Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas is looking more and more complete. This has become more evident in the past few days as shipments from Chinese solar panel giant Longi Green Energy were spotted on the roof of the Model Y and Cybertruck production facility. Interestingly enough, reports from Chinese media outlets about Longi’s Giga Texas contract included a rather interesting tidbit about the facility’s potential start of operations.
As noted in a Yicai Global report, Longi Green Energy would be supplying the solar panels for Gigafactory Texas’ roof. While the size of the photovoltaic system has not been disclosed as of writing, and despite Tesla declining so far to comment about the specs of the facility’s solar system, expectations are high that the installation would be substantial. Giga Nevada, after all, already features a 3.2 MW system despite being only partially complete.
Inasmuch as the solar panels on Gigafactory Texas are exciting, a tweet from the official handle of the China-based publication included a rather interesting reference to the facility’s start of operations. As per the publication’s post, the new electric vehicle plant will start its operations this week. That’s a very optimistic timeframe, and it exceeds even the estimates of the company’s ardent bulls.
That being said, the idea of Giga Texas starting its operations this week may not be too farfetched. Other facilities such as Giga Shanghai, after all, also started their trial vehicle production runs while the facility’s construction was still ongoing. Doing so would likely help Giga Texas ensure that its Model Y line would be able to operate and ramp smoothly once mass production begins.
Gigafactory Texas’ construction has been extremely rapid, with the facility catching up to its Germany-based sibling, Giga Berlin, due to the latter’s challenges with the country’s red tape. The delays for Giga Berlin may end up paving the way for an impressive 2022 for Tesla, however, as the addition of both Giga Texas and its Germany-based sibling would likely provide the company with a notable boost in electric vehicle production numbers. And considering that Tesla was able to deliver over 930,000 vehicles in 2021 with just Giga Shanghai and the Fremont Factory, hitting over a million vehicles this year with Texas and Berlin’s help should be more than attainable.
Check out a recent drone flyover of the Giga Texas complex in the video below.
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