Tesla CEO Elon Musk just announced that they are planning to build a second Gigafactory in Europe. Gigafactory 2 will manufacture lithium-ion batteries and electric cars, while large-scale production of cars and batteries will also remain in the United States as reported by Inhabitat.
Tesla also announced the acquisition of Grohmann Engineering, a German engineering group that will help boost its vehicle production.
The exact location within Europe will be known next year. According to Musk, it is something that they plan on exploring very seriously with different locations for very large-scale Tesla vehicles, battery and powertrain production. He also said that a long-term Tesla plan is to have at least 2 or 3 vehicles and battery factory locations in Europe.
Musk said that Tesla is also planning on scaling up the rate of electric vehicle production from 100,000 cars every year to 600,000 a year when the Model 3 is in volume production. The Model 3 is expected to be sold in the market in mid-2017. Musk also said that the Tesla Factory in Fremont, California can put out between 500,000 and a million electric vehicles every year, while Gigafactory 1 meets the demand for batteries and Tesla Energy products.
Gigafactory 1 is presently under construction near Sparks, Nevada and will produce batteries for cars made at the Tesla factory in Fremont. Once completed, the Gigafactory 1 will the world’s biggest building physical area. The manufacturing plant will be net zero and carbon neutral and running on 100% renewable energy. Gigafactory 1 will manufacture battery cells, battery packs and drive units. It’s also currently producing the Powerpack 2 with the new Powerwall 2 coming off the assembly line soon.
The German firm Grohmann Engineering will Become Tesla Grohmann Automation. This new division will be called Tesla Advanced Automation Germany with its headquarters at Grohmann’s Prum facilities. The deal is expected to add more than 1,000 advanced engineering and skilled technician job positions in Germany within the next 2 years.
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Featured Image Credit: Inhabitat.com