Tesla investing $3.6b on Nevada for 100 GWh 4680 cell factory & semi-trucks

Tesla has announced a significant investment of US $3.6 billion to expand its first and quintessential gigafactory in Nevada, United States. The gigafactory's phase 2 expansion plan includes two new facilities - one for manufacturing the company's new 4680 cylindrical battery cells, and the other for the brand's first high-volume assembly line to roll out electric semi-trucks. 

In his latest presentation delivered at the facility recently, Elon Musk, CEO and product architect of Tesla Inc., said, "We're going to do our high volume semi-truck manufacturing here, and we're also going to be adding 100 GWh of Tesla 4680 cell manufacturing here". 

"And that's just the start. I think long term, we may do as much as 500 GWh, but this increment is 100 GWh. Yeah, so it's a hugely important game-changer", he added. But, Musk did not mention any timeframe for his target to achieve 500 GWh production of 4680 cells annually. 

He also noted that the 4680 cylindrical cells made at Nevada will go into both Tesla electric cars and battery storage systems, thereby revealing that the Tesla Megapack and Powerwall home batteries will also be powered by these cells in the coming months. 

Musk further said, "Long term, Tesla is aiming to produce well over 1,000 Gigawatt-hours, possibly 2,000 or 3,000. So this really is just the start. And that's equivalent to 1.5 million additional Model 3/Y vehicles, and we'll also be using 4680 for stationary storage as well. And to be clear, this is in addition to our suppliers."

Tesla has said that the new 100 GWh cell facility can support about 1.5 million light-duty electric vehicles. The company has not made public the production capacity for the semi factory yet. 

Since 2014, Tesla has invested about $6.2 billion in Nevada, and built a 5.4 million square foot gigafactory - a precursor to other global gigafactories the company later embarked on. 

RELATED: Tesla's 40 GWh BESS factory in Lathrop, California is a game-changer

Till date, the factory successfully produced 7.3 billion battery cells (37 GWh+ annually) translative to 1.5 million battery packs, 3.6 million drive units, and 1 million energy modules (14 GWh+ total), according to its latest blog post.