Tesla Gigafactory Ahead of Schedule, Battery Assembly Beginning This Quarter
Originally published on EV Obsession.
Work on the Gigafactory is running ahead of schedule, with a production line for Powerpacks and Powerwalls even being moved from the Fremont facility to an automated assembly line at the Gigafactory early in Quarter 4, according to Tesla’s most recent shareholder letter.
This follows the beginning of Tesla Energy production at the Fremont facility in Quarter 3. The long-term plan is for all production to be shifted to the Gigafactory, as opportunities to shift production capacity come along. Plans to expand energy product capacity as a whole have been accelerated in recent times as well, following very strong demand.
Owing to the recent shift to production at the Gigafactory, some Tesla Energy production and deliveries previously scheduled for Quarter 4 2015 will be delayed until Quarter 1 2016.
Here are some further details and background from the new shareholder letter:
We are seeing very strong demand for Tesla Energy products globally, and particularly in Australia, Germany, and South Africa. To respond to these opportunities, we are growing our worldwide Tesla Energy sales team and are continuing to sign new business partnerships with utilities and energy companies. There is also an exciting market opportunity for us in India with strong government alignment that we look forward to growing in 2016. Recent changes to feed-in tariff structures in Hawaii also create a large new storage market in that state.
We have also accelerated plans to begin cell production for Tesla Energy products at the Gigafactory by the end of 2016. This is several quarters ahead of our initial plan. In conjunction with development of the Gigafactory, we recently signed two conditional purchase orders for lithium hydroxide in order to promote sourcing of this commodity at lower cost and with reduced environmental impact. We are planning on establishing further supplier arrangements with the intent of having a robust, flexible and cost effective supply chain in place for our long-term needs.
Hard to say that things don’t seem to be working out well for Tesla in this regard. Even those somewhat skeptical of some of the claims by Tesla and CEO Elon Musk must admit that the Gigafactory is (as of now anyways…) looking likely to meet expectations.
→ Related: Tesla Q3 Results & Numbers
→ Related: Tesla Q4 Plans & Expectations
→ Related: Tesla Reveals New CFO & New President Of Global Sales + Service
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