When work began on the Tesla Gigafactory in January, the Sparks, Nev., facility was proposed to total 10 million sf. The new plan makes the original vision almost cutesy.
Treehugger reports that Tesla Motors purchased an additional 1,200 acres next to the Gigafactory and is looking to buy an additional 350 acres.
If Tesla continues to make the plant larger, it will go from four blocks to seven blocks and could make the Gigafactory between 17.5 million and 24 million sf. At the high end of that estimate, the Gigafactory would be the world's largest building based on footprint.
At an initial cost of $5 billion, the Gigafactory's goal is to make 50 gigawatt-hours of lithium-ion batteries, or as many as 500,000 batteries, for electric cars by 2020. Tesla is building the plant to provide batteries for the Model 3 car, which will be in production in late 2017 or early 2018. A few other models, such as Tesla’s Model S and Model X SUV, will also have batteries produced there.
Tesla received the land for free from Nevada last September and also was granted $1.3 billion in tax breaks. The first construction phase of the factory—a 900,000-sf facility—is nearly completed and is on track to start equipment installation later this year and battery production in 2016.
Related Stories
| Jun 28, 2013
Building owners cite BIM/VDC as 'most exciting trend' in facilities management, says Mortenson report
A recent survey of more than 60 building owners and facility management professionals by Mortenson Construction shows that BIM/VDC is top of mind among owner professionals.
| Jun 17, 2013
DOE launches database on energy performance of 60,000 buildings
The Energy Department today launched a new Buildings Performance Database, the largest free, publicly available database of residential and commercial building energy performance information.
| Jun 12, 2013
5 building projects that put the 'team' in teamwork
The winners of the 2013 Building Team Awards show that great buildings cannot be built without the successful collaboration of the Building Team.
| Jun 5, 2013
USGBC: Free LEED certification for projects in new markets
In an effort to accelerate sustainable development around the world, the U.S. Green Building Council is offering free LEED certification to the first projects to certify in the 112 countries where LEED has yet to take root.
| Jun 3, 2013
Construction spending inches upward in April
The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced today that construction spending during April 2013 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $860.8 billion, 0.4 percent above the revised March estimate of $857.7 billion.
| May 17, 2013
University labs double as K-12 learning environments
Increasingly, college and university research buildings are doing double duty as homes for K-12 STEM programs. Here’s how to create facilities that captivate budding scientists while keeping faculty happy.
| May 1, 2013
Data center construction remains healthy, but oversupply a concern
Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are among the major tech companies investing heavily to build state-of-the-art data centers.
| Apr 30, 2013
Tips for designing with fire rated glass - AIA/CES course
Kate Steel of Steel Consulting Services offers tips and advice for choosing the correct code-compliant glazing product for every fire-rated application. This BD+C University class is worth 1.0 AIA LU/HSW.
| Apr 24, 2013
Los Angeles may add cool roofs to its building code
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa wants cool roofs added to the city’s building code. He is also asking the Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to create incentives that make it financially attractive for homeowners to install cool roofs.
| Apr 5, 2013
Lack of national standards on design of bioterror labs creates higher risk for accidents, panel says
U.S. labs that conduct research on bioterror germs such as anthrax are at risk for accidents because they do not have uniform design and operation standards, according to a Congressional investigative group.
