Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. That will make it one of the largest buildings in the world. On July 8, that agency sent a nine-page letter to Tesla requiring the Palo Alto, California-based automaker to file responses in the coming weeks.
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“Tesla manufactures annually just 50,000 to 60,000 vehicles, whereas Mobileye should supply around 13 million chips this year (each auto has only one chip)”, Paul Kratz, an analyst at Berenberg, told the Financial Times.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave a presentation and Q/A session to the media at the Gigafactory and revealed that the company will be spending “tens of billions” of dollars over the long-term; though, not right away.
This also means Telsa is likely working on its own chips to improve the semi-autonomous features. The company plans to produce both the models on one line welding robots line and reconfigure the other one for the Model 3.
The separation between the companies, however, is believed to be the result of the vehicle crash that involved a Tesla Model S while it was in Autopilot.
Tesla unveiled the Model 3 at the end of March. Revenue came in at $83.5 million, up from $52.8 million a year earlier.
To meet that goal, Gigafactory construction is proceeding at a furious pace.
By the end of this year Tesla plans to have its battery partner, Panasonic, making the actual battery cells here.
Outside, almost 1,000 workers are laying the groundwork for the factory’s expansion, digging trenches and erecting steel supports in the hot, dusty valley.
The company has been completing the factory in construction phases. Eventually, the roof will be covered in solar panels. A labor force of about 1,000 workers is keeping up construction of the factory for lithium-ion battery cells seven days a week.
“I find this to be quite romantic”, he said.
The factory’s name stems from “giga”, a unit of measurement that represents billions.
The theme of the Master Plan is “sustainability”, said Musk, in an nearly apocalyptic blog post warning of dire consequences if the world doesn’t get off its oil fix.
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Not only is Tesla feeling the pinch due to battery availability, but also competitors are coming for the upstart company, including established competitors like General Motors and Nissan as well as other not so well-known foes like BYD, Google and possibly Apple. If the Model 3 is delayed, for example, or customers’ deposits don’t turn into actual sales, Tesla will have extra batteries on its hands and no way to recoup its costs.
