On January 24th, Telsa announced a major expansion of their Northern Nevada manufacturing facility, Giga Nevada. Tesla head, Elon Musk made the announcement along with Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo in front of workers at the facility.
In noting the expansion’s major economic impacts for the state, Governor Lombardo said, “My three pillars as your Governor is the economy, education, and quality of life – public safety. Now today with this expansion its even going to double the quality of life and the economic engine and the drivers for us to be successful in whole state Nevada and in particular to Northern Nevada.”
The $3.6 billion dollar investment announced will include:
Construction of 4 million square feet of new manufacturing footprint
Hiring 3,000 Nevadans for new jobs
Semi-truck manufacturing capability
100 GWh of new 4680 battery cell production
Since 2014, Tesla has invested $6.2 billion in Nevada to build its current 5.4 million square foot Gigafactory which has generated $17.1 billion in cumulative economic output for Nevada, $4.2 billion in wages and $117 million in tax revenues.
In terms of battery production, the plant has exceeded expectations and has already produced:
7.3 billion battery cells (37 GWh+ annually)
1.5 million battery packs
3.6 million drive units
1 million energy modules (14 GWh+ total)
The announcement came a day after Governor Lombardo delivered his first State of the State Address where he laid out the priorities of his administration and focused on the importance of economic development saying:
“Our best opportunities for economic growth are providing, a pro-business environment for the 350,000 businesses that currently call Nevada home and offering a pro-development invitation for the expansion of new business.
Whether it’s closing the lithium loop, unlocking innovation and investment in logistics, entertainment, science and technology, or embracing entrepreneurship, the message is, that Nevada is ready to partner.”
-Governor Joe Lombardo
