Tesla plans $3.6 billion Nevada expansion to make Semi truck, battery
cells
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 [January 25, 2023] (Reuters)
-Tesla Inc said on Tuesday it would invest more than $3.6 billion to
expand its Nevada Gigafactory complex with two new factories, one to
mass produce its long-delayed Semi electric truck and the other to make
its new 4680 battery cell.
The cell plant would be able to make enough batteries for 2 million
light-duty vehicles annually, including batteries using the 4680-type
cell. The 4680 is key to Tesla meeting a goal of halving battery costs
and ramping up battery production nearly 100-fold by 2030.
Together, the facilities will employ about 3,000 people, extending the
electric vehicle maker's complex east of Reno, where it runs a battery
joint venture with Japan's Panasonic Corp and makes vehicle parts and
power backup systems.
Panasonic currently supplies cells to the gigafactory, and Tesla
assembles them into battery packs there.
Tesla has struggled to ramp up production of the 4680 at its factories
in Fremont, California, and Austin, Texas. Experts say the dry-coating
technique used to produce the bigger cells in these batteries is new and
unproven and the company has been having trouble scaling up
manufacturing to the point where the big cost savings kick in.
The move suggests Tesla is finally committing to large-scale production
of the Semi, which was initially supposed to begin rolling out of
factory doors in 2019. Tesla made the first Semi deliveries in December
to PepsiCo but there is no sign of a high rate of output of the model.
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A view shows the Tesla logo on the hood
of a car in Oslo, Norway Nov. 10, 2022. REUTERS/Victoria Klesty
Other customers that have ordered Semis include Brewer
Anheuser-Busch, United Parcel Service Inc and Walmart Inc.
The Semi is a truck for 18-wheel semi-trailer vehicles and has a
range of 500 miles (800 kilometers) on a single charge with a gross
weight of 81,000 pounds (37 tonnes), including trailer and cargo. It
may qualify for tax credits of $40,000 offered for clean commercial
vehicles under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm said in November that Tesla might produce
100 Semis in 2022, but the company disclosed no figure for the model
in its fourth-quarter production report.
The EV maker aimed to produce 50,000 Semis in 2024, Musk said on a
post-earnings call in October.
Tesla's Tuesday announcement "is the latest in more than $300
billion in private sector investment in clean energy and
semiconductor manufacturing announced since the President took
office," Mitch Landrieu, senior advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden
said.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru and Hyunjoo
Jin in San Franciso; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Bradley Perrett)
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