Construction of Tesla's $5B solar-powered Gigafactory in Nevada is progressing nicely

[daring dude]

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 by Bob Tregilus and used with permission


3,000 construction jobs for 3 years
To change the world of transportation and leave oil behind in favor of clean sources of energy, you need batteries. Lots of them. Cheaply. That's what Tesla is trying to do with its Gigafactory project -- make as many advanced lithium-ion batteries in one location as the whole world is making today, driving down costs by at least 30%. This Gigafactory will be making 50 GWh of battery capacity per year by 2020, enough for 500,000 Tesla cars (mostly the cheaper upcoming Model 3), and the whole factory will be powered by clean energy. This is a $5 billion investment that will create 6,500 on-site jobs. Talk about a big ambitious project for such a young company!

by Bob Tregilus and used with permission/CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Bob Tregilus, a producer and host on the Plug-in America Show (check it out!), found a good vantage point and snapped a few shots of the Giga-construction site yesterday (Feb. 25th, 2015). They show pretty rapid progress for such a big building. To get an idea of the scale, have a look at the size of vehicles or workers (if you can make them out).

by Bob Tregilus and used with permission/CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Here's a panoramic shot of the site. You can see a bigger version of it here.

by Bob Tregilus and used with permission/CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

The front gate on the property used to have a sign that said "Project Tiger", but it now proudly says Tesla.

Here's a rendering of what the finished thing should look like. Notice the solar panels on the roof -- no space wasted!

© Tesla