Holy Tesla Motors Factory!!

Check this video out - YouTube

(Gets good about halfway)

This place is something out of Terminator, no joke. However I can’t find much more information on the factory itself, perhaps someone could help me?

Manufacturing of the last Corolla in that very plant. TESLA got the whole thing
repainted, at least. Anyone in know, what kind of equipment they added?

mo-i

P.S.: How did the Buick oak planks end up in the Tesla interior? Final version?

First thought, “They might actually make it.”

Second thought, “Where are the car parts?” The presses have no tools in them and the robots are moving nothing around. Impressive amount of capital expenditure, but I hope the tooling is on order too…

That’s a little strange. They are nowhere near ready to build cars in that factory by the look of things. They’ve got some engineering prototypes that look to be pretty much finished and ready to go, so somebody must have some body tooling somewhere. If they are supposed to be shipping 5000 cars in 2012, they should be running preproduction cars down the line now, especially with a new factory that isn’t already building anything. There are so many processes they have to figure out, and workers to train. The car looks great, but they are biting off a lot trying to build a factory at the same time.

If they are supposed to be shipping 5000 cars in 2012, they should be running preproduction cars down the line now, especially with a new factory that isn’t already building anything.

Considering the $465,000,000 government loan guarantee granted to Tesla in 2009 (
$100,000,000 0f it was slated for plant development), it is more than a little disconcerting they are not much further along, especially given the current Solyndra boondoogle ($528,000,000).

We already have an investment in a defunct solar manufacturing company, are we soon to add an automobile manufacturer to the list… … ? And just so don’t get the idea that I am trying to politicize this discussion, I don’t care “who” authorized, or promoted, or championed either of these ventures.

Too bad they didn’t go to Kickstarter first. . . .

I really want Tesla and Fisker to suceed. It would be neat to have a big 5 in US auto companies. However, I just have the itch they will end like DMC (even though, John Delorean is a hero of mine). I’m waiting for Fisker or Musk to be caught with 55 lbs of coke, a half empty factory and a bunch of contractors banging the door looking for money.

Nice!

They had a lot of press and other people on the floor, I doubt that they would have had the hole thing going just for safety. Also stamps are pretty loud. That little mobile articulated arm was pretty sweet, think that was running a program and had sensors not to run into things and people, or was it R/C? I like how it could strafe.

Isn’t the Roadster production run of 2500 units finished? And I think the sedan wont be for sale until late next year. Will they really be able to survive until then?

They got almost half a billion dollars from the US government, plus a couple hundred million more from Toyota and Mercedes. Roadster revenue was negligible in comparison, and most of them were sold at a loss anyway. Unless they are setting fire to that money, they can easily survive another couple years even if the Model S is late.

The big concern is the competition. I just read this week that Volvo is ending production of all engines larger than 2.0L and 4 cylinders. They are going all turbo with a hybrid electric drive on the rear wheels. Rumor has it that the cars actually handle better because of the battery weight over the rear. They will run up to 30km on battery alone and be priced similar to today’s Volvo.

The big efficiency will come from designing the cars down to the drivetrain. A 5,6 or 8 cylinder car needs a lot more stiffening in suspension and chassis than a little 4. This savings should help offset the weight of the battery.

Also, Mazda has some exciting tech coming out with their high compression Skyactiv engines. Insane compression ratios of 12:1 or more! Very frugal.

Lastly is all the new electric and sophisticated hybrids. Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf. Now BMW has confirmed a line of hybrids that look great and futuristic. Rolls-Royce has an electric prototype too that is very close to something feasible for production. When consumers are shopping for cars in 2-3 years and they have these choices, are they going to try something new like a Fisker or Tesla? I don’t have a clue, but it’s certainly a risk for them.

The model S is a great looking car, I want it and Tesla to succeed. The disney ride thing going on in the factory is all show, they aren’t anywhere close to production, and you certainly wouldn’t have people walking around in there if those machines were doing anything other than dancing. Fun to see, but utterly pointless.