Tesla Giga Texas Will Make Cybertruck Batteries Too
9 Oct 2020, 14:36 UTC ·
by
Mircea Panait
At the beginning of the year, Elon Musk confirmed that a new Gigafactory would be constructed in the U.S. to handle Cybertruck production. Instead of Tennessee, the Palo Alto-based automaker chose Texas thanks to better incentives, lower logistics cost, and better access to a large workforce.
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Fast-forward to the present day, and The Austin Business Journal reports about battery production in addition to the futuristic-looking Cybertruck. “Documents filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality” confirm that Tesla Giga Texas will operate a cell-manufacturing unit.
Professional services company GHD submitted the application for an air-quality permit on behalf of Tesla, and the document states “battery packs that are installed in the vehicle,” presumably the Cybertruck. Six nitrogen-blanketed tanks with a volume of 20,000 liters each are listed as necessary for cell production, but there’s something that the filing doesn’t specify.
Tesla had originally acquired 2,100 acres, followed by a 381-acre site for future expansion. We don’t know if the battery cell and Cybertruck plants will be connected or separate units, but at the end of the day, logistics aren’t of the essence given the negligible distance between the two sites.
Tesla is also expected to construct a lithium hydroxide chemical plant on acreage meant for Giga Texas, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the hearsay turns out to be true. Rumored to go online in Q4 2022, the only purpose of this plant is turning hard rock spodumene ore into lithium hydroxide. The hydrometallurgical process is understood to eliminate the use of sulfuric acid, a colorless liquid that can cause severe chemical burns to us humans.
As for the cells that will be made in Texas, the 4680 design revealed during Battery Day is the most obvious candidate for heavy-duty applications like the electric pickup and the Tesla Semi. 4680s have been deployed in working vehicles for months, and Gigafactory Berlin is also going to produce them locally for the Model Y. Another application for the high-nickel cells is the Model S Plaid with 1,100 horsepower on tap and a starting price of $140k.
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