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Tesla announces plans to build second gigafactory in Europe

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Construction Dive

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Dive Brief:

  • Tesla has announced plans to build a second gigafactory in Europe that will manufacture both electric vehicles and batteries, according to Business Insider.
  • Tesla founder Elon Musk said the company will start looking for sites in 2017 but will first focus on the production of its new vehicle, the Model 3.
  • The company's gigafactory in Nevada, which should be operating at full capacity by 2020 and will only produce batteries for vehicles and the company's Powerwall systems, has a been a boon for the local area and state.

Dive Insight:

Musk also hinted that "Gigafactory 2" would be the first of more vehicle-battery facilities in Europe. However, for now, most development attention is devoted to getting "Gigafactory 1" fully operational so that it can become what officials said will be one of the biggest producers of lithium-ion batteries in the world. 

Tesla's $5 billion Reno, NV, gigafactory is nearing completion, with delivery of its first cars scheduled for 2017. Tesla, which is acting as its own contractor on the gigafactory, has also made a point of incorporating the latest green technology into the project and said the completed building will be net-zero. Tesla competitor Faraday Future recently awarded AECOM a $500 million contract for the construction of its $1 billion North Las Vegas, NV, factory. 

Tesla is credited with bringing Faraday to the area as well as other businesses like data company giant Switch. Northern Nevada has enjoyed low unemployment because of this influx, and plants and distribution centers have made up about 70% of all area commercial real estate transactions in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to Collier's International. New business has brought in so many new employees that both Reno and Las Vegas officials said they will need 40,000 extra housing units by 2020 in order to accommodate the expected 11,000 new workers coming into the state.

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