Battery cell production begins at the Gigafactory

Tesla and Panasonic have begun mass producing lithium-ion battery cells at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Sparks Nevada. The high performance cylindrical 2170 cell, jointly designed and engineered by Tesla and Panasonic, will be used in Tesla’s energy storage products and electric vehicles. By 2018, the Gigafactory will produce 35GWh/year of lithium-ion battery cells, nearly as much as the rest of the world’s battery production combined.

The Gigafactory is being built in phases so that Tesla, Panasonic, and other partners can start manufacturing immediately inside the finished sections and continue to expand as needed. Currently, the structure is 1.9 million square feet, housing 4.9 million square feet of operational space across several floors, and is less than 30% completed. The two companies will hire several thousand local employees in 2017, and at peak production the factory will directly employ 6,500 people and indirectly create 20,000 to 30,000 additional jobs in the surrounding areas.

For more information on Tesla’s Gigafactory, see full article.