Tesla Confirms Nevada Expansion to Make More Electric Trucks

SPARKS, Nev. (AP) Tesla confirmed it intends to invest $3.6 billion to expand its manufacturing capabilities in Nevada for high-volume production of electric semi-trucks and make enough cell batteries for 2 million light-duty vehicles annually.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo had said during his State of the State address Monday night he planned to join Elon Musk and other Tesla officials when they unveiled plans Tuesday to build a brand-new $3.5 billion advanced manufacturing facility for electric trucks in Nevada.

It's actually an expansion of an existing operation, but it takes the company a step closer to plans it announced earlier to ramp up Tesla Semi production to make 50,000 trucks in 2024 in North America.

The White House issued a statement trumpeting the plans on Tuesday as Musk who owns Twitter while continuing to run Tesla was wrapping up three hours of testimony in U.S. court in San Francisco, where he defended himself against a class-action lawsuit that alleges he misled Tesla shareholders in 2018 with a tweet about an aborted buyout.