Battery Cell Production Gets Underway At Tesla’s Gigafactory

American electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc announced Wednesday (4 January) that the mass-production of lithium-ion batteries has begun at their Gigafactory in Nevada, in partnership with Japan’s Panasonic Corp. These batteries are set to be used in Tesla’s Powerwall 2 and Powerpack 2 energy products.

The cylindrical “2170 cell”, said Tesla, was designed to offer the best performance at low production cost for use in electric vehicles and energy products. Tesla claims the Gigafactory will produce 35GWh/year of lithium-ion battery cells by 2018, nearly as much battery production as that achieved by the entire world.

The production of battery cells for the car maker’s first mass-market car, the Model 3, is slated to start in the second quarter. The Gigafactory is good news for employment as well. At peak production, reports Reuters, it is expected to employ 6,500 workers and create between 20,000 and 30,000 additional jobs in the surrounding areas.