January 26, 2023: Tesla, the EV automotive maker and energy storage manufacturer, announced this week that it was to make $3.6 billion of new investment in its Nevada manufacturing plant.
“The $3.6 billion will be used to continue growing Gigafactory Nevada, this means adding 3,000 new team members and two new factories: a 100GWh 4680 cell factory (with the capacity to produce enough batteries for 1.5 million light duty vehicles annually),” said an official statement. “This also means adding to our first high-volume Semi factory. Semi is our fully electric combination truck, with 500 miles of range and energy consumption of less than 2kWh per mile.”
The Tesla announcement concluded with a statement of its mission to date.
“Since 2014, we have invested $6.2 billion in Nevada and built a 5.4 million square foot Gigafactory — a cornerstone of our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. The buildout alone provided 17,000 local construction jobs.
“To date, the team at Gigafactory Nevada has successfully produced: 7.3 billion battery cells (37 GWh+ annually); 1.5 million battery packs; 3.6 million drive units; and, 1 million energy modules (14 GWh+ total).”
As BESB went to press there were mostly positive but mixed reactions to Tesla’s publication of its fourth quarter earnings report. Tesla said it earned $3.7 billion in net income on $24.3 billion in revenue. That represents a 59% increase year over year compared to $2.8 billion in revenue. This would be its third year of profits.
However, some analysts noted that Tesla’s market share had been challenged by increased competition from traditional motor manufacturing giants such as Ford and General Motors, as well as newer entrants to the market such as Rivian and Lucid in the US and China’s BYD and Nio.
Analysts also said Tesla’s price cuts — as much as 20% on some vehicles — could be damaging.