104-572: Gigafactory Nevada (also known as Giga Nevada or Gigafactory 1 ) is a lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle component factory in Storey County, Nevada , United States. The facility, located east of Reno , is owned and operated by Tesla, Inc. The factory supplies battery packs and drivetrain components (including motors) for the company's electric vehicles, produces the Tesla Powerwall home energy storage device, and assembles
208-433: A search warrant for an inspection. Lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. In comparison with other commercial rechargeable batteries , Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy , higher energy density , higher energy efficiency ,
312-413: A balancing circuit until the battery is balanced. Balancing typically occurs whenever one or more cells reach their top-of-charge voltage before the other(s), as it is generally inaccurate to do so at other stages of the charge cycle. This is most commonly done by passive balancing, which dissipates excess charge as heat via resistors connected momentarily across the cells to be balanced. Active balancing
416-476: A contractor because of his investigations. In 2019, Hansen filed a lawsuit related to these allegations. In 2020, the judged ordered the case to arbitration . In June 2022, the arbitrator filed an unopposed motion with the court stating Hansen "has failed to establish the claims...Accordingly his claims are denied, and he shall take nothing". In 2019, staff at Gigafactory Nevada refused entry to U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration who had obtained
520-420: A conventional lithium-ion cell is graphite made from carbon . The positive electrode is typically a metal oxide or phosphate. The electrolyte is a lithium salt in an organic solvent . The negative electrode (which is the anode when the cell is discharging) and the positive electrode (which is the cathode when discharging) are prevented from shorting by a separator. The electrodes are connected to
624-642: A cost of $ 5 million. Tesla sends 52 truck loads of auto parts per night from GF1 to Fremont (18,200 loads per year). Water is scarce in Nevada, and some of the water for the Gigafactory is piped from a treatment plant in neighboring Washoe County. A 1.5 million U.S. gallons (5.7 million L) water tank is also used (about two Olympic-size swimming pools). TRIC built high-pressure natural gas lines to its sites, but Tesla decided to use electricity and not connect natural gas to Gigafactory. Heat pump technology
728-439: A factory, estimated to cost $ 5 billion. The northern Nevada site and plans were announced with state officials on September 4, 2014. Panasonic agreed to lead the battery cell production portion of the manufacturing, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk indicated in 2015 that the total Panasonic investment would be US$ 1.5–2 billion , and that Tesla would not expand beyond original plans. In early 2016 Panasonic president Kazuhiro Tsuga confirmed
832-679: A floor." All steel is from the United States. Tesla is its own contractor on the project, learning how to build other factories such as Giga Shanghai , Giga Berlin and Giga Texas . On April 30, 2015, Elon Musk announced that the factory heretofore known simply as the Gigafactory was now to be known as Gigafactory 1 as Tesla plans to build more such factories in the future. At the same event, Musk also said that he believed that other companies would build their own similar "Gigafactories". After receiving $ 800M of orders ($ 179M PowerWall, $ 625M PowerPack) within 1 week of unveiling, Musk estimated that
936-408: A full-size practice paint booth, a supplier park for eight companies, and a 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m ) healthcare center with a gym, childcare facilities, and medical services. The plant has the flexibility to build any of the company's front-engine/front-wheel-drive vehicles in A , B , or C-segments . The rolling-dip paint shop is sized to handle a wide range of vehicle sizes. The plant
1040-417: A gelled material, requiring fewer binding agents. This in turn shortens the manufacturing cycle. One potential application is in battery-powered airplanes. Another new development of lithium-ion batteries are flow batteries with redox-targeted solids, that use no binders or electron-conducting additives, and allow for completely independent scaling of energy and power. Generally, the negative electrode of
1144-400: A higher discharge rate. NMC and its derivatives are widely used in the electrification of transport , one of the main technologies (combined with renewable energy ) for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles . M. Stanley Whittingham conceived intercalation electrodes in the 1970s and created the first rechargeable lithium-ion battery, based on a titanium disulfide cathode and
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#17327875288521248-404: A liquid solvent (such as propylene carbonate or diethyl carbonate ) is added. The electrolyte salt is almost always lithium hexafluorophosphate ( LiPF 6 ), which combines good ionic conductivity with chemical and electrochemical stability. The hexafluorophosphate anion is essential for passivating the aluminium current collector used for the positive electrode. A titanium tab
1352-506: A lithium-aluminium anode, although it suffered from safety problems and was never commercialized. John Goodenough expanded on this work in 1980 by using lithium cobalt oxide as a cathode. The first prototype of the modern Li-ion battery, which uses a carbonaceous anode rather than lithium metal, was developed by Akira Yoshino in 1985 and commercialized by a Sony and Asahi Kasei team led by Yoshio Nishi in 1991. M. Stanley Whittingham , John Goodenough , and Akira Yoshino were awarded
