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Electric Vehicle Factories are The Hottest Trend Right Now

We talk about factories a lot. Usually when we write about them, it’s in regards to Tesla adding another Giga- here, or a Tera- there, but sometime, other manufacturers develop facilities to manufacture electric vehicles. This week, there are some notable car companies throwing their hats in the ring.

First, Porsche have started an addition to their factory in Leipzig, Germany. The plant will see a gigantic €600 million investment towards a new body shop. This addition, while not a whole factory, will be to accommodate the all-electric Macan.

Over the past few weeks, we have reached some important milestones on our way to becoming an electromobility site. The period of time between now and the start of production of the next Macan generation is certainly going to be a challenge. However, it is also an opportunity to future-proof the plant and to prove ourselves as a team.

The 75,500 square meter, or 812,675 square foot, build-out will join the most powerful charging station in Europe, a 7-Megawatt beast, which Porsche added to Leipzig after introduction of the Taycan. The Chairman of Porsche Leipzig’s executive board, Gerd Rupp, spoke about his excitement regarding the build recently.

 

Next, we have VW, a company who intends to fully embrace the electric revolution. VW have already been aggressively converting their Zwickau factory to be fully electric, and have now set on Lower Saxony’s Emden plant.

Like Porsche, VW are building out a massive 50,000 square meter, or 538,195 square foot, exansion for EVs. The trick here is that they also have stated that they will gradually shift the whole factory over to the tune of 300,000 EVs a year.

In the next year, they expect to complete the €1 billion project, which will allow for them to manufacture their new ID.4 electric sedan, while still transitioning away from Arteon and and Passat production.

Finally, the last prospect I want to talk about is Tesla. Not only have they got their Berlin and Shanghai factories coming up or expanding at a blistering pace, but they have other plates spinning as well. The most well publicized is their Terafactory, which believe it or not could still be in either Tulsa, Oklahoma or Austin, Texas.

It seems likely that the deal with Austin will go through, but Elon Musk has stressed the unresolved nature of the talks. To make matters more complicated, he recently went to Tusla over Independence Day weekend, to meet with city officials at a possible location.

Additionally, it seems like Musk has been thinking about locations for a second Asia factory, outside of China. The CEO was asked on Twitter if he wants to expand in Asia, and he responded “Yeah, but first we need to finish Giga Berlin and a second US Giga to serve the eastern half of North America.”

Fourth Tesla Gigafactory To Be Built In Berlin Will Begin With Model Y Production

As much as there is to follow here, just know that this is the tip of the iceberg in terms of EV facilities. We also have startups to consider, such as Lordstown Motors, Rivian, Nikola, etc. If you would’ve read this a month or two ago, we could have included Dyson on the list, which should tell you how exciting and turbulent this transition time can be.

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