Auto & News: Tesla's Gigafactory feat. SolarCity

All images from Tesla Motors Blog

This is a really good news for Tesla, for the customers, for the stocks and the world. For one thing, the gigafactory can produce enough of batteries for 500,000 vehicles which could meet Tesla's ambition to sell electric vehicles worldwide, including a huge number expected in China; for another, it helps to lower cost of battery pack cost per kWh by more than 30%. So by the time Gen III or Model E comes out, there will be enough batteries at low cost to go around. Tesla is a fair company, and thus I believe that when the production cost of the battery does lower, they will keep their words to lower the selling price of the Gen III cars by 50%.

There is another perspective for this Gigafactory and I find it pretty interesting, video is embedded below.

I do not agree with the guy saying that the fire is still under investigation, since NHTSA has reaffirmed the Model S 5-Star Safety Rating. What I do agree is that Tesla is moving into a more autonomous company with this gigafactory and should there be any extra batteries produced, it will become a source of income. For one thing, Tesla does not have to sell their batteries cheap if they are not sold with the cars, so if the cars get a lower selling price, the non-EV batteries need not.

Image from SolarCity

Will this benefit Tesla's sister company SolarCity? SolarCity is already working closely with Tesla in terms of the installation of solar panels for the residential and commercial customers. And now that it is even offering an industrial-grade battery built by Tesla to store solar power!

Essentially, what it means is, SolarCity will always be supporting Tesla Motors to go further while maintaining certain amount of stable income. With customers such as Wal-Mart Stores and Google, its business will just get bigger. For the solar industry, it is about the amount of power it can produce, and from its plan to up the ante from 278 Mw this year to 475 Mw-525Mw next year, the company is aiming for 70.9% to 88.8% increase in revenue!

Whether the expectation will drive SolarCity higher or not, Tesla will always benefit first hand! No wonder Tesla's stock market has hit a high 644% this year!




Vocabulary
up the ante -- If you up the ante, you increase your demands or the risks in a situation in order to achieve a better result:




Resources:
Investors unprepared for Tesla’s growing pains @ Yahoo! Finance
http://www.quamnet.com/newscontent.action?articleId=3467418

Gigafactory | Blog @ Tesla Motors
http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/blog_attachments/gigafactory.pdf

A Fair Price @ Tesla Motors
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/fair-price

Auto & Opinions: Concerns Of A Prospective Tesla Model S Owner @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/02/auto-opinions-concerns-of-prospective.html


What Texas Must Overcome To Land Tesla's Gigafactory @ Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/michelinemaynard/2014/03/03/what-texas-must-overcome-to-land-teslas-gigafactory/?partner=yahootix

Elon Musk calls electric car cross country journey historical milestone @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Op-cRc54sc

NHTSA REAFFIRMS MODEL S 5-STAR SAFETY RATING IN ALL CATEGORIES FOR MODEL YEAR 2014 @ Tesla Motor Blog
http://www.teslamotors.com/about/press/releases/nhtsa-reaffirms-model-s-5star-safety-rating-all-categories-model-year-2014

Tesla Motor's New Battery Factory Could Send SolarCity Soaring @ Fool.com
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/28/tesla-motors-new-battery-factory-could-send-solarc.aspx

Tesla's Industrial-Grade Solar Power Storage System @ Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-06/tesla-s-industrial-grade-solar-power-storage-system.html

SolarCity Uses Tesla's Batteries to Pair Power Storage With Panels @ Businessweek
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-06/teslas-solar-power-storage-unit

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/up-the-ante?q=up+the+ante