1456-524: A lithium-ion cell can change dramatically. Current effort has been exploring the use of novel architectures using nanotechnology to improve performance. Areas of interest include nano-scale electrode materials and alternative electrode structures. The reactants in the electrochemical reactions in a lithium-ion cell are the materials of the electrodes, both of which are compounds containing lithium atoms. Although many thousands of different materials have been investigated for use in lithium-ion batteries, only
1560-462: A longer cycle life , and a longer calendar life . Also noteworthy is a dramatic improvement in lithium-ion battery properties after their market introduction in 1991: over the following 30 years, their volumetric energy density increased threefold while their cost dropped tenfold. There are at least 12 different chemistries of Li-ion batteries; see " List of battery types ." The invention and commercialization of Li-ion batteries may have had one of
1664-459: A month later, Gigafactory Nevada produced the 10 millionth Tesla drive unit as counted from all of Tesla's factories. According to the electric car website Teslarati , the two statistics together imply that Tesla makes most of its drive units at Gigafactory Nevada. Panasonic makes the battery cells at the Gigafactory with the new form factor ' 2170 ', jointly designed and engineered by Tesla and Panasonic and subsequently updated. They are larger than
1768-424: A non-aqueous electrolyte is typically used, and a sealed container rigidly excludes moisture from the battery pack. The non-aqueous electrolyte is typically a mixture of organic carbonates such as ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate containing complexes of lithium ions. Ethylene carbonate is essential for making solid electrolyte interphase on the carbon anode, but since it is solid at room temperature,
1872-598: A planned total investment of about $ 1.6 billion by the company to equip the factory to full capacity. However, after the number of Model 3 reservations became known in April 2016, Panasonic moved production plans forward and announced a bond sale for $ 3.86 billion, most of it to be invested in Gigafactory. Tesla initially considered several sites, but northern Nevada was not one of them. A manager at Reno–Tahoe International Airport offered some of its 3,000 available acres at Reno Stead Airport , and persuaded TRIC owner to split
1976-449: A polymer gel as an electrolyte), a lithium cobalt oxide ( LiCoO 2 ) cathode material, and a graphite anode, which together offer high energy density. Lithium iron phosphate ( LiFePO 4 ), lithium manganese oxide ( LiMn 2 O 4 spinel , or Li 2 MnO 3 -based lithium-rich layered materials, LMR-NMC), and lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide ( LiNiMnCoO 2 or NMC) may offer longer life and
2080-825: A problem, for example. The body assembly line uses diode lasers . VW announced it would seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for the complex. In November 2011, VW announced that the 2012 model of the Passat was named the 2012 Motor Trend Car of the Year . In December 2011, the Assembly Plant became the first auto plant in the world to get the LEED platinum certification. A 9.5 megawatt solar park supplies 13 GWh of electricity per year; 12% of plant consumption. The Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant
2184-446: A process called insertion ( intercalation ) or extraction ( deintercalation ), respectively. As the lithium ions "rock" back and forth between the two electrodes, these batteries are also known as "rocking-chair batteries" or "swing batteries" (a term given by some European industries). The following equations exemplify the chemistry (left to right: discharging, right to left: charging). The negative electrode half-reaction for
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#17327875288522288-507: A production line for the Tesla Semi and add additional battery manufacturing capacity. The new area will build the company's latest 4680 battery cells. The facility will be capable of building 100 GWh of batteries annually, enough for 1.5 million light duty vehicles. In March 2023, the state of Nevada approved a new package of tax incentives for Tesla worth more than $ 330 million, in exchange for Tesla investing $ 3.6 billion over 10 years in
2392-529: A range of alternative materials, replaced TiS 2 with lithium cobalt oxide ( LiCoO 2 , or LCO), which has a similar layered structure but offers a higher voltage and is much more stable in air. This material would later be used in the first commercial Li-ion battery, although it did not, on its own, resolve the persistent issue of flammability. These early attempts to develop rechargeable Li-ion batteries used lithium metal anodes, which were ultimately abandoned due to safety concerns, as lithium metal
2496-430: A solid organic electrolyte, polyethylene oxide , which was more stable. In 1985, Akira Yoshino at Asahi Kasei Corporation discovered that petroleum coke , a less graphitized form of carbon, can reversibly intercalate Li-ions at a low potential of ~0.5 V relative to Li+ /Li without structural degradation. Its structural stability originates from its amorphous carbon regions, which serving as covalent joints to pin
2600-541: A temperature range of 5 to 45 °C (41 to 113 °F). Charging should be performed within this temperature range. At temperatures from 0 to 5 °C charging is possible, but the charge current should be reduced. During a low-temperature (under 0 °C) charge, the slight temperature rise above ambient due to the internal cell resistance is beneficial. High temperatures during charging may lead to battery degradation and charging at temperatures above 45 °C will degrade battery performance, whereas at lower temperatures
2704-523: A theoretical capacity of 1339 coulombs per gram (372 mAh/g). The positive electrode is generally one of three materials: a layered oxide (such as lithium cobalt oxide ), a polyanion (such as lithium iron phosphate ) or a spinel (such as lithium manganese oxide ). More experimental materials include graphene -containing electrodes, although these remain far from commercially viable due to their high cost. Lithium reacts vigorously with water to form lithium hydroxide (LiOH) and hydrogen gas. Thus,
