Markham, Ontario, made international headlines this week. On Thursday Mayor Frank Scarpitti announced on social media that Tesla was opening a new battery equipment manufacturing facility in his city.
The announcement was actually first made on the city’s website in July, but went unnoticed until the Mayor’s tweet this week.
Drive Tesla was first to report that the facility was already open, just a short 7-minute drive from Hibar Systems. In 2019 Tesla acquired Hibar, which specializes in high-speed battery manufacturing systems for electric vehicles.
From what we have learned so far, the team at this location is helping to design and build the equipment that will manufacture Tesla’s 4680 battery cells.
The equipment being made here will eventually end up in Giga Texas and Giga Berlin and other locations where the new cells will be made.
Thanks to one of our readers, GM, we have our first look at the 110,000 square foot facility where Tesla is “building the machine that builds the machine.”
The exterior is fairly non-descript, with no large signs indicating Tesla occupies the building. But there is no question when you approach the front doors, with a large “Tesla Toronto Automation” sign greeting visitors as they step inside.
At the front of the building is your typical office space, but the rest of the building is where the magic happens.
At the rear and along the right side of the building is a large warehouse and manufacturing area, where Tesla is building the manufacturing equipment that will be used to put together the new 4680 battery cells at Giga Texas and Giga Berlin.
Here are a few more pictures from around the property.
Here are some more photos of two of Tesla’s other buildings nearby, including the original Hibar location in Richmond Hill.
