Tesla’s newest up-and-coming building could be larger than previously thought – much larger. At a presentation about the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, Dean Haymore, from Story County Commission, mentioned that Tesla bought an extra 1,200 acres next to the ongoing construction, and will buy 350 more. While this hasn’t yet been confirmed by Elon Musk, this raises the question: how big is the Gigafactory going to be?

Image credits: Bob Tregilus.

Tesla wants the building to hold enough battery power for 500,000 Tesla cars. The original plan was to build the whole thing with modular structures, covering a total of 10 million square feet, but apparently that isn’t enough anymore. If Haymore’s claims are true, then the building will cover more than 24 million square feet – which according to Wikipedia, would make it the largest building in the world! So why do they need all this surface?
[Here is the presentation]

Well as mentioned above, it’s not clear why they’re doing this – in fact, it’s not even confirmed – but if they will, then it likely has a lot to do with Tesla Energy – the home battery which might spell a renewable energy revolution, helping take numerous houses off the grid. The battery will solve one of the major problems with renewable energy: availability. Sure, you might get a sunny afternoon, but what happens if you need energy during the night? What if you have a windy day followed by two still ones? This is where Tesla’s battery enters the stage, and this is probably why they need a bigger Gigafactory.

Image via Tesla

This video was shot at 4K resolution by a flying drone with Tesla’s permission. It shows the state of the Gigafactory in late April. Here’s what the author writes:

“This video was filmed with direct permission from Tesla Motors. Arrangements were made directly with Elon Musk and Tesla Security. Permission has also been given for me to upload it to my page. BE SURE TO CHANGE SETTINGS TO 4k!! Multirotor used: Tarot 680 Pro Hex with a GoPro Hero4 Black”