Tesla to make 8.2 million batteries daily

Tesla Motors eventually will make 8.2 million batteries daily in Storey County, according to Ray Bacon, Nevada Manufacturers Association director.

He provided that figure during remarks at a Nevada Business Connections breakfast meeting in Carson City as he shared speaking duties with Bruce Breslow, director of Nevada’s Department of Business and Industry, and Joe Dutra of Reno-based Kimmie Candy Co. Tesla is building a gigafactory battery plant 30 miles northeast of Carson City near Interstate 80.

Bacon said Tesla’s newer battery-powered cars, which will target for a mid-range market rather than courting high end buyers as the current vehicles do, should have a range of 220 miles in hotter climates and above 300 in Nevada. He said that means a trip from Reno to Las Vegas would require just one charge en route, taking 15 minutes or so while a driver rests and has a snack as the car powers back up.

“They fully understand,” Bacon said of Tesla’s leaders, “that they will be under fire from day one.” He explained Tesla would be under fire from other automakers because it’s vying for the huge mid-range price market.

Breslow spoke of his department’s efforts to help small businesses in Nevada. Dutra said he has been growing at 15 percent annually and called moving from California years ago a topflight decision.