Tesla Breaks Ground on California ‘Megafactory’
Confirmed by the Lathrop Mayor - Sonny Dhaliwal - in a Facebook post announced the news of the factory, dubbed the ‘Megafactory’ as it will produce the automotive manufacturer’s large-scale battery system, Megapack.
“We are proud to be the home of the Megafactory, Tesla’s most recent expansion here. The future of green energy will be produced right here in our community. This development means more prosperity for our city, more employment opportunities for our residents, and a brighter future for our planet,” said Dhaliwal.
Located in the Californian city, Lathrop, the factory will be near Tesla’s plant in Fermont. Lathrop is also home to a Tesla distribution centre of 870,00 square feet.
Previous the Megapacks were being manufactured at the company’s gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, alongside other storage products - Pwerwall and Powerpacks - however, it is unknown if these products will also shift their production to the new Megafactory.
What Could This New Factory Mean for Tesla?
The new factory shows positive promise for the automotive manufacturer and its venture into the energy industry. Whilst Powerwall is a home consumer battery product, the Megapack is designed for utility-scale energy storage.
As the utility industry continues to build solar and wind farms, the industry is looking to large battery solutions such as the Megapack to store excess energy that can be later discharged to the grid. An example of this is the latest Salt River Project brought online by Arizona, using Tesla Megapack BESS equipment.
In Q2, Elon Musk confirmed that there was “significant unmet demand” for its storage products, adding that the Megapacks were “basically sold out through next year,” estimating the demand for Pwerwall to exceed one million units per year.
Musk also discussed the recent bottlenecks due to production capacity and the global semiconductor shortage. “We use a lot of the same chips in the Powerwall as you do in a car, so it’s like, which one do want to make?” he said