Construction on Tesla’s Gigfactory not far outside of Reno, Nevada, is starting to really pick up pace, according to recent reports — with at least $53.1 million already spent on construction, according to an analysis from the Reno Gazette-Journal.
This estimate is based on permits filed by Tesla with local authorities in Storey County + the estimates of assessors.
Altogether, the development of the lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility is expected to cost around $5 billion — which means that development still has a ways to go with regard to capital use. The construction process is reported to be ahead of schedule though, and will possibly come online earlier than expected.
With regard to the permits mentioned above, the permits approved through the first week of January 2015 total ~$34 million in construction projects — this number doesn’t include earlier expenses for the creation of retention basins, or ground clearing + pad creation costs.
According to the analysis from the Reno Gazette-Journal, Storey County doesn’t currently require companies to file cost estimates for this sort of work.
The estimates, though, are: $2.1 million for ground clearing (and related tasks); $1 million for the creation of a retention basin; and $16 million for pad construction (as per an estimate from a local estimator).
This spending is no doubt being appreciated by the local authorities — certainly one of the main reasons that there was some fighting of who (which state/area) would get to host Tesla’s Gigafactory. Storey Country has reportedly already collected $246,000 in permit fees relating to this project (through January 7).
Worth noting here is that despite the fact that construction has only just begun, and the factory won’t be operational for a fair while still, it is apparently already attracting outside businesses (and land speculators) to the city — like moths to the flame I guess. $5 billion is quite a lot of money, no matter how you cut it — this thing reminds me of a whalefall in a way, like a whole ecosystem springing up around one gargantuan resource/body.
Image Credit: Tesla Motors
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