Tesla collaborated on the manufacturing and production
Facilities
See also: List of Tesla factories
The company operates seven large factories and about a dozen smaller factories around the world. As of 2024, the company also operates more than 1,200 retail stores, galleries, service, delivery and body shop locations globally.[2]
Primary facilities operated by Tesla
Opened Name City Country Employees Products Ref.
2010 Tesla Fremont Factory Fremont, California United States 22,000 Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y [29][221][222]
2016 Gigafactory Nevada Storey County, Nevada United States 7,000 Batteries, Powerwall, Semi [223][224][225]
2017 Gigafactory New York Buffalo, New York United States 1,500 Solar Roof, Supercharger [226][227]
2019 Gigafactory Shanghai Shanghai China 20,000 Model 3, Model Y, Supercharger [228][229]
2022 Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg Grünheide Germany 10,000 Model Y [230][231][232]
2022 Gigafactory Texas Austin, Texas United States 12,000 Model Y, Cybertruck [233][234][235]
North America
Main articles: Tesla Fremont Factory, Gigafactory Nevada, Gigafactory New York, Gigafactory Texas, and Gigafactory Mexico
New Tesla Model S cars at the Tesla Fremont Factory in 2012
Tesla was founded in San Carlos, California in 2003.[236] In 2008, the company opened its first production facility at a former Chevrolet dealership in Menlo Park, California. The original roadster was assembled inside the service bays until 2012 and used the company showroom as a retail store.[237] Another retail store was opened in Los Angeles the same year.[238] In 2010, Tesla moved its corporate headquarters and opened a powertrain development facility in Palo Alto.[239]
Tesla's first major assembly plant occupies the former NUMMI plant in Fremont, California, known as the Tesla Fremont Factory. The factory was originally opened by General Motors in 1962, and then operated by NUMMI, a joint venture of GM and Toyota from 1984.[240] The joint venture ended when GM entered bankruptcy in 2009. In 2010, Toyota agreed to sell the plant to Tesla at a significant discount.[29]
Gigafactory Nevada in 2019
Tesla's first purpose-built facility was opened in Nevada in 2016. Gigafactory Nevada produces the Powerwall,[223] battery cells in partnership with Panasonic,[241] Model 3 drivetrains,[242] and the Tesla Semi.[243] The factory received substantial subsidies (abatements and credits) from the local and state government, that, in exchange for opening in their jurisdiction, allowed Tesla to operate essentially tax free for 10 years,[244] later extended to 20 years in exchange for expanding the factory to add a production line for the Tesla Semi and add additional battery manufacturing capacity.[243]
As part of the acquisition of SolarCity in 2016, Tesla gained control of Gigafactory New York in Buffalo on the site of a former Republic Steel plant. The state of New York spent cash to build and equip the factory through the Buffalo Billion program.[245][246] In 2017, the factory started production of the Tesla Solar Roof,[226] but faced multiple production challenges. Since 2020, Tesla has also assembled Superchargers in New York. The plant has been criticized for offering little economic benefit for the state funding.[247]
In 2018, Tesla assembled tension fabric buildings at the Fremont plant to meet production goals of 5,000 cars produced a month.[248] The structure was assembled in two weeks and measured 53 feet high, 150 feet wide, and 900 feet long.[249]
Gigafactory Texas in 2022
On July 23, 2020, Tesla picked Austin, Texas, as the site of its fifth Gigafactory, since then known as Gigafactory Texas.[250] Giga Texas is the only factory that produces the Tesla Cybertruck and produces Model Y cars for the Eastern United States. On December 1, 2021, Tesla announced it relocated its legal headquarters from Palo Alto to the Gigafactory Texas site in Austin.[251] However, Tesla has retained the Palo Alto building. On April 7, 2022, Tesla celebrated the opening of Gigafactory Texas in a public event.[68]
Tesla acquired a former JC Penney distribution center near Lathrop, California, in 2021 to build the "Megafactory" to manufacture the Megapack, the company's large scale energy storage product.[252][253] The location opened in 2022.
Tesla announced in February it would open a new global engineering headquarters in Palo Alto, moving into a corporate campus once owned by Hewlett Packard, located a couple of miles from Tesla's former headquarters building.[254]
Tesla plans to open Gigafactory Mexico, the company's sixth Gigafactory near Monterrey, Mexico in 2025.
