Tesla Breaks Ground On Battery Megafactory In Lathrop, California

While there is news that Tesla may be planning a new gigafactory apart from the one in Berlin and Texas which are under construction, the California based electric car maker has broken ground on another factory, a mega factory in Lathrop in California where it will be making MegaPacks for its energy division that makes the PowerWall, power packs and even MegaPacks.

"We are proud to be the home of the Megafactory, Tesla's most recent expansion here. The future of green energy will be produced right here in our community. This development means more prosperity for our city, more employment opportunities for our residents, and a brighter future for our planet," said Sonny Dhaliwal, the mayor of Lathrop in California.

The Megapack system will eventually have 256 storage devices

He shared some photos of the ground-breaking ceremony and confirmed the factory will be making MegaPacks. The MegaPack was something Tesla started making two years ago. The MegaPack is meant for industrial use which is a container that has a 3 mWh battery system with integrated modules, inverters, and thermal systems. Tesla believes the MegaPack is 60 percent larger than its PowerPack.

Tesla has deployed the MegaPack in large-scale energy storage projects like the one in Ventura County and its 1GWh project in Northern California. The facility in Lathrop is a 500,000 sq ft facility and is just an hour away from its Fremont facility. Tesla also has long-term leases for at least 3 more buildings which in totals a million sq ft of floor space in a city that has just 23,000 people.