We went into Teslas Gigafactory. Here's how it looked

Elon Musk has called Tesla's Gigafactory "the machine that builds the machine."

The $ 4.5 billion factory is located outside Reno, Nevada, where Tesla and Panasonic, its main partner, produce battery packs for the Tesla model 3 sedan, along with energy storage products and more.

CNBC entered the Gigafactory to see the production process and understand how the company's first fully-built factory will serve as a model for what can ultimately be a dozen massive Tesla factories globally. [19659002] "To transfer the world to sustainable energy, we really needed to build this store, build this bold and truly build as many battery cells as we possibly could really accelerate this transition," Chris Lister, Tesla's vice president of operations, told. CNBC.

Only about 30% of the factory is currently being developed, but after completion it can be the world's largest building by footprint.

The partnership between Tesla and Panasonic has recently been postponed.

Last month, Tesla, denied reports of placing Gigafactory expansion plans on hold. At the same time, Musk claimed that Panasonic could not meet the battery cell output production targets.

However, Tesla has stated that US orders for model 3 had exceeded the available production in the first quarter.

Gigafactory, which is open around the clock, currently has 7000 employees.

But people were few and far between during CNBC's part of the trip, as automation was very clear, with part of the plant boasting a 90% automated process, according to Lister.

Still, he said the company had to go back to automation in some cases, in favor of human labor.

"It's easier to know what snakes out of midair and put them together as a person looking at them, as opposed to trying to get a robot to do it," he said.

Meanwhile, Tesla's $ 2 billion Gigafactory is expected in Shanghai, or Gigafactory 3, which broke the ground this year. to produce the Tesla model 3 using a complete vehicle production line before the end of the year.

Lister said that Tesla is using what it learned from its Nevada plant against its upcoming China factory, and hopes to use the original Gigafactory as an operational model for all future facilities.

"So many people have invested so much of their lives to make this successful," said Lister. "It's really a competitive advantage, but it's also so important to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport."