US electric-automaker Tesla Motors Inc is to build the world’s largest lithium-ion battery plant in Nevada, the state’s governor announced on Thursday, unveiling plans for the US$5 billion “Gigafactory.”
The plant, plans for which were announced in July with Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Corp, is set to bring nearly US$100 billion into Nevada’s economy over the next 20 years, he said.
It would employ 6,500 workers directly and another 16,000 indirectly, and add about 4 percent to the state’s GDP, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval said, in what he called a “historic day” for the US state.
“[The deal with Tesla] will change Nevada forever and set in motion the creation of thousands of new jobs and stream billions of dollars into our economy,” he said, at a ceremony with Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk.
“No need to say that this is a significant, historic day for all of us,” Sandoval added, while saying that the deal is subject to legislative review and approval.
When completed, he said, the plant would be the “world’s largest and most-advanced battery factory.”
Nevada was in competition with four other states bidding to host the factory: California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
The state has pledged a tax incentive package worth some US$1.25 billion over 20 years, according to the local Reno Gazette-Journal newspaper.
“This is a Nevada victory,” said Sandoval, who did not comment on tax incentives. “We knew that this was an opportunity that we had to fight for.”
Tesla plans to run operations at the Nevada plant while its Japanese partner is to make battery cells destined for the plant and invest in equipment and machinery, according to a joint statement released at that time.
Japanese media previously reported that Panasonic would invest as much as ￥30 billion (US$290 million) in the plant.
While Tesla produces relatively few vehicles, it has become a star in the sector due to keen demand and a reputation for high quality.
A surge in its share price over the past year has pushed its value over US$27 billion.
Tesla’s Model S sells for around US$75,000, but it is working on a less expensive Model X that is expected to garner wider appeal.
In July Panasonic and Tesla said the plant should drive down the cost of batteries and eventually help popularize electric vehicles. The Gigafactory is to produce battery cells, modules and packs for Tesla’s electric vehicles.
“[It should] enable a continuous reduction in the cost of long-range battery packs in parallel with manufacturing at the volumes required to enable Tesla to meet its goal of advancing mass market electric vehicles,” the joint statement said.
PERSISTENT RUMORS: Nvidia’s CEO said the firm is not in talks to sell AI chips to China, but he would welcome a change in US policy barring the activity Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company is not in discussions to sell its Blackwell artificial intelligence (AI) chips to Chinese firms, waving off speculation it is trying to engineer a return to the world’s largest semiconductor market. Huang, who arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of meetings with longtime partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), took the opportunity to clarify recent comments about the US-China AI race. The Nvidia head caused a stir in an interview this week with the Financial Times, in which he was quoted as saying “China will win” the AI race. Huang yesterday said
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
The Chinese government has issued guidance requiring new data center projects that have received any state funds to only use domestically made artificial intelligence (AI) chips, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In recent weeks, Chinese regulatory authorities have ordered such data centers that are less than 30 percent complete to remove all installed foreign chips, or cancel plans to purchase them, while projects in a more advanced stage would be decided on a case-by-case basis, the sources said. The move could represent one of China’s most aggressive steps yet to eliminate foreign technology from its critical infrastructure amid a
MORE WEIGHT: The national weighting was raised in one index while holding steady in two others, while several companies rose or fell in prominence MSCI Inc, a global index provider, has raised Taiwan’s weighting in one of its major indices and left the country’s weighting unchanged in two other indices after a regular index review. In a statement released on Thursday, MSCI said it has upgraded Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country World Index by 0.02 percentage points to 2.25 percent, while maintaining the weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the most closely watched by foreign institutional investors, at 20.46 percent. Additionally, the index provider has left Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index unchanged at 23.15 percent. The latest index adjustments are to
RSS