(The Center Square) – Electric car company Tesla has reportedly hired 1,000 new employees for their “gigafactory” to support ramped-up semi truck manufacturing.
After years of delays, Tesla has hired the army of employees at the Sparks Gigafactory east of Reno to finally spur production for the line of electric semi-trucks. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said mass production at the site would begin in 2026.
The Nevada Tesla factory has experienced a number of changes in the 11 years since an initial agreement for the site was reached with the Silver State in 2014.
The 5.4 million-square-foot factory has seen the car company invest a reported $6.2 billion in the state, and as of 2023, hire 11,000 employees.
But in April 2024, the company announced a mass layoff of nearly 700 employees at the Nevada site, part of wider layoffs of 10% of the global brand’s 140,000 employees.
Back in 2017 Musk first unveiled the Tesla Semi, placing mass production in 2019. But the electric car company did not complete a delivery of the semi truck until 2022.
The vehicle has suffered a number of other production setbacks in the eight years since the initial announcement. After the first 2022 deliveries, Musk promised 50,000 semi trucks in circulation by 2024.
In 2023 Tesla said there would be a designated semi truck factory in Nevada, but now the new hires are expected to work in an added-on area of the existing Sparks Gigafactory, which largely produces batteries for the company.
The all-electric semi truck – with a range of 500 miles between charges – already has orders from major American brands like Costco, Walmart and UPS.
As part of another plan, Tesla recently announced they would open 46 semi truck “Megachargers” in 2027. The company reported the new charging stations can charge the truck batteries to 70% of capacity in just 30 minutes.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment by The Center Square.
