Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider
Tesla has several factories in the US, with new ones coming in China and Germany.
As Tesla expands its manufacturing footprint, I took a closer look at its facilities, as well as at some other factories around the US and the world.
Tesla currently operates a car factory in the San Francisco Bay Area and two "Gigafactories," near Reno, Nevada, and one in Buffalo, New York, (the latter handles solar panels, the former is manufacturing batteries in partnership with Panasonic).
Tesla intends to open a fully operational new Gigafactory in Shanghai, China, next year, with a Gigafactory near Berlin to follow.
The proposed Berlin factory could build up to 500,000 vehicles annually, making it a pretty serious operation.
Here's a closer look at Tesla facilities, as well as some notable plants operated by other automakers:
Tesla's main factory is located in the East Bay town of Fremont, in northern California.
Benjamin Zhang/Business InsiderTesla bought the plant from Toyota in 2010. In the 1980s, it was operated as a joint venture between Toyota and GM and called "New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc." or NUMMI.
REUTERS/Robert GalbraithTesla still maintains NUMMI's old test track, which features a pair of banked loops.
Business InsiderI took a spin on it a few years back. Tesla uses it to do a final test of new vehicles that leave the factory.
Matthew DeBord/Business Insider
Read more about the Tesla test track.
One unique feature of the Tesla factory is this enormous stamping press.
Benjamin Zhang/Business InsiderThe factory also has an army of robots.
TeslaHere's Sheena Patterson, an Tesla employee I profiled a few years ago. She's actually designed some of the factory's robots.
Matthew DeBord/Business Insider
Read about her job.
Tesla has assembly lines inside the factory, but after an automated Model 3 line failed to work properly, the company added an outside line under a huge tent. Here's CEO Elon Musk talking to "60 Minutes" about the improvised structure.
60 MinutesTesla also has a headquarters in Silicon Valley. I profiled designer and engineer Rosie Mottsmith there.
Matthew DeBord/Business Insider
Read about her job.
Tesla's design studio is located at the SpaceX rocket factory, south of Los Angeles. It's where Musk unveiled the company's New Roadster.
Tesla The first Tesla Gigafactory was built near Reno, Nevada.
REUTERS/Bob StrongTesla also has a factory in Buffalo, New York. It's where the former SolarCity business has its panel-manufacturing operations.
Brendan McDermid / Reuters Tesla's newest Gigafactory is in Shanghai, China, and should come fully online in 2020.
Geng Yu/VCG via Getty ImagesWhat about the rest of the auto industry? Well, here's Ford's famous River Rouge complex. It was Henry Ford's pride and joy.
Courtesy of Ford
And Elon Musk is a fan of it, too »
General Motors' Lordstown Assembly plant dates to the 1960s. It was controversially idled and then sold this year.
ReutersVolkswagen's assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is among the newest in the US, opened in 2011. It's in what some call "Detroit South."
VolkswagenBut the most notable factory in the world is perhaps Ferrari's complex in Maranello, Italy.
FerrariThe complex is near Ferrari's legendary test track, Fiorano. Enzo Ferrari's actual house is adjacent to the track, where Ferrari tests its Formula One cars.
FerrariThe facility is stunning. I've toured a lot of car factories. Ferrari's is something special.
FerrariThe wind tunnel was designed by architect Renzo Piano. It's known as the "Galleria del Vento."
FerrariTesla could try to match Ferrari's aesthetics with its own new factory, planned for construction near Berlin.
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