Tesla Gigafactory 1

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Image of the construction site of the accumulator factory in Nevada, now known as Gigafactory 1 with regard to other planned factories, with Tesla Motors supervisory board and investor Steve Jurvetson. The height of the factory hall is 22 meters.

The Tesla Gigafactory 1 is a factory of the US company Tesla in the US state of Nevada . In cooperation with the Japanese electronics group Panasonic, lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and battery packs for stationary power storage are produced there. Construction started in May 2014 and the construction work should continue until 2020. The overall project should cost up to US $ 5 billion and create 6,500 jobs.

Tesla is the factory of Solar City in Buffalo as Gigafactory 2 . Photovoltaics are produced there. The Gigafactory 3 is located near Shanghai in China. The contracts for this were signed with the government of Shanghai in July 2018. The factory is expected to produce the same number of vehicles as the Fremont factory, 500,000 units per year. The Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg (Gigafactory 4) as a production location for the European market was announced in November 2019.

Project

Together with the Panasonic Corporation and other suppliers such as the Heitkamp & Thumann Group, Tesla is building a factory for lithium - ion cells and battery packs, which, as of 2017, will supply around 500,000 electric cars annually with inexpensive battery packs from 2018 .

The cathodes of the Li-ion cells manufactured here are only 2.8 percent cobalt . The current state of the art is around 8 percent cobalt, and many manufacturers even exceed it. For the next generation of cells, Tesla does not want to use any cobalt for the cells.

More than half of the global cobalt requirement is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to Amnesty International, child labor (ages 15-17) is common there (around 40,000 children) when mining cobalt. In addition, the extraction process is extremely complex and harmful to the environment. However, cobalt extraction is a by-product of copper and nickel mining. Child labor would persist if cobalt disappears from the battery cells, as copper and nickel continue to break down.

The project also includes renewable energy systems such as solar and wind power systems .

The factory is to reduce the previous costs for batteries by 30 percent. The aim is to produce cells with a total capacity of 35 GWh (GWh / a) every year  . This would be more than the total global production in 2013. At the 2016 shareholders' meeting , Elon Musk released new figures according to which Tesla wants to produce 105 GWh / a cells and 150 GWh / a packs on the same area.

history

The plans for the Gigafactory were announced in November 2013.

In July 2014 it was announced that Panasonic plans to build a new factory with Tesla . The estimated scope of the project is $ 5 billion. Around 6500 jobs are to be created by 2022.

The US states of Texas , Nevada , Arizona , New Mexico and California were first considered as locations . In September 2014, the location at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center near Reno , Nevada was announced. However, construction work had already started in May 2014.

At CES 2016, Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga announced a $ 1.6 billion investment in the factory. Panasonic founded the Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America for this purpose . After the number of Model 3 reservations became known in April 2016, Panasonic increased the investment to 3.9 billion US dollars.

Tesla held an opening ceremony for part of the factory in July 2016. At this point, 3 of the planned 21 construction phases had been completed. In the first quarter of 2016, a limited production of battery packs for stationary power storage could already begin.

In October 2016, Tesla announced that in addition to batteries and battery packs , the Gigafactory would also produce electric motors and drive units.

Location and state funding

The factory is located in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center near Reno , Nevada. The usable area of the factory is estimated at one square kilometer , two to four square kilometers of land are to be acquired. When completed, the two-story factory will be the largest production building in the world. To establish Tesla in Reno, Nevada is providing a total of $ 1.9 billion in tax breaks and other concessions . In a special session, the Senate and the Nevada House of Commons unanimously passed a series of legislative amendments, each granting Tesla $ 1.3 billion in tax subsidies .

background

Cylindrical cell (18650) before assembly

Tesla's energy storage system is based on lithium - ion round cells in 18650 format, the cylinders of which have a diameter of 18 mm and a length of 65 mm. This size has already been produced billions of times for notebooks . The round cells with inexpensive wound layers cost 190 to 200 dollars per kWh in 2014. In contrast, the costs of large-format cells, the effective layers of which are stacked or folded in a more complex manner, were between 240 and 250 US dollars per kWh.

Tesla encloses each of the 18650 round cells in a steel case to dissipate the heat during charging and discharging. The large surface area due to the small cell size enables the heat generated to be effectively released into the environment. The small size of the single cell also allows precise control of the charge and discharge and helps avoid overloads, which increases the cell life.

