Make or break: Tesla Gigafactory opens

Californian electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla is putting all its eggs in one basket. A colossal, high-tech basket that will be bigger and better than anything else on the planet, according to the company.

It's called the Gigafactory; it will eventually cover about 5.5 million square metres of land and it was officially opened over the weekend.

Located deep in the Nevada desert in the USA, near Reno, the Gigafactory will be the world's largest structure once complete, similar in size to 100 football fields.

Roughly one seventh of the factory is built at present and it will manufacture not only the crucial new Tesla Model 3 vehicle, a vehicle which already has more than 350,000 pre-orders, but also batteries. So many batteries that everyone will want to buy them.

At least that's the plan.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has put much of his company's resources into the $5 billion Gigafactory and if it's not a success it'll be the world's largest monument to a dream unfulfilled. The idea is to build everything under one roof – hence the size – instead of relying heavily on outside suppliers.

Is it risky? Yes.

But Musk is certain he can offer the world a clean, sustainable and affordable way to live and travel, that the factory can't help but succeed.

And he has a major partner that will help allay uncertainty around the project.

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic is on board, investing heavily in the Gigafactory as it seeks to stamp its authority on the global battery and stationary storage.

The Japanese electronics manufacturer is itself a part owner of sorts at the Gigafactory, and even owns several battery production lines within the factory.

From its completion date in 2020, the gargantuan Tesla temple will employ 10,000 workers and should be capable of manufacturing an estimated 150 gigawatt hours of batteries per annum.

It currently employs around 1000 workers who are building Telsa's Powerwall (consumer) and Powerpack (industrial) energy storage solutions, which Musk reckons will be more successful than any cars it ever produces.

"I think it will probably be as big as the car business, long term," said Musk of stationary storage, for which Tesla uses Lithium-ion chemistry at present.

"The growth in stationary storage is really under appreciated."

The Tesla CEO said that the revenue from these stationary battery packs grow at a rate "probably several times that of what the car business is per year".

Although he has an agenda to push these batteries to ensure the Gigafactory and indeed his business is successful, Tesla isn't the only car maker jumping into stationary storage.

There's a Mercedes-Benz EV in the works, due in 2018 to rival the Tesla Model S, but the German luxury car maker (previously a shareholder in Telsa) has acquired one of Germany's biggest battery makers, ACCUmotive, with plans to manufacture stationary storage solutions very similar to those of its US competitor.

Indeed, Benz has just launched its own rival product to the Tesla Powerwall in Australia, the Mercedes wallbox, for $1850 in Australia, significantly cheaper than Tesla's offering. And Mercedes is unlikely to be the last car maker that jumps on the battery production bandwagon either.

Once the Gigafactory is up and running Tesla reckons its products will be up to a third more affordable to produce. And the world's largest factory is expected to produce more Lithium-ion batteries than all the rest of the world's battery plants combined.

As it seeks to meet the huge demand for its new EV, the Model 3, while plotting consumer and industrial energy storage solutions, Tesla has one eye on the present and one on the future.

And if Musk's audacious master plan succeeds – much of which rests on the Gigafactory – he insists the world will be a happier, healthier place for humankind.

What are your thoughts - can Tesla be successful and change the world? Have your say in the comments section below.