Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is preparing to celebrate the opening of its Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, with a launch party Thursday dubbed the 'Cyber Rodeo'. The event is expected to host 15,000 people and will be held at the new facility from 4 pm till midnight. It will reportedly feature interactive tours, food, and live entertainment. Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz are expected to speak at the event.
According to FOX Business, Tesla has even secured a permit for a fireworks display, conditional on the weather.
Although this party is being held as a launch party, the $1.1 billion factory has begun producing Tesla Model Ys for delivery. The plant is designed to make about 500,000 cars in its initial configuration. Tesla likely will expand the plant in the future and add battery-making capacity on site.
It will take time to ramp up capacity at the new plant. Analysts estimated the plant might produce 100,000 vehicles in 2022. Full production rates should be reached in about a year. Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter calculated that Tesla's most productive plant in Shanghai can produce roughly 3,400 vehicles a day. That's about 1.2 million vehicles a year. However, car plants typically can't run full out all year. For example, the Giga Shanghai factory was shut down in late March due to covid restrictions and has yet to reopen.
Tesla bull Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research called the event a "very strong catalyst" for the stock. He even said a production schedule update for the Cyber Truck and Tesla Semi is "very likely." Chowdhry expects the factory to eventually produce the shell-based vehicular design for the Cyber Truck, which he thinks can be made in just 5 to 6 hours versus 25 to 30 hours per vehicle for traditional automakers.
By Michael Elkins