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The gigafactory is building the batteries and cells and all, it's just that the gigafactory != Tesla. Panasonic is their partner and is responsible for a signif

The gigafactory is building the batteries and cells and all, it's just that the gigafactory != Tesla. Panasonic is their partner and is responsible for a significant chunk of the space and equipment for manufacturing cells. https://electrek.co/2016/07/29/tesla-gigafactory-panasonics-machine-battery-cell/ https://electrek.co/2016/07/29/tesla-gigafactory-panasonics-...

pkaye 7y ago
So what is Tesla's contribution to this? They always make it seem like its their baby.
- CamelCaseName 7y ago
  In 2014, Tesla wrote to its investors [0]: "...According to the agreement, Tesla will prepare, provide and manage the land, buildings and utilities. Panasonic will manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells and invest in the associated equipment, machinery, and other manufacturing tools based on their mutual approval. A network of supplier partners is planned to produce the required precursor materials. Tesla will take the cells and other components to assemble battery modules and packs. To meet the projected demand for cells, Tesla will continue to purchase battery cells produced in Panasonic's factories in Japan. Tesla and Panasonic will continue to discuss the details of implementation including sales, operations and investment." From a quick read of this press release and a few others, it seems that Panasonic is doing the real heavy lifting from a manufacturing perspective. [0] https://ir.teslamotors.com/news-releases/news-release-details/panasonic-and-tesla-sign-agreement-gigafactory https://ir.teslamotors.com/news-releases/news-release-detail...
- DeonPenny 7y ago
  The chemistry of the battery. They just don't package them
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    Panasonic is the bottlers as Tesla is to corporate Coca Cola. Is Coca Cola any less real because someone else is churning out the soda?
hinkley 7y ago
So we have an assembly line and the people contributing the IP for running the 'front half' of the line can't get the production rates up enough to saturate the 'back half' of the assembly line, which means the production rate is lower than expected?

pkaye 7y ago

So what is Tesla's contribution to this? They always make it seem like its their baby.

CamelCaseName 7y ago
In 2014, Tesla wrote to its investors [0]: "...According to the agreement, Tesla will prepare, provide and manage the land, buildings and utilities. Panasonic will manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells and invest in the associated equipment, machinery, and other manufacturing tools based on their mutual approval. A network of supplier partners is planned to produce the required precursor materials. Tesla will take the cells and other components to assemble battery modules and packs. To meet the projected demand for cells, Tesla will continue to purchase battery cells produced in Panasonic's factories in Japan. Tesla and Panasonic will continue to discuss the details of implementation including sales, operations and investment." From a quick read of this press release and a few others, it seems that Panasonic is doing the real heavy lifting from a manufacturing perspective. [0] https://ir.teslamotors.com/news-releases/news-release-details/panasonic-and-tesla-sign-agreement-gigafactory https://ir.teslamotors.com/news-releases/news-release-detail...
DeonPenny 7y ago
The chemistry of the battery. They just don't package them
- toomuchtodo 7y ago
  Panasonic is the bottlers as Tesla is to corporate Coca Cola. Is Coca Cola any less real because someone else is churning out the soda?

hinkley 7y ago

So we have an assembly line and the people contributing the IP for running the 'front half' of the line can't get the production rates up enough to saturate the 'back half' of the assembly line, which means the production rate is lower than expected?