Tesla To Add “Probably 4” New Gigafactories This Year

Tesla is right on the cusp of beginning production on their mass-market Model 3 “everyman” car, and with the massive increase in production, Tesla is looking also to expand their production facilities. In Tesla’s earning report for 2016 released in February, Tesla mentioned that they are looking to build a number of additional Gigafactories.

The report can be seen here in its entirety, but the relevant section mentions:

“Installation of Model 3 manufacturing equipment is underway in Fremont and at Gigafactory 1, where in January, we began production of battery cells for energy storage products, which have the same form-factor as the cells that will be used in Model 3. Later this year, we expect to finalize locations for Gigafactories 3, 4 and possibly 5 (Gigafactory 2 is the Tesla solar plant in New York).”

In his TED conference last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave an update on the upcoming Gigafactories:

“I will announce locations for between two and four Gigafactories later this year – probably four.”

At this point, future Gigafactory sites are pure speculation (with the exception of Buffalo’s “Gigafactory 2” which produced solar products), but Musk hinted that the US could get an additional Gigafactory. Other rumors include China, where Musk recently met with the Vice Premier (potentially to discuss a future Gigafactory site):

https://twitter.com/XHNews/status/856899298222624769

Other rumored locations include France, which looks like a distinct possibility, especially considering French Economy Minister Michel Sapin’s January visit to Tesla’s Fremont factory:

https://twitter.com/MichelSapin/status/817442757316870144

Again we want to stress that these future sites are all purely speculation at this point and nothing has been officially announced. In the meantime, we will definitely be keeping an eye on all Tesla news to see where the next Gigafactories will be popping up!