Factory is supposed to pay for itself before its product becomes deprecated. Looking at how expensive this gigafactory is - how many years will it take before profits from selling li-ion batteries cover the equipment & construction costs?
Some projections say peak output is expected by 2019-2021. Doesn't this imply that today's technology will still be competitive and in demand 6-7 years from now?
I'm assuming gigafactory uses chemicals and tech that powers current generation of Tesla cars. Because if they had something significantly better they would not care about 2019, but would instead die to get it to market ASAP. Not caring about unit price or volumes. Just to prove that it works and to capture the high end market.
And my second assumption is they don't plan to lose money on this project.