> How is it that tesla expanded their cell manufacturing in 2023 in California

They didn't, they built it in Reno.

The website is garbage. Bad guy anti manufacturing California put out a grant to build impossible to build lithium battery cell manufacturing capacity in California. https://www.grants.ca.gov/grants/gfo-24-304-california-batte...

That grant is only for nonprofits and only for "pilot manufacturing and testing", not useful mass manufacturing.

It is a battery cell manufacturing line and with the intent to facilitate providing research resources to California battery business. Considering the claim was that you couldn't make lithium batteries in CA, having a new manufacturing line shows that's incorrect. It also shows the state sees it as a need. I haven't seen anyone provide any info showing it isn't possible.

It's a pilot program, nobody said you can't uneconomically do research, but you can't build things in quantity.

https://electrek.co/2023/06/09/tesla-snaps-new-location-frem...

Thanks for posting. It says "The facility will support production of Tesla’s 4680 battery cell technology" (emphasis mine)

So they may be doing simpler portions of manufacturing. The article didn't claim you couldn't build any part of a battery without grandfathering.