Tesla has recently hired a proven leader to spearhead Giga Nevada’s expansion. Michael Hildebrand, with years of experience in capital project leadership has been hired to kickstart Tesla’s investment of over $3.6 billion to expand the factory.
Tesla first announced Giga Nevada’s expansion back in January, outlining plans to build out two new manufacturing areas at the factory for high volume Semi production and 4680 cell production with an annual capacity of 100 Gigawatt hours (GWh). When complete the factory will have over 4 million square feet of production floor space and will be run by a team of over 3,000 employees.
Despite already receiving massive tax breaks for the factory, there has been no sign of construction work starting in the nearly 8 months since the announcement. However the project may be starting up soon with one of Tesla’s most recent hires.
Micheal Hildebrand was hired in June as Leader – Gigafactory Nevada Expansion Engr and Construction, according to his Linkedin profile. (via Electrek)
This is Hildebrand’s first new position in nearly 19 years, all of which was spent with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company. Hildebrand’s most recent title at Eli Lilly was Executive Director of Projects, where he played a significant role in a multi-billion manufacturing site.
Led a $2B+ capital project for new greenfield parenteral manufacturing site. Responsible for site selection, scope, estimating, scheduling, and project execution. Developed project delivery strategy including a mix of design-build, design-bid-build, and other strategies to optimize for schedule while maintaining tight budget control. Shortened expected timeline for greenfield site concept through in-operation by about 18 months,” Hildebrand wrote on his Linkedin profile.
Giga Nevada produces its last Tesla Megapack ahead of $3.6 billion factory expansion
