Tesla files to expand its Gigafactory in Texas as production ramps up

Tesla is planning to expand the Gigafactory Texas general assembly area by 500,000 square feet, as revealed in a permit filed by the automaker with the city of Austin, Texas.

Above: Tesla Model Y electric SUVs leaving Giga Texas for deliveries (Source: Joe Tegtmeyer / YouTube).

Public records from the Austin Build + Connect (ABC) website show that Tesla has applied for an expansion of Giga Texas by 500,000 sq. ft. The online document also shows that Tesla has already chosen a plumbing contractor for this project named Dynamic Systems, Inc.

Hundreds of Tesla Model Y units have been seen leaving Giga Austin for deliveries to stores and customers in recent weeks. According to the sources of local observer Joe Tegtmeyer, Tesla has ramped up Giga Texas’ production to 100 Model Y electric SUVs per day (drone video below).

The application for the Giga Texas expansion is dated June 29, 2022. This permit application (2022-097749 PP) shows that Tesla wants to set up new assembly lines at Giga Texas in the near future. As production ramps up at the factory, Tesla will need these new assembly lines since the existing ones will be fully occupied in all shifts.

“All above-ground piping and underground plumbing, GA (General Assembly) 2 and 3 expansion, 500,000 square foot,” says the description of the permit application.

Conflicting reports came out about Giga Texas and its daily production ramp-up last month. While Electrek said production was somewhere between 2,000 to 5,000 Model Y units per week last month, Joe Tegtmeyer estimated it had just crossed 100 units per day — representing around 700 Model Y units per week.

In the past, Tesla has officially confirmed these kinds of numbers via a tweet, just like the automaker did last week for Giga Berlin production. However, the automaker ended up revealing some of these details at its recent Q2 earnings call.

During the earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla would surpass 1,000 cars per week in "a couple of months." Definitely closer to Tegtmeyer's prior predictions, the automaker is still in the process of ramping up production — even as it begins this new expansion project.

Many areas of and surrounding the existing Model Y production building are still under construction. The new 500,000-square-foot expansion will most likely help the automaker continue to increase production.

Musk recently said in an online interview that Giga Texas and Giga Berlin are “gigantic money furnaces,” adding that “Berlin and Austin are losing billions of dollars right now.” However, Tesla surprised the world with its Q2 earnings results — and by applying for an expansion permit at Giga Texas.

Tesla also plans to start Cybertruck production at Giga Texas next year, so more expansions and factory construction are likely in the coming months.

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Written by: Iqtidar Ali. An earlier version of this article was originally published by Tesla Oracle. Revised update edited by EVANNEX.