Tesla shares first glimpse inside California megafactory

To ramp up hiring and recruiting, Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared the first peek at its new Megafactory in Lathrop, California.

Musk shared the video on LinkedIn, and it’s the first look at the factory since the company broke ground on the project a year ago. The CEO has previously said the company aims for the Megafactory, which will focus exclusively on the production of Megapack batteries, to reach an output of 40GWh per year.

That marks a 10x increase over the company’s current output of 4GWh per year, a capacity that includes Megapacks as well as Powerwall and Powerpack batteries.

Previously, the electric vehicle maker had been producing Megapacks only at its Gigafactory in Nevada. Now, the Megafactory can make up to 25 Megapacks in a single day after only breaking ground on the facility a year ago.

Last week, Tesla reported an energy storage deployment output of 2.1GWh in a single quarter, setting a record for the EV maker. According to Electrek, the production of Megapack batteries at the new Megafactory, which only started up recently, is unlikely to have had much effect on that result – meaning it could jump significantly when that increased output is added to the mix.

The Megapack battery is a significant first step toward Musk’s eventual goal of creating an energy division that rivals Tesla’s automotive business in scale. A Megapack battery has an energy capacity of around 50 times the Model Y’s energy capacity, meaning the current output of 25 per day is equal to the batteries in more than 1,000 electric vehicles.

Tesla expects to start installing those battery packs around the fourth quarter of 2023.

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