With the battery pack of the old Tesla Roadster , for example, 69 cells were wired in parallel as a block. Nine blocks were connected in series for layers and eleven layers were inserted in series in the set housing. In total, a set of 6,831 cells (69P99S) was created. The battery pack weighed around 408 kg, stored 56  kWh of electrical energy and delivered up to 215 kW of electrical power. Cooling liquid was pumped through the set for effective heat transfer from each cell . The cooling ensures an optimal operating temperature and, in addition to the individual control of the cells during charging and discharging, helps achieve a long cell life. In the package, sensors are used to regulate the temperature. The cells are heated below the operating temperature; above this, heat is dissipated via a coolant circuit . The whole pack is enclosed in a steel case.

For the Tesla Model S and Tesla Model X , cells of size 18650 were integrated into the floor pan as drive batteries, while cells of size 21700 were produced for integration in the Tesla Model 3 , the Tesla Powerwall and the Tesla Powerpack. This optimization step is intended to increase the energy density of the pack and reduce costs.

Additional market outside of the automotive sector

After the takeover of SolarCity by Tesla, the Tesla Powerwall , an energy storage device for households, will be marketed together with a solar roof so that solar energy can be used at any time of the day.

A battery pack for industrial applications is also available, as has been the case with SolarCity since 2013. This enables energy suppliers and network operators to compensate for fluctuations in the network load at short notice.

The California Public Utilities Commission  - the California regulator for electricity suppliers  - has the goal of holding a reserve of 1.3 gigawatts of power in California by 2020, enough to supply 993,750 typical homes with electricity.

Raw material supply

In 2015, Tesla Motors concluded supply contracts with the mining companies Bacanora Minerals Ltd and Rare Earth Minerals Plc to secure the lithium supply to the Gigafactory . As a partner in the Sonora Lithium Project, they are to finance and build a mine to mine an ore deposit in northern Mexico and supply the Gigafactory for five years at agreed prices. The mine is to deliver 35,000 tons of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate annually, with an expansion to 50,000 tons annually being possible.

Construction progress

The inauguration of the completed part of 14 percent of the Gigafactory took place on July 30, 2016. On January 4, 2017, production of the first cells for Tesla Powerwalls and Powerpacks began.