2808-408: A theoretical capacity of 35 gigawatt-hours per year but utilization levels have resulted in a 24 gigawatt-hour output, according to Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga. Elon Musk announced at the 2021 Shareholder Meeting that Tesla will aim to increase the production capacity at both Giga Nevada and Fremont Factory by 50% in the next couple of years. In August 2018, Karl Hansen, a former member of
2912-515: A very small number are commercially usable. All commercial Li-ion cells use intercalation compounds as active materials. The negative electrode is usually graphite , although silicon is often mixed in to increase the capacity. The electrolyte is usually lithium hexafluorophosphate , dissolved in a mixture of organic carbonates . A number of different materials are used for the positive electrode, such as LiCoO 2 , LiFePO 4 , and lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides . During cell discharge
3016-440: Is a CuF 2 /Li battery developed by NASA in 1965. The breakthrough that produced the earliest form of the modern Li-ion battery was made by British chemist M. Stanley Whittingham in 1974, who first used titanium disulfide ( TiS 2 ) as a cathode material, which has a layered structure that can take in lithium ions without significant changes to its crystal structure . Exxon tried to commercialize this battery in
3120-417: Is a bit more than the heat of combustion of gasoline but does not consider the other materials that go into a lithium battery and that make lithium batteries many times heavier per unit of energy. Note that the cell voltages involved in these reactions are larger than the potential at which an aqueous solutions would electrolyze . During discharge, lithium ions ( Li ) carry the current within
3224-747: Is an American automobile assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee . The plant was formally announced in July 2008 and was formally inaugurated in May 2011. Production began in April 2011 with the model year 2012 Passat B7 (initially called the Passat NMS (New Midsize Sedan) ), tailored to the US market, with a projected annual production of 150,000 cars. Passat production ended in December, 2021. Production of
Gigafactory Nevada - Misplaced Pages Continue
3328-559: Is constructed on a 1,400 acres (6 km ) parcel of the 6,000-acre (24 km ) Enterprise South Industrial Park in eastern Chattanooga. The industrial park comprises land that was once an ammunition plant known as the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant (VAAP), which manufactured up to 30,000,000 pounds (14,000 t) of TNT (trinitrotoluene) per month during World War II , the Korean War , and
3432-504: Is intended to gradually provide cradle-to-cradle handling of batteries, from raw material over components to finished products, and recycling old batteries into new. Cells constitute most of the value creation, whereas packing and electronics are minor parts. Tesla views production as more important than products, and assigns more engineers to developing production equipment than to developing products. On June 5 2024, Gigafactory Nevada produced its 5 millionth drive unit. On July 31 2024,
3536-413: Is less common, more expensive, but more efficient, returning excess energy to other cells (or the entire pack) via a DC-DC converter or other circuitry. Balancing most often occurs during the constant voltage stage of charging, switching between charge modes until complete. The pack is usually fully charged only when balancing is complete, as even a single cell group lower in charge than the rest will limit
3640-478: Is not designed to manufacture large vehicles.> The factory includes 383 robots in the body shop, which is approximately 77 percent automated. There are 4,730 weld spots and 292 welding guns. Output is about 31 cars per hour. The plant is organized with its major process areas – body shop, main assembly, and paint shop – in a stacked configuration with major checkpoints arranged in a concentric-circle layout – to eliminate long walks between factory areas, to investigate
3744-462: Is recommended to be initiated when voltage goes below 4.05 V/cell. Failure to follow current and voltage limitations can result in an explosion. Charging temperature limits for Li-ion are stricter than the operating limits. Lithium-ion chemistry performs well at elevated temperatures but prolonged exposure to heat reduces battery life. Li‑ion batteries offer good charging performance at cooler temperatures and may even allow "fast-charging" within
3848-410: Is ultrasonically welded to the aluminium current collector. Other salts like lithium perchlorate ( LiClO 4 ), lithium tetrafluoroborate ( LiBF 4 ), and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ( LiC 2 F 6 NO 4 S 2 ) are frequently used in research in tab-less coin cells , but are not usable in larger format cells, often because they are not compatible with
3952-537: Is unstable and prone to dendrite formation, which can cause short-circuiting . The eventual solution was to use an intercalation anode, similar to that used for the cathode, which prevents the formation of lithium metal during battery charging. The first to demonstrate lithium ion reversible intercalation into graphite anodes was Jürgen Otto Besenhard in 1974. Besenhard used organic solvents such as carbonates, however these solvents decomposed rapidly providing short battery cycle life. Later, in 1980, Rachid Yazami used
4056-408: Is used for heating, and a $ 6.8 million hot water storage tank with 10 million gallons is used to balance heat. In 2014 Navigant estimated 100 MW electricity delivery which could be supplied (on average) by nearby wind turbines and roof solar panels, whereas a former Tesla logistics manager in 2016 estimated 300 MW to produce 35 GWh of battery capacity per year. Tesla installed solar panels on
