Tesla Inc.’s new factory in Austin, Texas, won’t build only the Cybertruck: State filings suggest the company also plans to make batteries on site as part of an ambitious strategy to further integrate its supply chain.
“The facility is proposing to operate a cell-manufacturing unit to produce the battery packs that are installed in the vehicle,” says an 188-page air-quality permit application filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The documents Bloomberg reviewed were filed between July and September.
CEO Elon Musk announced during the electric-car manufacturer’s quarterly earnings call in July that Tesla had chosen Austin as the site of its next plant. In addition to building the Cybertruck, Semi and Roadster, all of which are still in development, the company’s second U.S. assembly factory -- after its flagship plant in Fremont, Calif. -- also will make the Model Y crossover for East Coast customers.
The environmental permit application was first reported by the Austin Business Journal.