear, the sizing is not precise as it comes from the pictures, but initial indications are that on the battery pack level Alevo battery has 40% lower volumetric energy density as compared to the PowerPack.