Gary Zhou 
Key Points
- 🏭 Tesla’s Fremont Factory is getting a new tent to add production space.
- 💡 The tent permit filing includes electrical and mechanical permits and has 13 light fixtures and 12 circuit breakers.
- 📅 Tesla has previously used tents for manufacturing at the factory, starting in 2018 during the Model 3 ramp-up.
- 📈 As production upgrades take place, the new tent may help address space constraints at the factory.
Tesla’s Fremont Factory seems to be in line for a new addition in the form of a tent, as indicated by a recent permit filing submitted to the City.
Tesla submitted the permit application yesterday, seeking approval to install a new tent with an estimated value of $750,000. To proceed with the installation, the company requires building, electrical, and mechanical permits. The tent will be equipped with 13 light fixtures and 12 commercial circuit breakers.
The filing states:
“INSTALLATION OF PERMANENT TENT AT ROAD – LIGHT TUNNEL STRUCTURE, ELECTRICAL AND CONTROLS”
Tesla has used tents at the Fremont Factory to add production space. More correctly referred to as a Sprung Structure, Tesla started using the tents back in 2018 as the Model 3 ramp started.
By 2021, Tesla had filed to make tents permanent at the factory. General Assembly 4 and 4.5 were used to build the Model 3 and Model Y, with none of the production occurring inside the factory itself. Instead, manufacturing took place in these Sprung Structures.
It also installed a tent last year, but it was only for storage.
Tesla’s Fremont Factory has been space confined for some time, and as noted by Morgan Stanley in a letter to investors last year, the plant was “never designed to produce 450k units (at its peak produced ~300k units before Tesla took it over from Toyota).”
Tesla was still able to work with the limited space it had. However, as production upgrades have taken place this quarter, as hinted by Musk and Co. during the recent earnings call, things are picking back up, and perhaps the tent is another attempt to add space.
There is no information in the filing on how large the tent is in terms of square footage. Tesla also did not detail how the tent will be used in the filing.