4160-528: The 10th largest in the US . The $ 725M sales tax abatement was particularly important, as 5 other states charge no sales tax at all, and 34 states (including Arizona and Texas) don't charge sales tax on manufacturing equipment. With a tax base of $ 1.9 billion and an incentive package of $ 1.25 billion, the projected result was calculated as a tax-per-abatement ratio of 1.52. For 2014–2018, tax abatements were $ 240 million. The nearby data centers from Apple Inc. and Switch also received incentives. Nevada estimates
4264-534: The 18650 cells used in the Model S and Model X automobiles. While the new cells were originally expected to be at least 20 mm in diameter and 70 mm in length, revised specifications for the optimized form factor are 21 mm (0.83 in) by 70 mm (2.8 in). Tesla thus refers to it as the '21–70' or '2170' whereas Samsung refers to the size as '21700'. Panasonic was expected to begin cell production in 2016, and continue for at least 10 years. Among
Gigafactory Nevada - Misplaced Pages Continue
4368-552: The Tesla Powerwall home energy storage device in January 2016 using battery cells produced elsewhere and began mass production of cells in January 2017. The grand opening event was held on July 29, 2016. The factory has been designed to become entirely energy self-reliant. Tesla intends to power the structure through a combination of on-site solar, wind and geo-thermal sources. According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk , one hundred factories like Giga Nevada would be necessary to transition
4472-561: The Tesla Semi . It is the largest (by land area) and the first Tesla Gigafactory in the world. If fully built out, the building will have the largest footprint in the world . The facility is located at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center (TRIC) and employed around 7,000 people at the end of 2018, with a goal of hiring thousands more with a total of nearly 10,000 statewide. The factory started limited production of
4576-647: The Vietnam War . The Volkswagen facility is near a remaining storage area containing storage bunkers once used to store TNT. The site features nearby hiking, biking and walking trails, picnic areas, and overlooks, known as the Enterprise South Nature Park. The Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant includes a body shop, paint shop, assembly facility, a Market Delivery Options (MDO) building, technical testing center, employee training facility with classrooms, an apprentice-training school and
4680-544: The Volkswagen Atlas commenced in 2017. Production of the electric Volkswagen ID.4 commenced July 26, 2022. The local plant, building a localized product, allows Volkswagen to avoid exchange rate fluctuations, monitor US automotive market trends, and potentially reduce vulnerability to extended supply chain issues. At its outset, Chattanooga Assembly manufactured 85% of the Passat's content, and about 85% of
4784-401: The constant current phase, the charger applies a constant current to the battery at a steadily increasing voltage, until the top-of-charge voltage limit per cell is reached. During the balance phase, the charger/battery reduces the charging current (or cycles the charging on and off to reduce the average current) while the state of charge of individual cells is brought to the same level by
4888-733: The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for the development of lithium-ion batteries". Jeff Dahn received the ECS Battery Division Technology Award (2011) and the Yeager award from the International Battery Materials Association (2016). In April 2023, CATL announced that it would begin scaled-up production of its semi-solid condensed matter battery that produces a then record 500 Wh/kg . They use electrodes made from
4992-476: The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their contributions to the development of lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries can be a safety hazard if not properly engineered and manufactured because they have flammable electrolytes that, if damaged or incorrectly charged, can lead to explosions and fires. Much progress has been made in the development and manufacturing of safe lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion solid-state batteries are being developed to eliminate
5096-745: The Chattanooga Assembly Plant have been exported to Mexico , Canada , South Korea , and the Middle East . The Chattanooga plant opened 23 years after the closing of the Westmoreland Assembly Plant near New Stanton, Pennsylvania , in 1988. The Westmoreland plant, which began operation in 1978, had been characterized by labor unrest and suffered from poor networking between Westmoreland and Volkswagen headquarters in then- West Germany . The entire facility includes approximately 45 acres (180,000 m ), and
5200-426: The Gigafactory 1 is not enough to supply demand. In May 2017 at a TED Talk, Elon Musk stated his intention to announce three or four new Gigafactory sites to manufacture both batteries and complete cars. Prior to the building of more gigafactories, Tesla may expand and potentially double the size of Gigafactory 1. In June 2015, Tesla announced it exercised its option to buy 1,864 acres (754 hectares) of land adjacent to
5304-455: The Gigafactory described how half a million of battery cells per day were scrapped because of production defects related to carelessness, lack of respect for operating procedures, and the overall pressure to increase output. At the end of 2019, Panasonic had 3000 US workers and 200 Japanese technicians at Gigafactory 1, and quality had improved to increase production to a rate of 30 GWh/year on the same equipment. Panasonic occupies more than half of
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#17327875288525408-497: The Gigafactory under strict conditions and found that 14% of the final building area had been completed. By April 2016 there were around 600 construction workers. Depending on season and building stage, the number of construction workers has fluctuated between 250 and 1,800. On June 13, 2016, Tesla filed for a $ 63m expansion into section E on the site. By September 2016, the building had grown to 1.9 million sq ft (0.2 million m) with further areas under construction. As of January 2017
