Tesla’s game-changing Gigafactory in Northern Nevada is taking shape even faster than expected. The first building phase is nearly complete, the company told Nevada’s Legislative Commission in a quarterly report that it is required to provide under the terms of the $1.3-billion package of tax incentives it received from the state.

The first phase is a 900,000-square-foot building, but the final edifice will be several times larger. In fact, it will be the largest building in the world, with a footprint of 5.8 million square feet and two stories of manufacturing space – around 10 million square feet all told. And it might grow even more gargantuan – Elon Musk said in a recent earnings conference call that, because of massive demand for its stationary storage products, Tesla was thinking of expanding the Gigafactory by 50 to 100 percent.

“They will be starting to move machinery into that building in order to make batteries relatively soon,” said Steve Hill, Director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. “Certainly one year from now, that factory will be producing batteries.”

Beginning this fall, partner Panasonic will be sending several hundred workers to Nevada to prepare for production.







Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal, Green Car Reports