Tesla Motors Inc. announced on Feb. 19 it will be developing a large battery production factory called the Tesla Giga factory.
Tesla Motors' CEO Elon Musk said the Giga Factory will focus on producing electric car batteries, and further details of the plan will be revealed this week, according to USA Today.
The announcement came after Tesla's report of a strong fourth quarter revenue of $761.3 million, ValueWalk reported. Tesla's report included a 2014 delivery guidance of 35k Model S', as well as the company meeting its gross margin.
Tesla sent a letter to shareholders about the Giga factory currently being worked on, Greentech Media reported.
"Very shortly, we will be ready to share more information about the Tesla Giga factory," Tesla said. "This will allow us to achieve a major reduction in the cost of our battery packs and accelerate the pace of battery innovation. Working in partnership with our suppliers, we plan to integrate precursor material, cell, module and pack production into one facility. With this facility, we feel highly confident of being able to create a compelling and affordable electric car in approximately three years. This will allow us to address the solar power industry's need for a massive volume of stationary battery packs."
Tesla said it plans to increase the number of Model S cars shipped to 35,000 cars in 2014, according to Gigaom. In order to meet this goal, Tesla must increase its Model S production from 600 per week to 1,000 per week by the end of 2014. While the Gigi factory will help meet this goal, shipments to Europe and Asia will also help, with Tesla saying it plans to ship its first Model S to China in the Spring.
Tesla said the Giga factory would be able to supply batteries to other carmakers for their uses, USA Today reported. SolarCity, a company of which Musk is also chairman, announced it will sell Tesla battery packs to companies for emergency backup power storage.
Tesla said it is developing a more mainstream electric car for sale in the future, according to USA Today. In order to make future models, Tesla needs to lower battery costs and increase supply.
