Tech Trend 247

Tesla let the press into its giant new battery-producing plant, called the Gigafactory, for the first time Friday. 

Experts told Wired the factory will be necessary to power Musk's dream fleet of EVs and hybrids (the company's goal is 500,000 cars a year). Currently, Tesla's battery production is outsourced to Asia, a costly and slower option. The new domestic factory, however, is expected to cut costs by 30 percent and is a one-hour plane ride away from the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, California. The 3,200-acre plant is located in Reno, Nevada.

Musk also told the BBC he wants to see more of these soon, "in Europe, in India, in China ... ultimately, wherever there is a huge amount of demand for the end product."

The factory was built in collaboration with Panasonic, which invested $1.6 billion. Robots will be responsible for most of the assembly inside the plant, streamlining Tesla's manufacturing process. 

They will be building every part of the electric vehicles, including the solar panels to power that production. Panasonic will bring the necessary raw materials, like lithium, by rail.

As of now, the Gigafactory is about 14 percent completed, but is expected to produce 35GWh of battery power by 2018, more than the combined global production in 2014, according to the BBC. 

Only a few select news outlets have gotten a peek so far, but the general impression remains similar. It's very big, it's very powerful and could get even more so: Wired reports Tesla has purchased another 1,864 acres near their plot.