Gail has a bachelor of art in film/radio/tv and a bachelor of science in nursing
She has worked for years caring for all ages of people with many diagnoses in over 5 hospitals and schools around the texas hill country
Originally from north dakota, she is now based in austin and writes about sustainable energy for the website she created ‘What’s up Tesla’ and 'What's up Twitter' and maintains her nursing practice
In the middle of a field just outside of Corpus Christi, along Texas Route 69E in the heart of Nueces County, six flags were flying at half-staff.
Two American flags, two Texas flags, and 2 Tesla flags.
Texas has gone through some difficult days. In the aftermath of a mass shooting in Allen, Texas, and tragic deaths in Brownsville, there is something bright happening to bring hope and prosperity to the state.
GOOD NEWS FOR TEXAS
Many people made the trip out to the site of Tesla’s new lithium refinery to celebrate in a ground-breaking with Elon Musk, and Tesla employees. As people sat under the tent, a large and unexpectedly modified version of the Cybertruck slowly drove past all six flags. The driver, curved around and parked center stage under a beautiful archway, bearing the words “Tesla Lithium.”
That driver was Elon Musk. There will be lots of pictures of Elon exiting Cybertruck center stage as almost everybody was taking either video or a picture of this special occasion.
Earthmovers in the background, preparing the land for the new factory kept working the entire time as Elon, wearing a Don’t Mess with Tesla belt buckle, handsome suit, and black cowboy boots, took the microphone and explained that this will be one of the largest lithium refining factories in the world, producing enough lithium for 1 million vehicles.
“It will produce more battery grade lithium than the rest of all the North American lithium refining capacity combined.“
Kathleen Hogan from the US Department of Energy stated that Tesla has,
“been a leader in the EV space for a long time and now they’re being an amazing leader by building out the clean energy supply chain here in this country, it’s amazing to see the jobs that are going to be here. We talk in Washington DC about the muscle we need to build out US manufacturing, and where is the muscle? The muscle is in the workforce and that muscle is going to be here, with the young people that will be coming onto the training in Teslas programs.”
TEXAS GOVERNOR HONORS ELON MUSK AND TESLA
I could not take my eyes off the Cybertruck, glistening in the Texas sun and adorned with a waving Texas flag. This massive utility vehicle with custom black racks served as the backdrop when Texas Governor Abbott spoke,
“We would not be here but for the vision, the hard work, and the commitment of Elon Musk and Tesla. Elon brought his Gigafactory here and liked it so much that he brought
Tesla here and then the Boring Company here, SpaceX is here, Neuralink is here, in the Lonestar state!”
Abbott presented Elon Musk with a proclamation from the State of Texas in appreciation of him & all Tesla employees and in honor of the new Tesla Lithium refinery.
TECHNOKING AND TEAM GIVE A TED TALK
Some people mistake Elon Musk for a celebrity. I agree he has that status, and I see him as a technologist or engineer first, before any other role.
He is the Technoking of Tesla. And what follows is a short TED talk on battery refining. To an attentive audience, Elon explained,
“We’re aiming to finish construction next year and hopefully reach full production about a year later. This is extremely fast by normal standards, but that’s how we do things. As I said, the capability we’re aiming for is approximately 1 million vehicles worth of battery-grade lithium and the potential is there to expand beyond that number as needed.
“We intend to continue to use suppliers of lithium, so it’s not that Tesla will do all of it.
We thought it’s important to address what we think is – as we look ahead a few years – a fundamental chokepoint in the advancement of electric vehicles… the availability of battery-grade lithium.
“Lithium for mining is actually quite common. Lithium is actually a very common element on Earth, it’s actually present, basically in every country. It’s not that there’s a shortage of lithium to mine, but there is a shortage of heavy industry refinement to battery grade. Lithium actually has to be extremely precise and ultra-pure, because if you have any impurities in the Lithium it causes degradation of the battery
“Purity requirements are extremely high and we got a number of innovations that we think will be quite effective in the refining of Lithium that haven’t been done before.
Tesla SVP Powertrain and Energy Engineering Drew Baglino explained that the talent that is applicable in oil and gas refining is the same type of talent that is applicable in lithium refining.
This is a reason why this area, South of Corpus Christie, was chosen as the location to build Tesla Lithium.
Another innovation with Tesla lithium is the pure process which does not produce airborne or ground waste which would affect the community in a negative way.
Following a detailed explanation of lithium refining, essentially a short interesting Ted talk which you may watch in full on Tesla’s Twitter Livestream, it was time to break ground.
EIGHTEEN PEOPLE JOIN TO BREAK GROUND.
This groundbreaking was like none I’ve ever seen. On a large length of ground, eighteen people lined up with silver shovels. Tesla provided shovels for everyone, and it was a happy, celebratory event full of hope for the future.
