Tesla gets official nod from China with tax exemption

2019 Tesla Model 3 PerformanceThe California-based electric car maker Tesla has received a boost from the nation with the world’s largest auto market—China. As part of a declaration posted Friday by the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Tesla is receiving an exemption from a 10-percent purchase tax. The news, which is part of a broad...

Report: Panasonic pumps brakes on Tesla Gigafactory expansion plans

Tour of Tesla battery gigafactory for invited owners, Reno, Nevada, July 2016Battery-giant Panasonic put a damper its planned investment of hundreds of millions of dollars to expand Tesla's Gigafactory site in Nevada, raising concerns that slowing investment could slow the pace of progress for EVs. Media reports indicated that Panasonic was reportedly considering investments of up to $1.3 billion for battery production to...

China to build many gigafactories’ worth of electric-car battery plants

Tesla Gigafactory battery plant in NevadaWhile the United States federal government threatens to backslide on renewable energy, California and China continue to move at an aggressive pace to lead the world in zero-emission vehicles. However, there's another piece to the electric-car puzzle that China seems poised to lead as well: battery production. As the global market for electric and...

China to build many gigafactories’ worth of electric-car battery plants

Tesla Gigafactory battery plant in NevadaWhile the United States federal government threatens to backslide on renewable energy, California and China continue to move at an aggressive pace to lead the world in zero-emission vehicles. However, there's another piece to the electric-car puzzle that China seems poised to lead as well: battery production. As the global market for electric and...

Tesla Model 3 battery cells will turn a profit for Panasonic by next year

Tour of Tesla battery gigafactory for invited owners, Reno, Nevada, July 2016Relatively few people focus on it, but the huge Japanese electronics company Panasonic is a minority shareholder in electric-car maker Tesla. The deal dates all the way back to November 2010, the same year that Tesla completed its initial public offering after Toyota took a stake in the company and sold Tesla its Fremont assembly plant in...

VW says it needs ’40 gigafactories’ for electric-car batteries by 2025

Tesla Gigafactory battery plant in NevadaVW Group remains one of the world's three largest carmakers, along with Toyota and General Motors, but the German automaker foresees challenges ahead. Specifically, VVolkswagen believes the industry will face a shortage of lithium-ion batteries if new investment is not made soon for additional cell fabrication factories, often referred to using...

Tesla starts cell production at Gigafactory, shows it off to investors

Tesla gigafactory, March 2016, shown in drone footage posted to YouTube by Above RenoSlightly less than three years after it was first announced, Tesla is now producing lithium-ion battery cells at its massive "Gigafactory." Billed as the largest factory of its kind in the world, the Gigafactory was conceived to provide the volume and economies of scale necessary for Tesla to produce electric cars in truly large quantities. It has...

Why one Finnish city thinks it’s ideal for next Tesla Gigafactory

Rendering of Tesla battery gigafactory outside Reno, Nevada, Sep 2014The Tesla "gigafactory" near Reno, Nevada, is already billed as the largest lithium-ion battery cell plant in the world. But Tesla has discussed plans for at least one additional gigafactory, presumably to meet demand for battery cells related to large-scale electric-car production outside the U.S. One Finnish city is now making an official bid...