At one end, stacks of five-tonne aluminium coils are unloaded from train carriages; at the other, owners drive away a brand-new Tesla Model S, Model X or Model 3. In between, almost every part of Tesla's plug-in electric vehicles is fabricated at this 500,000m2 plant in Fremont, California.

The facility, which is pioneering vertically integrated manufacturing, is almost entirely self-contained. "The only thing that would tip you off from the outside about all the innovation happening within is the Tesla sign," says photographer Spencer Lowell, who was granted access to Tesla's facility. "It's like a secret Willy Wonka factory of wonders, except customers come in and out to pick up their new cars."