Made in Nevada: Tesla Starts Building Its Own LFP Cells

Tesla confirms LFP cell production at Gigafactory Nevada, its first US-made lithium iron phosphate cells, targeting Megapack energy storage

13 May 2026

For years, every lithium iron phosphate cell inside a Tesla Megapack was made in China. That's no longer the case.

Confirmed in its Q1 2026 SEC filing, Tesla has begun early-stage LFP cell production at Gigafactory Nevada, the first time the company has manufactured this battery chemistry on American soil. The facility carries a 7 GWh capacity, and every cell it produces is destined for Megapack, Tesla's utility-scale energy storage product, not passenger vehicles. LFP chemistry is well-suited to stationary storage: it's cheaper, more thermally stable, and lasts longer through charge cycles than nickel-based alternatives.

None of this happened by accident. US tariffs on Chinese battery imports have at points exceeded 100%, making every imported cell significantly more expensive. Nevada sidesteps that exposure entirely, and domestically produced cells qualify for Investment Tax Credit programs requiring at least 60% domestic content in 2026, a threshold imported cells can't meet.

One piece of a larger industrial buildout, Nevada sits alongside a rapidly expanding supply chain. A lithium refinery in Corpus Christi hit full operational capacity in February 2026, becoming North America's first facility to process spodumene all the way to lithium hydroxide. Cathode material production is scaling up in Austin. A 50 GWh prismatic LFP plant in Michigan, tied to a $4.3 billion supply agreement with LG Energy Solution, is slated to begin production in August 2027.

Surging demand is the backdrop. US battery storage installations hit a record 57.6 GWh in 2025, up 30% year-over-year, with LFP driving most of that growth. Developers have penciled in a record 86 GW of utility-scale capacity additions for 2026, with battery storage accounting for 28% of the total.

Pack assembly, not cell supply, is now the binding constraint on Megapack output. But with Nevada producing domestically and the broader supply chain coming online, the company is positioning itself at the center of a grid storage boom that shows no signs of slowing.