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Elon Musk's Tesla's Gigafactory network is set to grow as the company aims to meet his ambition to build as many as 20 million electric cars a year.
There are already six gigafactories around the globe where Tesla builds its Model S, Model X, Model Y, and Model 3 vehicles as well as the Cybertruck. A seventh, Tesla's first factory in Mexico, is also in the works, and more are likely to come as Tesla's sales volume increases.
"Ultimately, we will end up building, I don't know, probably at least 10 or 12 Gigafactories," Musk said at Tesla's annual meeting in 2022.
Here's a look at Tesla's Gigafactories and why they're so critical to the company's growth plans.
Tesla currently has six massive Gigafactories located in Fremont, California; Sparks, Nevada; Berlin, Germany; Shanghai, China; Austin, Texas; and Buffalo, New York.
In March of 2023, Tesla confirmed plans to build a Gigafactory in Mexico. The plant will sit in the industrial hub of Monterrey. After initially lauding the addition of a Mexico factory, Tesla has pumped the brakes on the project amid a tougher electric vehicle market.
Tesla's Gigafactories do a mix of battery and electric car production, depending on the location.
Musk has said he hopes to build 10 to 12 more Tesla Gigafactories to reach his goal of making 20 million cars a year by 2030.
Musk has said it would take 100 Gigafactories to supply the world with all its energy.
Many of the Gigafactories have solar panels on the roof, including an array of panels that spell out Tesla on the roof of Gigafactory Austin. When it was under construction, Musk promised an "ecological paradise" with walking trails along the neighboring river for the public to enjoy.
In Nevada, Gigafactory 1 was built without a natural gas connection, Tesla said in its 2019 impact report. The company "engineered thermal systems to maximize heat recovery resulting in significant energy efficiency gains compared to standard industrial designs," including heat pumps and the naturally dry desert air for the dehumidification necessary for some battery processes.
Tesla says its Berlin Gigafactory is its "most advanced, sustainable and efficient facility yet." The plant was initially met with opposition from local environmental groups who decried the loss of forest land for the factory. Activism around the Berlin plant reignited this year over a planned expansion of the plant. Despite pushback, the German government recently gave Tesla the go-ahead on its expansion plans.
Ahead of the Nevada Gigavactory's construction, state officials estimated it would need up to 2,300 GWh of electricity annually. For context, an average American home uses only about 10,000 KWh annually, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
From its opening in 2014 through the start of last year, The Gigafactory Nevada produced:
In Berlin, Tesla currently builds 6,000 cars per week. It took the company a year to reach the 5,000 car-per-week milestone. It's a model Tesla's set to copy for new factories and helps support the company's goals of 25,000 cars per year per factory.
Tesla's Gigafactory planned in Mexico would cost $10 billion, making it the most expensive Gigafactory yet. For comparison, the Berlin Gigafactory — the second most expensive facility — cost around $5.5 billion, according to Reuters.
