Tesla “PROJECT ROADRUNNER” Location Might Turn Into Serious Production Site

Featured image: The Verge

Tesla created a pilot line for the production of battery cells in Fremont, where they secretly design and test production equipment and processes. This line will be expanded to produce more battery cells. The company's secret project was named Roadrunner.

JPR007 found the document 'Tesla 47700 Kato Road and 1055 Page Avenue Improvements Project (PLN2020-00157)', which describes additional changes in the use of buildings at these addresses.

PROJECT ROADRUNNER

Additional granularity is provided by this document supporting the proposed use changes

- additional floor space of 21,485 sq ft on the second floor of the Kato Road buildinghttps://t.co/LddSboAaZN pic.twitter.com/0OTkP1qVLY

— JPR007 (@jpr007) June 23, 2020

According to the document, Tesla received permission from the city for the demolition process and preparation for the construction and operation of the Project. The document states that Tesla previously occupied this building and established a small battery factory in the Kato building.

"Although Tesla has occupied the building and installed a small-scale battery manufacturing facility in the Kato building, the last full-scale operation and use of either the Kato building or the Page building was in 2017, when Solar City conducted R&D and manufacturing of solar panels at the site."

Now Tesla needs to increase the space inside the building by rebuilding and refitting the interior of the building. According to the company, these changes are necessary in order to accommodate new equipment for the production of batteries and the space for the ROADRUNNER project. The project would add a third floor above the 47700 Kato Road building.

"To accommodate new battery manufacturing equipment and R&D space (known as ROADRUNNER), the Project proposes to construct an additional floor area of ​​approximately 21,485 square feet at the second floor (covering a portion of the central space that is open to the second floor roof) and to add an additional, smaller approximately 8,260 square-foot third floor above. These improvements will increase the total floor space of the existing Kato building by approximately 29,745 square feet (to a total of 156,057 square feet), but will not change the footprint of the building or its exterior facades. No grading or excavation is necessary for these improvements, and nearly all construction work will be conducted internally within the existing building."

The key point is the assertion that once this expansion is completed, Tesla will move in the new equipment that supports its expanded battery manufacturing and R&D operations.

"Once this internal floor space is constructed, Tesla will move in the new equipment that supports its expanded battery manufacturing and R&D operations."

According to the document, the building at 1055 Page will also be slightly modified. This building will be used to host additional production and R&D operations supporting ROADRUNNER, including a portion of cathode electrode manufacturing and the final process step in battery cell manufacturing.

"1055 Page Building
The second existing building towards the rear on the site is the 72,285 square foot Page building, which has a first floor area of ​​58,568 square feet and a mechanical penthouse of 13,717 square feet. No major modifications to the structure of this building are proposed, but existing available space within the southerly and northwesterly portion of this building will be used to accommodate Tesla's additional ROADRUNNER-supporting manufacturing and R&D operations, including a portion of cathode electrode manufacturing and the final process step in battery cell manufacturing."

Source: Tesla 47700 Kato Road and 1055 Page Avenue Improvements Project

Tesla expects that construction of the entire Project, including structural modifications to the Kato building, installation of all mechanical and manufacturing equipment, and assembly operations, can all be accomplished in approximately 3 months.

Employees Tesla plans to have approximately 100 employees working on a shift schedule (with two shifts per day), along with an additional approximately 70 employees working a standard workweek schedule (8 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday) in support of Project, at any one time The facility is expected to operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A total of 470 employees will be assigned to the Project site.

According to the document, It is anticipated that the Project will generate up to 38 trucks delivering materials to the site and shipping manufactured batteries each day.

Tesla Might Scale-Up Battery Cell Production Line Close To Fremont Factory https://t.co/TTNHeOuBB9 pic.twitter.com/aN92OANFco

— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) June 22, 2020