Tesla Files Application For EV Battery Production In Fremont, California

In a report published a few days ago, Tesla revealed its intention to start manufacturing batteries at the original Fremont-California plant.

The gigantic demand for electric vehicles, to which Tesla - and in fact many other brands - are subjected, has led the company to submit an application for manufacturing batteries at its Fremont - California plant. Said request was submitted on August 30, 2022, according to the report published by Teslarati. At the moment there is no official response from State authorities, although all indications suggest that Tesla will soon expand its factory to accommodate this new manufacturing line.

Tesla is currently receiving batteries for its electric models from many manufacturing outlets; in fact, the company itself also manufactures its own batteries in the Nevada plant – not far away from Fremont - as well as at the Texas Gigafactory However this may not be enough to meet the huge demand for electric cars, and so they are already looking for a solution by expanding their Fremont factory.

According to what was published in Teslarati, the project to expand the manufacturing lines in Fremont would have an investment valued at "only" 1.5 million dollars. The submitted project comes under the following application identified as “Tesla F21-0391-A CTA Battery B-Build” and under the following premises: “New line of battery manufacturing equipment on the second floor of the main assembly building. This permit application relates to a portion of the line module".

The published report also speaks about a second department with an investment cost of 1.3 million dollars, and which would be used as some kind of control office and storage area for already assembled battery products and components, as well as other elements related to electric vehicles.

Rumors of an expansion of the Fremont plant are actually not surprising; Elon Musk himself has announced on several occasions that this factory is one of the most likely to get expanded. This is the original plant of the company and where the manufacturing of basically all the models so far marketed by the brand has taken place; in addition to those that are yet to come, such as the Tesla Semi or the Tesla Cybertruck, which are already rumored to very likely also take place at this same location. A few days ago the plant celebrated its 2 millionth model produced there.

Tesla already has plans to expand even further its production of electric cars on a yearly basis; the Austin company is firmly heading towards passing the psychological barrier of 2 million electric vehicles produced for this year 2022, which would double the figures reached back in 2021; and in fact, by next year – 2023 – Tesla is already thinking of actually exceeding the numbers to be reached this year.

In this context it is absolutely reasonable that the company is actively seeking to expand its battery manufacturing margins to supply its own electric vehicles. Panasonic is currently its main partner in the development and manufacture of these components, and has actually also been responsible for much of the progress in the promised 4680 battery cells.

Source: teslarati

All images courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.