Tesla’s President of Automotive Jerome Guillen just arrived in Shanghai, China, to visit Gigafactory 3. While there, Guillen announced several job openings at Tesla in Gigafactory 3, North America, and Europe through his LinkedIn profile. Guillen’s post focused on the spot for a battery mechanical design engineer at Tesla, which may be an indication of Tesla’s future plans in Gigafactory 3 and its other manufacturing facilities.
In his Linkedin post, Guillen briefly mentioned the great job the awesome Tesla team at Gigfactory 3 has done. His praise is well-deserved given that the Shanghai factory was finished ahead of schedule and is already in trial production for the Model 3.
A video from YouTuber Jason Yang revealed that phase two of the manufacturing facility was almost complete, too. The drone operator predicted phase two of the GF3 will be finished before Christmas. Phase two of Gigafactory 3 will concentrate on battery manufacturing, as confirmed by Elon Musk during the Q3 2019 earnings call.
Tesla seems to be pushing forward with its plans to develop its own batteries considering Yang’s phase two prediction, and Guillen’s focus on filling the position for a battery mechanical design engineer. According to Tesla’s official listing for the position, the engineer hired will work closely with the Battery Pack Team. One of the requirements for the job was experience in manufacturing processes, like plastic molding, heat treating, and direct machine shop skills.
The electric car company has invested in battery-related businesses this past year, namely Hibar Systems and Maxwell Technologies. Each of the companies focuses on one aspect of battery manufacturing. Hibar focuses on manufacturing processes, like battery assembly lines, while Maxwell concentrates on tech that can make battery more efficient and resilient.
A battery mechanical design engineer seems to be the only piece missing in Tesla’s plan for its own battery. Whoever takes the position will be working with the most forward-thinking people in the automotive industry.