This is a wonderful moment that is much needed in Texas. As families heal from the recent tragedies, life goes on, people grow older, get married, have babies, and work to provide for their loved ones. Tesla is becoming a part of modern Texas culture. Governor Abbot said it well,
“There is no greater entrepreneur in the entire world than Elon Musk. We are so proud he calls Texas home. Elon Musk and Tesla are part of the Texas economic juggernaut.”
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Article by Gail Alfar, all rights reserved. All photos Courtesy Tesla, Inc. Gratitude to Drew Baglino, Elon Musk and Ellie in Space for being present at the event. Tesla team including Rohan Patel and Kathleen Hogan.
I’m surprised by how much action I see in the early hours of the morning around Austin. The airport in Austin is busy, the roads fill with people heading to work, and the sun starts rising over my favorite city in the world.
Austin is the second highest-ranking city in the world (Hangzhou, China is #1) for the highest number of millionaire residents, according to a recent study by Henley & Partners.
Opportunities and hope are a big draw for people and Tesla is playing a major role in the shaping of the new Austin. This article will explain why.
GIGA TEXAS: JULY 2020 – PRESENT
The beginnings: In July 2020, I made trips 2 to 3 times a week to East Austin to start observing the groundbreaking of Tesla’s Gigafactory, in Texas. There, amid the dust and the sound of massive earthmoving machines, I met Joe Tegtmeyer, Jeff, Roberts, and Jack Farrington. All three were creating drone videos of Giga Texas’ progress, and all were convinced of the positive impact Tesla was having on Austin.
Tesla’s HQ – in a massive structure: In October 2021, Elon Musk announced that Tesla’s Global HQ would be Giga Texas.
Attracting investors and talent: Meanwhile, Austin attracted the second-highest number of millionaire residents in the world, and many workers and businesses relocated to Texas finding low taxes were a big advantage during a time when many people were working remotely.
Producing best-selling vehicles at scale: Today, Tesla’s beautiful Gigafactory at “1 Tesla Road” is established and producing Model Y vehicles at incredible speed!
In April, Tesla announced Giga Texas is building 4K Model Y per week! This is being done with the hard work of thousands of employees.
Busy gigafactory: An Uber driver told me that “GigaTexas has rock concert vibes, only at 5 AM in the morning! There’s double-decker buses, trams, cars lined up, 4-5 full parking lots, factory full swing!”
AUSTIN IS A LEADER IN JOBS
Austin is the #2 city in the nation for overall employment opportunity and earning potential in a study published by Chekr, an HR tech firm, in April 2023. Having a job, making an honest living is a big part of building a happy, productive life.
Tesla’s 2022 Impact Report says,
“Tesla created over 128,000 direct jobs in a decade. Our employee count has grown approximately 70-fold over the past decade—and we continue to hire extensively. Gigafactory Texas and Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg are already recruiting for thousands of jobs.”
Tesla’s Careers website lists hundreds of jobs in Austin, giving the opportunity not only to make a living with great benefits but also to be a part of building a sustainable energy future.
CONCLUSION
Tesla made Austin its HQ and is a mass producer of both JOBS and VEHICLES.
Austin is a destination for some of the nation’s most successful investors and business people.
The manufacturing at scale we see at Giga Texas is an example for other vehicle manufacturers and also shows how important manufacturing is to the economy of the USA.
Giga Texas will put Austin, Texas on the map as a leader in manufacturing in the USA!
-Pictured below with this article is the beautiful best-selling Model Y
-Elon Musk at Cyber Rodeo in April 2022 delivering the first Model Ys made in Texas
-Giga Texas at 1 Tesla Road, the HQ for Tesla.
Article by Gail Alfar, all rights reserved. Sources referenced in article are Tesla 2022 Impact Report, @HenleyPartners @Checkr @peterdog @tegtmeyer @jackfarrington All Images Courtesy @Tesla Inc.
There’s a lot of talk about whether someone should make their next car a Tesla. I’m like you in that I work hard for my paycheck, and there are few products I have purchased that truly give me Joy!
My Tesla is one of them!
I’m sharing my experience of buying a Tesla with you and walking with you through the steps.
Save with Gail's Referral. Order Tesla products with Gail's Referral Link to earn cash off your order plus exclusive referral benefits. ts.la/gail74884
FIRST DRIVE
The deciding factor for me was the demo drive. Tesla gave me a demo car on a Saturday morning after a nightfall of rain. The roads were sparkling and the car was pristine and I accelerated up a steep hill and around curves while the car held onto the road like rails. I had to adjust back to my combustion car after that and I missed the Tesla so much.
REASONS A TESLA MAKES SENSE
I wanted a Tesla, and I had to sell my husband on it because he wanted to wait.
I emphasized to him how Tesla rates #1 in Safety and Aces all the crash tests.
