Tech giant and electric car manufacturer Tesla is reportedly working on a secret facility that will produce battery cells. This is part of the company's effort to reduce its reliance on some of its third-party partners like Panasonic.
Tesla is on the forefront of the electric car revolution. The company has produced some of the most iconic electric cars in recent memory. While majority of the tech that make that cars run are developed in-house by Tesla, there is one major component that the company still relies on its third-party partners, the car's battery.
In 2014, Tesla partnered up with Japanese electronics giant Panasonic. Since then, Tesla has relied heavily on Panasonic to provide it with high-capacity batteries that power Tesla's cars. It was an expensive deal, yet Tesla still pursued it. Many in the industry believe that one of the reason why Tesla cars cost a fortune is because of the hefty price tag levied on its batteries. With the battery pack and battery cells being the main components of an electric car, Tesla is left with no choice but to pay the hefty price.
The rumor about Tesla working to manufacture its own batteries was confirmed by at least five current employees. According to a Tesla employee with insider knowledge about this secret facility, the so-called 'skunkworks lab' is located in Tesla's Kato Road facility. This particular facility is just a few minutes away from the company's manufacturing plant in Fremont, California.
This plant plays a huge role in Tesla's overall production. It is here where the iconic Model X, Model S, and Model 3 are made. On the other hand, the batteries that power these cars are manufactured at Tesla's Gigafactory located in Sparks, Nevada, which the company jointly operates with Panasonic.
According to CNBC, employees and engineers at Tesla's R&D division are now thoroughly focused on designing and prototyping of an advanced lithium-ion cell technology. They are also working on new processes and manufacturing techniques that will allow Tesla to mass produce these newly developed cells in high volumes.
Evidence to this secret project is a recent job listing posted by Tesla last month looking for various engineers who have a background on battery cell design and manufacturing, and battery cell production technologies.
Should this new project bodes well for Tesla, the company is still expected to keep its partnership with Panasonic and other third-party battery suppliers.