See also

Web links

Commons : Tesla Gigafactory 1  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. "Gigafactory": Tesla is building a huge battery factory in Nevada . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . September 4, 2014, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed August 11, 2017]).
  2. https://teslamag.de/news/offiziell-tesla-vertrag-produktionsstaette-china-19447
  3. US electric car manufacturer: Tesla and Panasonic build huge battery factory. In: spiegel.de. Spiegel Online , July 31, 2014, accessed July 31, 2014.
  4. H&T Battery Components: Successful start of production at H&T. Retrieved February 3, 2017 .
  5. https://teslamag.de/news/tesla-akku-generation-kobalt-musk-19134
  6. https://www.amnesty.de/allgemein/pressemitteilung/demokratische- Republik-kongo-vw-daimler-und-andere-konzerne- muessen
  7. ^ Tesla presentation: Planned 2020 Gigafactory Production Exceeds 2013 Global Production. In: teslamotors.com. Tesla Motors , 2013, accessed on March 10, 2014 (PDF; 7.0 MB, p. 3, English).
  8. Gigafactory. In: teslamotors.com. Tesla Motors , February 26, 2014, accessed July 30, 2014.
  9. Kirsten Korosec: Here's why Tesla's massive new factory will change everything. In: time.com. Time , accessed March 11, 2014 .
  10. ^ Tesla presentation: Planned 2020 Gigafactory Production Exceeds 2013 Global Production. In: teslamotors.com. Tesla Motors , 2013, accessed on March 10, 2014 (PDF; 7.0 MB, p. 1, English).
  11. Tesla and Panasonic will manufacture 20700 cells in the Gigafactory. In: teslamag.de. Teslamag, June 1, 2016, accessed July 30, 2016.
  12. Tina Kaiser: Tesla's “Gigafactory” enables e-cars for everyone. In: welt.de. Die Welt , February 27, 2014, accessed March 9, 2014.
  13. Bill Howard: Tesla's Gigafactory: The next step in Musk's domination of the battery-powered world. In: extremetech.com. ExtremeTech, February 28, 2014, accessed March 9, 2014.
  14. Vlad Savov: Tesla's solution to battery shortages is to build its own 'giga factory'. November 6, 2013, accessed August 11, 2017 .
  15. ^ Charlie Osborne: Panasonic to pour billions of yen in Tesla's gigafactory as initial investment. In: ZDNet . October 7, 2014, accessed August 11, 2017 .
  16. : Nate Swanner trillion Tesla's Nevada Gigafactory to cost $ 5th In: SlashGear.com. January 16, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2017 (American English).
  17. ^ Tesla details employment, investment plans for gigafactory. In: tahoereno.com. Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, October 24, 2014, accessed November 7, 2014 .
  18. Jason Hidalgo, Anjeanette Damon: David vs. Goliath: NV, Texas square off for Tesla. In: rgj.com. Reno Gazette-Journal , June 9, 2014, accessed April 7, 2018 .
  19. Mike Ramsey: Panasonic Will Bet Big on Gigafactory . In: Wall Street Journal . January 7, 2016, ISSN  0099-9660 ( wsj.com [accessed August 11, 2017]).
  20. Angelo Young: Tesla Gigafactory Update: Panasonic Establishes US Company In Nevada. In: ibtimes.com. International Business Times , October 3, 2014, accessed January 4, 2015.
  21. Panasonic to raise $ 3.9 billion, partly to finance Tesla plant investment . ( yahoo.com [accessed August 11, 2017]).
  22. Seth Weintraub: Tesla Gigafactory tour roundup and tidbits: 'This is the coolest factory in the world'. In: Electrek. July 28, 2016. Retrieved August 11, 2017 .
  23. Tesla Starts Off 2016 By Producing & Delivering Powerwall. Retrieved August 11, 2017 .
  24. Fred Lambert: Tesla is building new 'drive unit production lines' at the Gigafactory, will not only manufacture battery packs. In: Electrek. October 15, 2016, accessed August 11, 2017 .
  25. Christiane Hanna Henkel: Tesla is building the largest factory in the world. In: nzz.ch. Neue Zürcher Zeitung , November 22, 2014, accessed on November 22, 2014.
  26. Charles Fleming: Tesla 'gigafactory' will 'change Nevada forever,' Gov. Sandoval says. In: latimes.com. Los Angeles Times , September 5, 2014, accessed September 5, 2014.
  27. Nevada Lawmakers Unanimously Approve $ 1.3 Billion In Tax Breaks For Tesla 'Gigafactory'. In: sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com. Columbia Broadcasting System , September 11, 2014, accessed September 12, 2014.
  28. Andreas Karius: ( Memento ) from study: Tesla Gigafactory threatens other battery manufacturers. In: automobil-produktion.de. Verlag Moderne Industrie , March 3, 2014, accessed July 31, 2016.
  29. Roadster innovations: battery technology of the roadster. In: teslamotors.com. Tesla Motors , 2011, archived from the original on January 7, 2012 ; accessed on July 30, 2016 .
  30. ^ A b Battery Cell Production Begins at the Gigafactory. January 4, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2017 .
  31. ^ Tesla's Acquisition of SolarCity Receives Shareholder Approval. In: www.tesla.com. Retrieved January 11, 2017 .
  32. ^ Tesla and SolarCity. In: www.tesla.com. Retrieved January 11, 2017 .
  33. Jonathan Fahey: SolarCity turns to Tesla for batteries to soak up solar power. In: mercurynews.com. San Jose Mercury News, May 12, 2013 (English).
  34. ^ David R. Baker: Tesla sees electric future outside the automobile. In: sfgate.com. Hearst Communications Inc., February 28, 2014, accessed July 31, 2016.
  35. Megan Geuss: Tesla strikes deal to buy lithium hydroxide mined in northern Mexico. In: arstechnica.com. Wired Media Group, August 30, 2015, accessed November 19, 2015.
  36. ^ Katie Fehrenbacher: Tesla agrees to buy lithium from Mexican mine for its Gigafactory. In: fortune.com. Fortune Magazine , August 29, 2015, accessed December 28, 2015 .
  37. Tesla's "Gigafactory" - Elon Musk's biggest bet so far - goes into operation. In : wirtschaftsblatt.at. Wirtschaftsblatt , July 30, 2016, archived from the original on August 1, 2016 ; accessed on July 31, 2016 .

Coordinates: 39 ° 32 ′ 21.9 ″  N , 119 ° 26 ′ 20.6 ″  W.