Thanks for coming back to “What’s Up Tesla.” I love experiencing life in Austin because there are so many exciting changes happening here, and the original flavor of the city is also prevalent. For example, I drove around the city in my Tesla using FSD beta software to a restaurant that is still in operation since 1954! El Patio Mexican Food is one of many great places to eat in Austin and if you come here, I recommend it!

This article is about Elon Musk, Boomtown Austin, and Giga Texas. Elon Musk moved to Texas in 2020, and since then there has been fast growth in Austin. The night skyline is impressive, so I wanted to find out details about high-rise construction, as well as population and job market growth. Finally, I wanted to know how many cars are being made at Giga Texas each week, how many people currently work there, and what are Giga Texas’ plans for increasing production?

ELON MUSK

Engineering, design, and production are how Elon Musk spends 80% of his waking hours, and he sleeps about 6 hours a night. 

Elon spends much of his time in Austin at Giga Texas involved directly with his team to accelerate gigafactory progress.

“But I think what a lot of people don’t realize, is what I do 80% of the time in engineering. You know it’s actually quite rare for me to give a talk. My day-to-day work at SpaceX and Tesla is almost entirely engineering and design and also production. Production is key, although I consider that to be part of engineering.” – Elon Musk, Baron Conference ‘22

“Whether it’s Tesla, Neuralink, or SpaceX, these companies were all founded with the ultimate goal of enhancing the future of human life and creating as much practical value for the world as possible—Tesla to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, Neuralink for medical rehabilitation, SpaceX for making interstellar connections possible.” – Elon Musk

While working with his team at Tesla, Elon also plans to launch Starship this year for its first-ever orbital flight.  As Owner/Chief Twit of Twitter, he is orchestrating major changes to protect free speech by creating an all-inclusive platform. His net worth on paper changes daily, but in reality, this is just a number, the contributions Elon Musk is making to humanity will benefit our world forever.  Society has put a $ value on that by investing in Tesla and SpaceX. 

BOOMTOWN AUSTIN PROGRESS

The population and job market of Austin has grown since Elon Musk moved to Austin in 2020.  Other American metro areas have experienced population decline. High-rise construction projects are a visual indicator of Austin’s Boomtown progress.  Increases in job postings and a high GDP (gross domestic product) growth are two others. 

Austin held the title of 2nd fastest growing city in the USA for 2022 by the American Growth Project based on the 2nd highest GDP growth of 4.3% (and other factors).  This was close to the top-ranking San Francisco of 4.8%. 

Every time I drive around downtown Austin at night, the skyline looks magnificent! 

I created this chart of Austin’s skyscrapers and those under construction (greater than 200 meters tall).  There are 6 buildings in Austin over 150 meters tall currently and there are 9 more under construction. I added Giga Texas on its side for fun!  

GIGA TEXAS

From observing Giga Texas flyover videos, it is apparent Giga Texas is running one Model Y general assembly line 6 days a week. This line produces approximately 2000 Model Y per week. That number should grow soon because observations point to the development of two more general assembly lines.  

I spoke with Joe Tegtmeyer about Giga Texas, and he explained that “General assembly #2 and #3 are being built on the Southwest portion of the general assembly structure (from around the main entrance south) and on floors 1 and 2.”  Joe also told me that one of the general assembly lines is for the Cybertruck. 

How many people work at Giga Texas?  I could not find out this information directly, and there are two shifts working 6 days a week. My guess is there are over 9000 people working at Giga Texas. Elon Musk estimates that an astounding 20K people will work at Giga Texas over time!  

“Giga Texas is a $10B+ investment over time, generating at least 20k direct & 100k indirect jobs” – Elon Musk on Twitter

Tesla gives opportunities to Texas military veterans in the Texas Veterans Leadership Program (TLVP)

In the Report on the Transition from Military Service to Employment 2022 from the Texas Workforce Commission, Tesla was thanked for hiring 14 Transitioning Service Members (TSMs). This highlights Tesla’s extraordinary efforts at reaching out to Veterans to offer them exceptional opportunities as they transition from military life into civilian life. Tesla is known for their Veterans Program.

“The presence of TVLP staff on Fort Hood Army installation has been instrumental in showcasing employment opportunities. In March 2022, Tesla hiring managers from across the country spoke with 93 TSMs and military spouses. As a result, Tesla hired 14 TSMs.”

CONCLUSION

Elon Musk calls Texas home and spends time directly with his teams in Austin at Giga Texas to accelerate Model Y production and build Cybertruck production. Although his net worth is massive, this is not important as it is just a number on paper, what matters is how Elon is contributing to making life better for humanity.

Boomtown Austin is an accurate term to describe the rapid changes I see living in Austin. Alongside the rapid changes, local traditions are thriving, and one example is El Patio Mexican restaurant, in business since 1954.

• Nine buildings over 200 meters tall are under construction!
• The population of the Austin metro area has grown to over 2 million
• There are over 94,000 active job postings
• Giga Texas is making progress: building two more general assembly lines for the Cybertruck and the Y, and there are two shifts working 12 hours 6 days a week

Enjoy reading these articles too,

Texas’ ERCOT approved an Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Pilot Project. What challenges lie ahead? This article is about how Texas is on track to see a much stronger energy grid. ERCOT’s Board of Directors approved an Aggregated Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Pilot Project. But, there are big challenges!

Elon Musk Speaks at AI Day 2022, Optimus Wears Giga Texas “Don’t Mess With Tesla” Belt Buckle. This article highlights how the Tesla bot is designed to be made at scale, and how it will transform our civilization into one of abundance. There’s also a sneak peek into the bot at work in the Fremont factory!

_{Article by Gail Alfar. Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – All Rights Reserved. November 12, 2022. Header image of Giga Texas is courtesy of Tesla, Inc. To learn more about Gail Alfar, click here.}

_{UPDATED on January 25, 2023 to include information about Tesla hiring Veterans.}