5512-477: The State of Nevada's incentive package estimated to be worth $ 1.287 billion. Other location reasons were rail access, Nevada allowing direct sales of Tesla vehicles , and low air humidity. Additionally, the owners of TRIC agreed to give Tesla 1,000 acres for free, about 35% of the 2,900 acres the company needed. The incentives package included $ 195 million in transferable tax credits depending on Tesla's investment in
5616-434: The aluminium current collector. Copper (with a spot-welded nickel tab) is used as the current collector at the negative electrode. Current collector design and surface treatments may take various forms: foil, mesh, foam (dealloyed), etched (wholly or selectively), and coated (with various materials) to improve electrical characteristics. Depending on materials choices, the voltage , energy density , life, and safety of
5720-416: The area of non-flammable electrolytes as a pathway to increased safety based on the flammability and volatility of the organic solvents used in the typical electrolyte. Strategies include aqueous lithium-ion batteries , ceramic solid electrolytes, polymer electrolytes, ionic liquids, and heavily fluorinated systems. Research on rechargeable Li-ion batteries dates to the 1960s; one of the earliest examples
5824-399: The battery cell from the negative to the positive electrode, through the non- aqueous electrolyte and separator diaphragm. During charging, an external electrical power source applies an over-voltage (a voltage greater than the cell's own voltage) to the cell, forcing electrons to flow from the positive to the negative electrode. The lithium ions also migrate (through the electrolyte) from
5928-438: The bill for a private jet to fly Tesla people to the area. They tried several times, and Tesla eventually came to TRIC and was pleased by the speed of regulatory work . Tax abatements and credits for Gigafactory until year 2034 At least five states competed to attract Gigafactory by offering tax abatements, tax credits, cash grants or other incentives: California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas. San Antonio, Texas
6032-509: The building's footprint was 1.9 million sq ft (0.2 million m) with 4.9 million sq ft (0.5 million m) of usable area across several floors. A combined permit value of $ 322m was registered in July 2016, and $ 1.2b in July 2017. Solar panels were added to the roof, but other than that, there has been no further external construction on the Nevada Gigafactory 1, although Tesla and Panasonic use nearby warehouses. Gigafactory and
6136-479: The choice to the states of Michigan, Alabama, and Tennessee. The Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant has attracted international attention after it was proposed that employees elect a union, in order to implement a work council that has co-determination, consultation and participation rights with management. The United Auto Workers attempted unsuccessfully to unionize the Chattanooga plant in 2014. This
6240-554: The company $ 17.6 million. Tesla owns the land and building, and leases parts of the building to several suppliers. The Gigafactory is operated by a management team under executive Jens Peter Clausen, formerly a LEGO executive, who is VP of Gigafactory at Tesla. By April 2016 Gigafactory had 317 Tesla employees and 52 by Panasonic, most of them from Nevada, and 850 by December 2016. In 2017, 3,249 employees were registered, and by December 2018, 7,000 people worked at Giga Nevada, increasing to 7,557 by June 2019, mostly Nevadans. The factory
6344-551: The company's security team, filed a whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission . In the complaint, he alleged that Tesla suppressed an internal investigation into various criminal activities that occurred at Giga Nevada during his tenure, including the alleged theft of $ 37 million worth of raw materials. He also stated that he submitted corroborating evidence of a connection between "a certain Tesla employee at
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#17327875288526448-428: The construction impact at $ 2.4 billion and the economic impact from the project at $ 100 billion over two decades ($ 5 billion/year, of which $ 353–378 million are wages) yielding $ 57 million in state and local taxes. Some economists said that number was "deeply flawed," for instance, it counted every Tesla employee as if they would otherwise have been unemployed and made no allowance for increased government spending to serve
6552-566: The content of the North American Passat comes from North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) countries. The company initially had plans for an expansion that would increase capacity to 592,000 vehicles a year. Labor costs at the Tennessee plant, including wages and benefits, have been estimated to average $ 27 an hour, below those of Ford , GM , Chrysler , and some foreign automakers. As of late 2012, cars manufactured at
6656-451: The earnings call (in May 2015), Elon said they aren't yet committing to this but that they are considering increasing the size of the gigafactory here by 50 to 100 percent." Early estimates from 2014 projected that the factory would employ approximately 6,500 people by 2022, requiring at least half of them to be Nevadans. Tax abatements for Gigafactory expansion starting in 2023: Tesla has announced plans to expand Gigafactory Nevada to add
6760-511: The entire battery's usable capacity to that of its own. Balancing can last hours or even days, depending on the magnitude of the imbalance in the battery. During the constant voltage phase, the charger applies a voltage equal to the maximum cell voltage times the number of cells in series to the battery, as the current gradually declines towards 0, until the current is below a set threshold of about 3% of initial constant charge current. Periodic topping charge about once per 500 hours. Top charging
