Tesla Has Teamed Up With Panasonic For An Incredible 1000 Acre 'Gigafactory'

Tesla Motors has been in partnership with Panasonic since 2010 to co-develop and produce nickel-based lithium-ion battery cells for electric vehicles, but now the relationship has gone one step further. It’s been announced that the first of potentially many Tesla ‘gigafactories’ will be built in collaboration with the Japanese electronics giant.

According to the press release, the plan is for Tesla to take care of the exterior stuff (land, buildings, etc), while Panasonic will put up the cash for the equipment needed to manufacture lithium-ion cells. Locations in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada are under consideration. By 2020 the Gigafactory is expected to employ 6500 people, and produce enough cells for 500,000 electric vehicles. Tesla’s Gigafactory plans can be seen here.