Photo: Tesla
Tesla Fremont, the first production facility and the only one that assembles all vehicles in Tesla’s lineup, has built its 2-millionth car. The milestone has been hailed by Elon Musk, who reminded everyone that Tesla Fremont is the biggest car factory in North America.
Despite Gigafactory Shanghai gaining prominence as the main production hub, the Fremont factory remains crucial for Tesla’s plans. The facility, which was known as New United Motor Manufacturing (NUMMI) at the time, was purchased by Tesla from Toyota in 2010. Elon Musk is a little sentimental about this, saying it was just “a derelict building” back then. Fast forward twelve years and Tesla Fremont employs 20,000 workers to build more than 600,000 electric vehicles per year. That’s more than all other carmakers combined, according to Musk.
“Actually, we still operate our California factory, which is the largest auto plant in North America, at full capacity and are considering expanding it significantly,” Musk said in March. “It has built 2/3 of all electric vehicles in North America, twice as much as all other carmakers combined.”
Tesla announced the production of the one-millionth vehicle in March 2020, and only two years later, it built the 2-millionth car at its Fremont factory. It was a Red Multi-Coat Model 3 in Performance guise, according to several accounts from Fremont workers. The current Fremont factory production is way above the projected capacity, at 600,000 vehicles. During the second quarter, the production increased by 20% to compensate for the output lost at Giga Shanghai during the lockdowns.
The Fremont factory has a dated structure that Tesla inherited from previous owners. As such, it cannot be extended further, and Tesla needs to bring components like electric drivetrains and batteries from Giga Nevada. This is not as efficient as the gigafactories the EV maker built later, designed to be highly integrated. It also explains why Elon Musk congratulated the workers at Giga Nevada for Fremont’s achievement.
“Actually, we still operate our California factory, which is the largest auto plant in North America, at full capacity and are considering expanding it significantly,” Musk said in March. “It has built 2/3 of all electric vehicles in North America, twice as much as all other carmakers combined.”
Tesla announced the production of the one-millionth vehicle in March 2020, and only two years later, it built the 2-millionth car at its Fremont factory. It was a Red Multi-Coat Model 3 in Performance guise, according to several accounts from Fremont workers. The current Fremont factory production is way above the projected capacity, at 600,000 vehicles. During the second quarter, the production increased by 20% to compensate for the output lost at Giga Shanghai during the lockdowns.
The Fremont factory has a dated structure that Tesla inherited from previous owners. As such, it cannot be extended further, and Tesla needs to bring components like electric drivetrains and batteries from Giga Nevada. This is not as efficient as the gigafactories the EV maker built later, designed to be highly integrated. It also explains why Elon Musk congratulated the workers at Giga Nevada for Fremont’s achievement.
To think that Fremont was just a derelict building & Giga Nevada was just rocks & bushes when started!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 19, 2022
California used to have a dozen car factories. NUMMI was last to close. Now, Tesla Fremont is the biggest car factory in North America!
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