6864-433: The expansion project. The tax incentive package was structured similarly to the earlier package. Tesla will receive a 10-year full abatement of personal and real property taxes, expected to be worth $ 246 million. The company will pay a reduced sales tax of 5.35% for 20 years, a savings of $ 66.6 million, largely on equipment purchase costs. Finally, the automaker will receive a 10-year full abatement of its business tax, saving
6968-419: The external circuit toward the cathode where they recombine with the cathode material in a reduction half-reaction. The electrolyte provides a conductive medium for lithium ions but does not partake in the electrochemical reaction. The reactions during discharge lower the chemical potential of the cell, so discharging transfers energy from the cell to wherever the electric current dissipates its energy, mostly in
7072-481: The external circuit. During charging these reactions and transports go in the opposite direction: electrons move from the positive electrode to the negative electrode through the external circuit. To charge the cell the external circuit has to provide electrical energy. This energy is then stored as chemical energy in the cell (with some loss, e. g., due to coulombic efficiency lower than 1). Both electrodes allow lithium ions to move in and out of their structures with
7176-476: The facility, with local, state, and federal governments subsidizing the project with an estimated $ 577 million in incentives. Alabama had offered Volkswagen incentives of $ 385 million, the most the state had ever offered for an auto project. Mississippi offered incentives totaling $ 294 million to Toyota in 2007 for an assembly plant at Blue Springs. Kia received about $ 324 million in incentives from Georgia. Volkswagen had researched 398 possible sites before narrowing
7280-526: The factory, operating 13 cell lines. In early 2021, Panasonic had its first annual profit in Gigafactory. Panasonic operates a warehouse in TRIC, and is making a research&education facility in the city of Reno. By 2022, Panasonic had shipped more than 6 billion cells from Gigafactory. In October 2015, Tesla moved the Tesla Powerwall and Powerpack production from its Fremont factory to the Gigafactory, using 18650 cells. The Tesla Powerwall 1 had been produced in
7384-401: The finished portion since the third quarter of 2015. For battery packs, 2170-cells are transferred on autonomous vehicles from Panasonic to Tesla, where workers and robots assemble cells into packs using bandoliers, cooled by tubes made onsite by Valeo. Drive units (motor and gearbox) for Model 3 are made with 90% automation. The Tesla Semi is also assembled at the gigafactory. As of 2014,
7488-864: The flammable electrolyte. Improperly recycled batteries can create toxic waste, especially from toxic metals, and are at risk of fire. Moreover, both lithium and other key strategic minerals used in batteries have significant issues at extraction, with lithium being water intensive in often arid regions and other minerals used in some Li-ion chemistries potentially being conflict minerals such as cobalt . Both environmental issues have encouraged some researchers to improve mineral efficiency and find alternatives such as Lithium iron phosphate lithium-ion chemistries or non-lithium-based battery chemistries like iron-air batteries . Research areas for lithium-ion batteries include extending lifetime, increasing energy density, improving safety, reducing cost, and increasing charging speed, among others. Research has been under way in
7592-407: The gigafactory companies (now with 7,700 employees) had invested a combined $ 4.9 billion ($ 3b by Tesla, $ 1.7b by Panasonic, and $ 100m by H&T plus some equipment). This qualified the companies for the full tax credit amount of $ 195 million which were repurposed from other tax credit programs, including movie production incentives , keeping Nevada State tax programs neutral. The development surpassed
7696-470: The graphite is The positive electrode half-reaction in the lithium-doped cobalt oxide substrate is The full reaction being The overall reaction has its limits. Overdischarging supersaturates lithium cobalt oxide , leading to the production of lithium oxide , possibly by the following irreversible reaction: Overcharging up to 5.2 volts leads to the synthesis of cobalt (IV) oxide, as evidenced by x-ray diffraction : The transition metal in
7800-562: The greatest impacts of all technologies in human history , as recognized by the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry . More specifically, Li-ion batteries enabled portable consumer electronics , laptop computers , cellular phones , and electric cars , or what has been called the e-mobility revolution. It also sees significant use for grid-scale energy storage as well as military and aerospace applications. Lithium-ion cells can be manufactured to optimize energy or power density. Handheld electronics mostly use lithium polymer batteries (with
7904-406: The influx of thousands of local residents. The state estimated the factory would create a tax base of $ 1.9 billion over 20 years. The regional impact is estimated to be $ 3.5 billion per year. Other large companies chose to create activity in the area partly due to Gigafactory. Tesla agreed to pay $ 7.5M per year for 5 years ($ 37.5M) to the school system. The 6-mile Nevada State Route 439 /USA Parkway
8008-443: The internal resistance of the battery may increase, resulting in slower charging and thus longer charging times. Batteries gradually self-discharge even if not connected and delivering current. Li-ion rechargeable batteries have a self-discharge rate typically stated by manufacturers to be 1.5–2% per month. The rate increases with temperature and state of charge. A 2004 study found that for most cycling conditions self-discharge
