Panasonic has agreed to partner with Tesla on its Gigafactory battery-manufacturing facility, which will eventually assemble all battery packs for both the automaker's lineup and its foray into electrical storage for homes and businesses.
The Japanese electronics giant, which already provides the lithium-ion cells in the Model S, won't commit to hauling its own equipment to the U.S. just yet, however. Just as it does now at its factory in Fremont, California, Tesla will import Panasonic cells from Japan and assemble them into battery packs. This should take up half of the planned 10-million-square-foot Gigafactory facility, according to Tesla, with some additional unnamed "key suppliers" taking up the other space. Tesla has already committed about $2.3 billion to the estimated $5 billion cost for the factory since the firm announced plans to build it in March. So while Panasonic is throwing down some yen, the Gigafactory likely needs more funding before Elon Musk's company begins construction.
In its second-quarter SEC filing, Tesla said it plans to choose a construction site within "the next few months" from among five possible locations—Reno, Nevada, being a top choice, along with sites in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas—and plans to have the factory completed before the Model 3 debuts in 2016 as a 2017 model. That high-volume car, which will arrive after the Model X crossover's 2015 rollout, is among the primary reasons that the Gigafactory will exist. Tesla needs to cut battery costs if it hopes to be able to sell the Model 3 for its target starting price of $35,000, and the Palo Alto company also hopes to become a main supplier to other automakers or even to consumer-electronics companies such as Apple.
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We're slightly bearish on the Gigafactory upending the entire battery business so quickly, especially given Tesla's consistent financial losses (it lost $62 million in the second quarter). Still, despite earning a "junk" credit rating in May, Tesla is upgrading its Fremont assembly line, is opening new stores in China, is adding yet more free Supercharger stations, and says it is "on track" to deliver the gullwinged Model X early next year. If everything goes to plan, 6500 people will find steady employment at the Gigafactory and Tesla will churn out 500,000 cars per year by 2020—and Tesla's most zealous owners just might form a religion.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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