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FACT BRIEF

Has Elon Musk proposed to build an electric solar grid in Nevada the size of Rhode Island?

By Esther Tsvayg on 02/17/2023

NO

At an interview that took place during the National Governors Association 2017 Summer Meeting, Musk said:

“If you wanted to power the entire United States with solar panels, it would take a fairly small corner of Nevada, Texas, Utah [...] You only need about 100 miles by 100 miles of solar panels to power the entire United States [...] the batteries you need to store that energy to make sure you have 24/7 power is [...] 1 square mile.”

Rhode Island, the smallest state in the U.S., is 48 miles North to South and 37 miles East to West.

Tesla recently announced a $3.6 billion expansion plan in Nevada to add factories to build electric semi trucks and batteries for light-duty vehicles.

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