Tesla Inc. said it plans to invest $3.6 billion in two new factories to build electric vehicle batteries and its all-electric Semi heavy-duty truck near an existing production site in Reno, Nev.
The new battery operation will make Tesla’s latest so-called 4680 cells with capacity for use in as many as 2 million vehicles a year, Tesla said in a statement Tuesday on its website. It will also build a “high-volume” facility for its Semi which debuted late last year, but the company did not provide estimated production numbers.
Tesla’s sprawling factory in the region already makes electric motors and battery packs, as well as energy storage products like the home battery known as the “Powerwall.” It broke ground on the so-called gigafactory in June 2014.
Elon Musk’s company handed over the first Semi trucks to PepsiCo last month. Tesla has said it aims to produce 50,000 Semis for North America in 2024.
“It will create more than 3,000 good-paying jobs in Nevada helping America lead in clean energy manufacturing, strengthening our energy security, and ultimately lowering costs for families,” Mitch Landrieu, a senior White House advisor, said in a statement.
