In the high desert outside of Reno, Nevada, a place of dry gulches and coyotes before the rise of man, Tesla’s new giant battery factory is now officially up and running:
The Gigafactory is being built in phases so that Tesla, Panasonic, and other partners can begin manufacturing immediately inside the finished sections and continue to expand thereafter. Our phased approach also allows us to learn and continuously improve our construction and operational techniques as we continue to drive down the cost of energy storage. Already, the current structure has a footprint of 1.9 million square feet, which houses 4.9 million square feet of operational space across several floors. And we are still less than 30 percent done. Once complete, we expect the Gigafactory to be the biggest building in the world.
This is being seen as a BFD for the electric vehicle market and alternative energy in general. Prior to the gigafactory, battery production has been dominated by foreign producers. About 3,000 people are already working at the new facility and thousands more are expected to join them as production ramps up over the next year. Shares of Tesla Motors surged 10 dollars on the announcement.