8112-564: The late 1970s, but found the synthesis expensive and complex, as TiS 2 is sensitive to moisture and releases toxic H 2 S gas on contact with water. More prohibitively, the batteries were also prone to spontaneously catch fire due to the presence of metallic lithium in the cells. For this, and other reasons, Exxon discontinued the development of Whittingham's lithium-titanium disulfide battery. In 1980, working in separate groups Ned A. Godshall et al., and, shortly thereafter, Koichi Mizushima and John B. Goodenough , after testing
8216-435: The layers together. Although it has a lower capacity compared to graphite (~Li0.5C6, 186 mAh g–1), it became the first commercial intercalation anode for Li-ion batteries owing to its cycling stability. In 1987, Yoshino patented what would become the first commercial lithium-ion battery using this anode. He used Goodenough's previously reported LiCoO 2 as the cathode and a carbonate ester -based electrolyte. The battery
8320-633: The lines were temporarily converted from storage (NMC) to vehicle (NCA) to increase supply for the Model 3. Tesla uses nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) lithium cells for stationary storage (Powerwall and Powerpack), and nickel cobalt aluminium (NCA) lithium cells for vehicles. The cell components are then encased in Nickel-plated steel cans made by Heitkamp & Thumann inside GF1, using 10,000 tons per year. Panasonic delivered three million battery cells daily to Tesla in 2018. An April 2019 report quoting former and current employees at Panasonic's side of
8424-526: The machines spotted at the opening in July 2016 were presses and rollers for cathodes . Gigafactory began mass production of 2170 cells in January 2017. Only Panasonic cells are to be used in the US-made Model 3, and Tesla uses 21–70 format for Model 3 and Powerwall/Powerpack. Panasonic owns some of the cell production equipment in an area not accessible to non-Panasonic employees. By December 2018, Panasonic operated 11 cell production lines. Some of
8528-428: The negative electrode is the anode and the positive electrode the cathode : electrons flow from the anode to the cathode through the external circuit. An oxidation half-reaction at the anode produces positively charged lithium ions and negatively charged electrons. The oxidation half-reaction may also produce uncharged material that remains at the anode. Lithium ions move through the electrolyte; electrons move through
8632-551: The original 1,000-acre (400 ha) Gigafactory site. According to Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson, "The purchase gives us the opportunity for future growth." In Tesla's dealings with the state of Nevada expanding the size was always an option should the company choose to do so, said Steve Hill, director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development. "Tesla had said that the factory will be up to 10 million square feet [1 million square meters] in one or two stories," Hill said. "On
8736-452: The original 2014 plan for investments and 6,500 employees. Numbers for construction were $ 2 billion and 17,000 workers. The incentive package also includes 20 years free from sales tax and 10 years free from property tax , depending on Tesla's ability to meet performance expectations (like investing $ 3.5 billion in Nevada). By 2034, this package could accumulate to a value of $ 1.25 billion;
8840-399: The other large companies affect the local area by increased needs in transportation (SR 439) and housing ; house prices increased by 17% in 2015 from half of the peak in the previous 2008 building bubble . Local businesses were wary of building new homes, which is being done mostly by out-of-state companies. HVAC equipment is located "between the floors rather than on walls and ceilings of
8944-410: The positive electrode, cobalt ( Co ), is reduced from Co to Co during discharge, and oxidized from Co to Co during charge. The cell's energy is equal to the voltage times the charge. Each gram of lithium represents Faraday's constant /6.941, or 13,901 coulombs. At 3 V, this gives 41.7 kJ per gram of lithium, or 11.6 kWh per kilogram of lithium. This
9048-492: The positive to the negative electrode where they become embedded in the porous electrode material in a process known as intercalation . Energy losses arising from electrical contact resistance at interfaces between electrode layers and at contacts with current collectors can be as high as 20% of the entire energy flow of batteries under typical operating conditions. The charging procedures for single Li-ion cells, and complete Li-ion batteries, are slightly different: During
9152-432: The powered circuit through two pieces of metal called current collectors. The negative and positive electrodes swap their electrochemical roles ( anode and cathode ) when the cell is charged. Despite this, in discussions of battery design the negative electrode of a rechargeable cell is often just called "the anode" and the positive electrode "the cathode". In its fully lithiated state of LiC 6 , graphite correlates to
9256-457: The presence of ethylene carbonate solvent (which is solid at room temperature and is mixed with other solvents to make a liquid). This represented the final innovation of the era that created the basic design of the modern lithium-ion battery. In 2010, global lithium-ion battery production capacity was 20 gigawatt-hours. By 2016, it was 28 GWh, with 16.4 GWh in China. Global production capacity
9360-420: The projected capacity of Gigafactory for 2020 was to have been 35 gigawatt-hours per year of cells as well as 50 gigawatt-hours per year (5.7 MW) of battery packs. Production could be equivalent of supplying 500,000 Tesla cars per year. When finished, the factory is planned to produce more lithium-ion batteries in a year than were produced in the entire world in 2013. As of May 2019, Gigafactory 1 has achieved
9464-484: The roof in early 2018, reaching over 3.2 MW by 2021, with a preliminary goal of 24 MW. If the factory is fully built, solar capacity could eventually reach 70 MW from 200,000 solar panels. Tesla works with a mining company to extract lithium 200 miles (320 km) to the southeast, at Silver Peak in Esmeralda County . They intend to process the underground brine water industrially over hours rather than
