Tesla plans $3.6 billion of additional investment in Northern Nevada, including a new battery factory and its first high-volume manufacturing facility for electric semi-trucks, the company announced Tuesday.
“We will be investing over $3.6 billion more to continue growing Gigafactory Nevada, adding 3,000 new team members and two new factories,” Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) said in a blog post. Tesla’s Gigafactory Nevada is a 5.4 million square-foot facility east of Reno.
The new battery factory will have the capacity to produce enough batteries for 2 million light-duty vehicles a year, the company said.
The electric truck factory will make Tesla’s Semi model, which the company describes as a fully electric, 18-wheel truck capable of trips up to 500 miles. Semi uses less than 2 kWh of energy per mile, Tesla said.
Tesla’s first delivery of the Semi was to Pepsi last month.
The White House weighed in Tuesday on Tesla’s announcement.
“The manufacturing boom of President Biden’s first two years continues today with Tesla’s announcement that they will invest more than $3.6 billion in battery and electric semi-truck manufacturing in Sparks, Nevada,” White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu said in a statement provided to NetZero Insider.
“This announcement is the latest in more than $300 billion in private sector investment in clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing announced since the president took office,” Landrieu added. “It will create more than 3,000 good-paying jobs in Nevada helping America lead in clean energy manufacturing, strengthening our energy security, and ultimately lowering costs for families.”
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo briefly mentioned the new factory in his State of the State address on Monday, while discussing his plans to restore Nevada’s reputation as a pro-business state.
“I’m looking forward to joining Elon Musk and the team at Tesla tomorrow when they unveil plans to build a brand-new $3.5 billion-dollar advanced manufacturing facility in Northern Nevada for the company’s all-electric semi-trucks,” Lombardo said during the speech.
Tesla said it has invested $6.2 billion in Nevada since 2014. Production at Gigafactory Nevada has included 7.3 billion battery cells, 1.5 million battery packs and 3.6 million drive units.