Tesla said it intends to invest $ 3.6 billion to expand its manufacturing capabilities in Nevada and is confident that many software-related profits, reflected in the record net income reported Wednesday for the fourth quarter of the last year, will keep the margin higher than other cars.
The company confirmed plans to produce high-volume semi-trucks and make enough cell batteries for 2 million light-duty vehicles annually in Nevada.
Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo posted a photo on Twitter of himself and CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday after the newly elected Republican announced in his first State of the State address Monday night that Tesla has committed to a “new” manufacturing facility for electric trucks. in northern Nevada.
The project will expand existing operations in Reno’s Truckee Industrial Center, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Reno-Sparks along Interstate 80. production to make 50,000 trucks in North America by 2024.
The White House released a statement on the plan on Tuesday as Musk completed three hours of testimony to defend himself in a class-action lawsuit in San Francisco federal court over the operation of Twitter, one of the three major companies he owns including Tesla and SpaceX.
Musk’s impulsive and sometimes inflammatory use of Twitter took center stage as proceedings continued Wednesday in a lawsuit alleging he misled Tesla shareholders in 2018 with tweets about a canceled buyout.
Mitch Landrieu, President Joe Biden’s chief infrastructure officer, said Tuesday that Tesla’s additional investment in Nevada was evidence of a continuing “manufacturing boom” since Biden took office two years ago. He said the expansion will create 3,000 jobs in Nevada while promoting clean energy and strengthening US security.
Lombardo tweeted a photo late Tuesday with Musk at Tesla’s “Gigafactory” in an industrial park east of Reno-Sparks, where he makes batteries for electric vehicles.
“This is an incredible investment in our country,” Lombardo wrote.
Elizabeth Ray, the governor’s communications director, confirmed the authenticity of the photo and explained in an email to The Associated Press the new investment for “expansion of existing space” in the Truckee-Reno center.
A Tesla statement on its blog site late Tuesday said that since 2014 the company has invested $6.2 billion in Nevada and built a 5.4 million square foot (501,676 square meter) “Gigafactory”.
“We will invest more than $3.6 billion to continue expanding the Nevada Gigafactory, adding 3,000 new team members and two new factories,” the company said, adding that it would include “the first high-volume Semi factory.”
Tesla delivered its first electric semi to a PepsiCo facility in Nevada in December, more than three years after Musk said his company would begin building the truck.
At the November 2017 event where he unveiled the Tesla Semi, Musk said that production would begin in 2019 and that the trucks would be able to follow each other autonomously in convoys. But during Tesla’s third-quarter earnings conference call in October, he said the company’s “Full Self Driving” system isn’t ready to be driverless.
The truck has a range per charge of 500 miles (800 kilometers) when pulling an 82,000-pound (37,000 kilogram) payload, Musk said.
The Austin, Texas, maker of electric vehicles and solar panels said Wednesday it earned $3.69 billion from October to December, or $1.19 per adjusted share. That beat the $1.13 estimate that had been cut by analysts, according to FactSet. The company’s profit is 59% more than the same period last year.
Revenue for the quarter was $24.32 billion, which was less than the $24.67 billion analysts expected.
Musk said that despite price cuts of up to 20% on some vehicles announced earlier this month, demand for Tesla products is strong and sales are limited by production.
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