Europe
Main articles: Tesla facilities in Tilburg and Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg
Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg in July 2023
Tesla opened its first European store in June 2009 in London.[255] Tesla's European headquarters are in the Netherlands,[256] part of a group of Tesla facilities in Tilburg, including the company's European Distribution Centre.[257]
In late 2016, Tesla acquired German engineering firm Grohmann Engineering as a new division dedicated to helping Tesla increase the automation and effectiveness of its manufacturing process.[258] After winding down existing contracts with other manufacturers, the renamed Tesla Automation now works exclusively on Tesla projects.[259]
Tesla announced its plans to build a car and battery factory in Europe in 2016.[260] Several countries campaigned to be the host,[261] and eventually Germany was chosen in November 2019.[262] On March 22, 2022, Tesla's first European Gigafactory named Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg[263][264] opened with planned capacity to produce 500,000 electric vehicles annually as well as batteries for the cars.[264]
Asia
Main article: Gigafactory Shanghai
Tesla store in Tokyo, the first in Asia[265]
Tesla opened its first showroom in Asia in Tokyo, Japan, in October 2010.[266]
In July 2018, Tesla signed an agreement with Chinese authorities to build a factory in Shanghai, China, which was Tesla's first Gigafactory outside of the United States.[267] The factory building was finished in August 2019, and the initial Tesla Model 3s were in production from Gigafactory Shanghai in October 2019.[228] In 2021, China accounted for 26% of Tesla sales revenue, and was the second largest market for Tesla after the United States, which accounted for 45% of its sales.[268]
Tesla has expressed interest in expanding to India and perhaps building a future Gigafactory in the country.[269] The company established a legal presence in the nation in 2021 and plans to open an office in Pune starting in October 2023.[270]
Partners
Panasonic
Panasonic Energy president Naoto Noguchi presents Tesla executive JB Straubel with lithium-ion cells
In January 2010, Tesla and battery cell maker Panasonic announced that they would together develop nickel-based lithium-ion battery cells for electric vehicles.[271] The partnership was part of Panasonic's $1 billion investment over three years in facilities for lithium-ion cell research, development and production.[272]
Beginning in 2010, Panasonic invested $30 million for a multi-year collaboration on new battery cells designed specifically for electric vehicles.[273] In July 2014, Panasonic reached a basic agreement with Tesla to participate in battery production at Giga Nevada.[274]
Tesla and Panasonic also collaborated on the manufacturing and production of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules at the Giga New York factory in Buffalo, New York.[226] The partnership started in mid-2017 and ended in early 2020, before Panasonic exited the solar business entirely in January 2021.[275][276]
In March 2021, the outgoing CEO of Panasonic stated that the company plans to reduce its reliance on Tesla as their battery partnership evolves.[277]
Other current partners
Tesla has long-term contracts in place for lithium supply. In September 2020, Tesla signed a sales agreement with Piedmont Lithium to buy high-purity lithium ore for up to ten years,[278] specifically to supply "spodumene concentrate from Piedmont's North Carolina mineral deposit".[279] In 2022, Tesla contracted for 110,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate over four years from the Core Lithium's lithium mine in the Northern Territory of Australia.[280]
Tesla also has a range of minor partnerships, for instance working with Airbnb and hotel chains to install destination chargers at selected locations.[281]
Former partners
Daimler
The Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive used a Tesla-supplied battery pack.[282]
Daimler and Tesla began working together in late 2007. On May 19, 2009, Daimler bought a stake of less than 10% in Tesla for a reported $50 million.[283][284] As part of the collaboration, Herbert Kohler, vice-president of E-Drive and Future Mobility at Daimler, took a Tesla board seat.[285] On July 13, 2009, Daimler sold 40% of its acquisition to Aabar, an investment company controlled by the International Petroleum Investment Company owned by the government of Abu Dhabi.[286] In October 2014, Daimler sold its remaining holdings for a reported $780 million.[287]
Tesla supplied battery packs for Freightliner Trucks in 2010.[288][289] The company also built electric-powertrain components for the Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell, with 500 cars planned to be built for trial in Europe beginning in September 2011.[290][291] Tesla produced and co-developed the Mercedes-Benz B250e's powertrain, which ended production in 2017.[292] The electric motor was rated 134 hp (100 kW) and 230 pound force-feet (310 N⋅m), with a 36 kWh (130 MJ) battery. The vehicle had a driving range of 200 km (124 mi) with a top speed of 150 km/h (93 mph).[293] Daimler division Smart produced the Smart ED2 cars from 2009 to 2012 which had a 14-kilowatt-hour (50 MJ) lithium-ion battery from Tesla.[294][295]
Toyota
Toyota RAV4 EV, which used a Tesla-supplied battery and powertrain components
In May 2010, Tesla and Toyota announced a deal in which Tesla purchased the former NUMMI factory from Toyota for $42 million, Toyota purchased $50 million in Tesla stock, and the two companies collaborated on an electric vehicle.[29]
In July 2010, the companies announced they would work together on a second generation Toyota RAV4 EV.[296] The vehicle was unveiled at the October 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show and 35 pilot vehicles were built for a demonstration and evaluation program that ran through 2011. Tesla supplied the lithium metal-oxide battery and other powertrain components[297][298] based on components from the Roadster.[299]
The production version was unveiled in August 2012, using battery pack, electronics and powertrain components from the Tesla Model S sedan (also launched in 2012).[300] The RAV4 EV had a limited production run which resulted in just under 3,000 vehicles being produced, before it was discontinued in 2014.[301][302]
According to Bloomberg News, the partnership between Tesla and Toyota was "marred by clashes between engineers".[303] Toyota engineers rejected designs that Tesla had proposed for an enclosure to protect the RAV4 EV's battery pack. Toyota took over responsibility for the enclosure's design and strengthened it. In 2014, Tesla ended up adding a titanium plate to protect the Model S sedan's battery after some debris-related crashes lead to cars catching fire.[303][150] On June 5, 2017, Toyota announced that it had sold all of its shares in Tesla and halted the partnership.[304][305]
Mobileye
Initial versions of Autopilot were developed in partnership with Mobileye beginning in 2014.[306] Mobileye ended the partnership on July 26, 2016, citing "disagreements about how the technology was deployed."[307]
