Tesla is establishing its worldwide engineering headquarters in California. Elon Musk, the company's CEO, and Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, announced on Wednesday that Tesla's new engineering headquarters will be in the former Hewlett-Packard buildings in Palo Alto. It may come as a surprise that Tesla has suddenly rekindled its connection with California after the EV manufacturer abruptly relocated its corporate headquarters from Fremont, California to Austin, Texas in 2021 due to disagreements with the state about COVID-19 limitations. Also, Musk has frequently attacked California for having too many regulations and high taxes.
Tesla has continued to run its first manufacturing in Fremont, which continues to employ numerous engineers. Tesla tweeted that it is recruiting for new engineering positions in California, which accounts for a sizable portion of the reason Newsom is endorsing the EV manufacturer's return to the state.
Newsom noted the state's long-standing partnership with Tesla and stated that California takes pleasure in being at the forefront of innovation, research, and new ideas. Newsom expressed his excitement about joining up with Tesla to change the auto industry and strengthen California's position as the world's leading manufacturer.
The HP Building in Palo Alto that Tesla will be taking over.
More than 600,000 vehicles are anticipated to be produced at the Fremont factory this year, according to Musk. In order to benefit from federal incentives provided by the Inflation Reduction Act, Tesla also declared on Wednesday that it would concentrate the production of battery cells in the United States.
Despite being the most well-known automaker in California, Tesla has a tense relationship with the state. Regarding employee concerns that the Fremont factory is replete with racial bias and harassment, Tesla is currently the subject of an equal employment investigation by the federal government and is also facing legal action from the state's civil rights department. Also, Tesla has been charged with falsely promoting its Full Self-Driving (FSD) and Autopilot advanced driver assistance systems by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Tesla Battery Facility at Giga Berlin
Tesla put off building a battery facility in Germany in lieu of progress in Texas in 2022, but it now appears that construction has started. Model Y crossovers have been manufactured at Tesla's relatively new German factory, Giga Berlin, for some time, and the facility is currently undergoing a significant ramp-up. Tesla had formerly stated that the facility will also produce batteries, but plans have now changed. The specifications don't align with the automaker's original goals, but it now looks that battery manufacture is underway.
Tesla intended to manufacture batteries at the facility close to Berlin, but since beginning construction on the facility, it has encountered a number of obstacles in Germany. The US EV manufacturer apparently opted to put on hold its battery ambitions for Giga Berlin last year in favor of comparable plans at its second, more recent factory, Giga Texas, near Austin, Texas. Since the recently revised US EV tax credit will have extremely tight guidelines regarding the source of batteries and materials, Tesla should benefit more from domestic progress for the time being.
There is a flurry of activity at the Giga Berlin battery factory. Although the entire EV battery production process isn't taking place at the German factory, significant advancements have been made, and Giga Berlin continues to be the site for an important phase in the total process.
New Partner
Magnis Energy Technologies, an intriguing new battery technology business with headquarters in Australia, and Tesla have agreed to a partnership. It might develop into a significant business ally for the automaker. To obtain ultra-high purity natural flake graphite from the project, the company is establishing a graphite mine in Tanzania.
Tesla, however, does not merely purchase graphite from Magnis. It intends to purchase processed anode material (AAM) made from graphite. As part of the agreement, Magnis built a US plant to manufacture the AAM.
“The agreement is conditional on Magnis securing a final location for its commercial AAM facility by 30 June 2023, producing AAM from a pilot plant by 31 March 2024, commencing production from the commercial AAM facility by 1 February 2025, and customer qualification.”
