A look at the $5 billion Tesla Gigafactory
The Tesla Gigafactory is Tesla’s way of accelerating the world into an age of sustainable transportation. The name ‘Gigafactory’ was inspired by the planned annual production capacity of the factory which was 35 giga-watt hours (GWh).
This is the first factory made for http://www.solarcity.com/SolarCity, America’s largest solar provider. Until now, it bought solar panels from manufacturers across the globe and made their money by installing, financing and marketing solar systems. Just last year, they acquired a startup company called Silevo that have been making highly efficient hybrid solar cells in China.
The main purpose of the Gigafactory would be building battery cells for Tesla in their quest for sustainable transportation. Tesla already manufactures some very impressive cars but they are even more interested in improving them as much as possible. One of the most significant ways of doing that is improving the energy performance of the vehicles. With this in mind, Tesla plans to make cheaper batteries by using economies of scale, innovative reduction of waste, and the imple optimization of locating most manufacturing process under one roof.
One impressive aspect of this factory is that it will be completely run by renewable energy according to a statement by Tesla. The first Gigafactory is on track to start the production of battery cells by 2017 with the aim of reaching a full capacity by 2020. There is not much to see for now but a drone pilot did take a sneak peek you would love to see.
Tesla will be producing battery cells with the help of Panasonic and other strategic partners. They expect to reduce the per kilowatt hour (kWh) cost of each battery pack by 30%. The main idea behind the running of the Gigafactory on a renewable energy supply is reaching the goal of net zero energy.
It is important to note that the Gigafactory’s picture was taken with the permission of Tesla and it was taken in late April. Here is a statement made by the author: “This video was filmed with direct permission from Tesla Motors. Arrangements were made directly with Elon Musk and Tesla Security. Permission has also been given for me to upload it to my page. BE SURE TO CHANGE SETTINGS TO 4k!! Multirotor used: Tarot 680 Pro Hex with a GoPro Hero4 Black”
