Generally speaking, Tesla has never had any reservations about letting competitors and the public at large in on their product roadmap. As a prime example, Tesla’s plan to release an affordable mass market EV was initially laid out in Elon Musks’ famous master plan more than 10 years ago.
That said, Tesla has long been incredibly secretive when it comes to granting the public access to its increasingly advanced factories. At the company’s Fremont factory, for example, Tesla doesn’t even allow casual visitors to tour the plant if they have a smartphone or any other type of recording equipment in their possession.
With the Gigafactory — which is still a work in progress — Tesla has exhibited the same level of caution surrounding public access. That being the case, any time photos from inside the Gigafactory happen to leak out, it’s always worth taking a look at.
Earlier today, Electrek pointed us to some new photos of the Gigafactory production floor. The photos were released by H&T Battery Components, a division of the Heitkamp & Thurmann Group and a key part of the company’s battery production supply chain.
H&T’s post reads in part:
H&T Battery Components, a division of the Heitkamp & Thumann Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of precision-formed metal and plastic components, has successfully started its production at its new plant H&T Nevada in Sparks (USA).
The start of production marks an important milestone in achieving Heitkamp & Thumann Group’s ambitious strategic growth strategy for the coming years by taking on a leading role as a major supplier of metal components for lithium-ion battery technology, used in hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles.
By the time work on the Gigafactory is 100% finished, the gargantuan structure will have the largest physical footprint in the world and will have an area that measures in at nearly 13 million square feet.