9568-495: The state and job creation, similar to the Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant deal and others. Tesla's investments earn them about $ 10 million in tax credits per quarter, and by July 2016 had sold these for $ 20 million cash. At the end of 2016, Tesla and Panasonic had 477 employees and 5,591 construction workers, mostly Nevada residents, and invested $ 1.1b earning $ 59m in tax credits. By 2019,
9672-503: The time and various alleged members of the Mexican drug cartel identified in the DEA report" that Tesla refused to accept. Separately, Hansen additionally claimed that Tesla installed “specialized router equipment within its Nevada Gigafactory designed to capture employee cell phone communications.” Following the complaint, Hansen went on to allege that Tesla fired him as an employee and then as
9776-470: The traditional way of letting the water evaporate from ponds over a year. Tesla had already started brush clearing and grading during the summer of 2014 (prior to official announcement in September; permit date was June 26), with vertical construction reported in January 2015. Tesla and its partners intend to complete the facility by 2018. On March 18, 2016, a group of journalists were allowed to visit
9880-469: The world to sustainable energy consumption without any increase in production density such as switching to a dry electrode coating process. Initial public mention of the gigafactory concept was made in November 2013, although Tesla's internal plans predated that; Tesla had investigated almost 100 sites. In July 2014, it was announced that Panasonic had reached a basic agreement with Tesla to invest in
9984-419: Was 767 GWh in 2020, with China accounting for 75%. Production in 2021 is estimated by various sources to be between 200 and 600 GWh, and predictions for 2023 range from 400 to 1,100 GWh. In 2012, John B. Goodenough , Rachid Yazami and Akira Yoshino received the 2012 IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies for developing the lithium-ion battery; Goodenough, Whittingham, and Yoshino were awarded
10088-630: Was assembled in the discharged state, which made it safer and cheaper to manufacture. In 1991, using Yoshino's design, Sony began producing and selling the world's first rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The following year, a joint venture between Toshiba and Asashi Kasei Co. also released a lithium-ion battery. Significant improvements in energy density were achieved in the 1990s by replacing Yoshino's soft carbon anode first with hard carbon and later with graphite. In 1990, Jeff Dahn and two colleagues at Dalhousie University (Canada) reported reversible intercalation of lithium ions into graphite in
10192-613: Was built by TRIC, and connects TRIC to Interstate 80 . Since 2004, the TRIC owners had planned to extend SR 439 south to U.S. Route 50 . In 2014, Nevada Department of Transportation advanced the otherwise dormant south extension. This improves traffic conditions for the many large logistics centres at TRIC and Gigafactory, bypassing Reno on the way to U.S. Route 50. In 2016, Tesla planned to ship batteries by rail to its car factory in Fremont , but rail tracks at Fremont were removed. A 2.5 mile rail right-of-way exists and could be built at
10296-575: Was defeated in a 712-626 vote. It was backed by Volkswagen and the IG Metall union in Germany to negotiate with management on day-to-day working matters at the plant. There was, however, considerable opposition from US business groups and Republican politicians. The UAW again attempted to unionize the plant in June 2019. This failed by a 52 to 48 percent margin. Unlike in 2014, Volkswagen management
10400-489: Was designed by the Nashville engineering and architecture firm SSOE , the firm Environmental Resources Management (ERM) for the environmental permitting process, and Alberici Constructors, Inc. for the construction management of the facility. The Port of Savannah , Georgia's Garden City Terminal handles imported auto parts in containers for the plant. Volkswagen invested approximately one billion U.S. dollars to construct
10504-478: Was estimated at 2% to 3%, and 2 –3% by 2016. By comparison, the self-discharge rate for NiMH batteries dropped, as of 2017, from up to 30% per month for previously common cells to about 0.08–0.33% per month for low self-discharge NiMH batteries, and is about 10% per month in NiCd batteries . Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant The Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant (or Chattanooga Operations LLC)
10608-470: Was not supportive of the union vote. On 6 February 2024, the UAW announced that over 50% of the 4,100 hourly workers at the plant have signed union membership cards . The VW union drive is happening shortly after UAW's successful strikes in 2023 at the " Big Three " automobile manufacturers Ford , General Motors and Stellantis . On 19 April, the plant's workers voted to unionize. In the historic election,
10712-484: Was primarily time-dependent; however, after several months of stand on open circuit or float charge, state-of-charge dependent losses became significant. The self-discharge rate did not increase monotonically with state-of-charge, but dropped somewhat at intermediate states of charge. Self-discharge rates may increase as batteries age. In 1999, self-discharge per month was measured at 8% at 21 °C, 15% at 40 °C, 31% at 60 °C. By 2007, monthly self-discharge rate
10816-410: Was seen as an early leader for offering bigger incentives and for being a state with a sales tax exemption on manufacturing equipment purchases. Overall, states with favorable sales tax regulations were seen as topping the list of preferred sites. After sticky negotiations, Tesla chose the TRIC as the location of the Gigafactory mainly due to the speed of construction and regulatory work in the state and
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