Just last month, Tesla opened its first production facility in Europe. It is one of five of Tesla’s Giga Factories, making the total number of Tesla factories six if you include the original factory in Freemont. Tesla will build Model Y cars in Berlin. Other Giga Factories are in Nevada, New York, Texas, and Shanghai.
Some interesting facts about Elon Musk’s Giga Factories:
- The Fremont factory produces around 450,000 vehicles a year. In Fremont, they make Models S, X, Y, and 3.
- The Nevada factory produces battery cells and a total production capacity of almost 40 GWh in battery cells.
- The New York factory produces solar cells and has nothing to do with Tesla vehicles.
- The Texas factory. In Texas, Tesla will produce the Model Y and the Cybertruck. The total production capacity is more than 1 million vehicles!
- The Shanghai factory produces Tesla vehicles for the Chinese market. Until now, only models Y and 3 are built there. Capacity: 450K vehicles.
- The Berlin factory will be building Model Ys and has a total production capacity of 500,00 vehicles.
Tesla has many smaller factories producing Tesla parts, tools and dies.
If you want to see what the inside of a Tesla Giga Factory looks like, then watch the fantastic drone video below. It shows the inside of the Berlin factory and even flies through machines producing Tesla parts. It is one of the most awesome factory videos I have ever seen.
Tesla Semi to be Built in Texas
From a logistics point of view, the most important Tesla model is the Tesla Semi. The start of the large scale production of the Tesla Semi is planned for 2023 in Tesla’s Texas factory. I sure would like to see a similar video of that production line!
The Tesla Semi will have a maximum range of 800 kilometres, and it can speed up a 5% grade at over 100 km/h. It uses 125 kWh per 100 kilometres, making it one of the most efficient trucks on the market. Road freight makes up over 20% of all carbon emissions in Europe, so every Tesla Semi (or other electric truck) that hits the road brings that down. Check the Tesla Semi website for more detailed information on the Tesla Semi.
I’m looking forward to my first ride in a Tesla Semi. I will be keeping BREYTNER’s founder Marie-José Baartmans to her promise of recording another episode of the Does Logistics Matter? Podcast in the Semi, while it drives. If you want to learn more about zero-emission transportation, listen to episode three.
Header image courtesy of Tesla