I told him how little we would pay to power the Tesla – about $6 – $12 at the Tesla Superchargers and only about $30 a month to charge at night at home.
I also let him know about destination charging for when we travel. Destination chargers let you slow charge for free at many hotels overnight.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO GET YOUR TESLA?
Tesla Model Y 7 Seater, Image Courtesy Tesla, Inc.
I suggest you order your Tesla on the premise that you will take delivery in one week. When I got my finances in order (I used a credit union, and Tesla also has a finance option), I went ahead and placed a new order for a Model Y. Ours was delivered a month later. I have heard that ordering a Model Y 7-Seater SUV may take longer (see image above) but is well worth the wait!
My friend recently ordered a Model 3 and Tesla scheduled delivery for the next week. Delivery times vary, and the important part is that you are ready with your financing, and trade-in and have planned out your charging routine ahead of time.
TESLA WILL LET YOU TRADE IN YOUR OLD GAS CAR
Tesla will take your old gas car off your hands.
When you place your order for your Tesla, they will ask you if you have a vehicle to trade in.
My best advice is for you to compare Tesla’s offer to another car buyer’s offer. You can go with the highest bidder.
Save with Gail's Referral. Order Tesla products with Gail's Referral Link to earn cash off your order plus exclusive referral benefits. ts.la/gail74884
TESLA’S EASY TASK LIST IS MADE FOR YOU
When I ordered my Tesla, I received “tasks” from Tesla to complete in stages.
Tesla does their best to make this painless and it is worth having 1) finances prepared ahead of time and 2) how you’ll insure the vehicle planned out. I recommend Tesla insurance as you can opt into it right from the Tesla App and their rates are usually lower. It activates right away and you can change out of it later if you have to.
RECEIVING THE BEAUTIFUL VEHICLE, FINAL STEPS
As a Texas resident, I went to the County Tax office to pay the taxes on the vehicle. The Tax Office held the license plate for the Tesla until I was paid up (this was in Oct. 2022 and may change).
It is hard to explain how awesome it feels to own a Tesla! It seems almost too good to be true!
In a future article, I’ll write about getting to know your Tesla. It took me a while to get fully comfortable with my Tesla because it is very different from a combustion car!
Save with Gail's Referral. Order Tesla products with Gail's Referral Link to earn cash off your order plus exclusive referral benefits. ts.la/gail74884
Elon Musk spoke for about 1 hour on a private Twitter Space on Saturday at about 4:15pm PT to an audience of over 7900 listeners. Tim Dodd, Everyday Astronaut was co-host. The Twitter Space was recorded and can be listened to by anyone who subscribes to Elon Musk.
“It was good to fly this vehicle so we can move on to more advanced designs. Booster 9 is more advanced.” – Elon Musk
Starship Test Flight 1 was an amazing success and the SpaceX team did a great job and there was a tremendous amount of valuable information learned. Elon explained, “We live on a planet with strong gravity and it takes a lot to leave our planet to get to Mars and Starship is a real path to get us to Mars, and that is mind-boggling. We need reasons to wake up in the morning and feel excited about the future.”
HIGHLIGHTS
Starship Test Flight 1 went better than expected
There was minimal launch pad damage
SpaceX will be ready in 6-8 weeks for Starship Test Flight 2
Some detailed notables as mentioned by Elon were,
“Three engines were chosen by the SpaceX system not to start, so the lift-off was with 30 engines as they were shut down due to not being healthy enough.”
“At T + 62 seconds there was some damage but Starship ran okay.”
“At T + 85 steering was lost on Starship.”
A big change is that Booster 9, which will be used in the next flight in 6-8 weeks will use electric motors instead of hydraulics. The electric motors will be more isolated and less likely to fail, “the engines will start faster, throttle up faster and leave the pad faster,” explained Elon.
“The goal for the next flight is to make it to staging, succeed in staging and go into orbit!” – Elon Musk
SOVIET N1 ROCKET
Elon also highlighted the Soviet Union’s N1 program. “The Soviets were onto their A-Game, they were fantastic and their motivation was maximized. Still, the N1 failed and never reached orbit. N1 is the closest to Starship of any Rocket that has ever flown. The cryogenic fuel is actually more risky than kerosene used by N1 and by Falcon 9. It was too expensive to continue, and was probably embarrassing on a national level (so they stopped the program).”
The Soviet N1 used kerosene-based rocket fuel in all three of its main stages. Falcon 9’s first stage incorporates nine Merlin engines and aluminum-lithium alloy tanks containing liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) propellant. In contrast, Starship Super heavy booster is powered by 33 Raptor engines using sub-cooled liquid methane (CH4) and liquid oxygen (LOX).
Elon also explained a robust design as having isolated engines. The next launch will utilize Booster 9, which is exceptional as it has isolated engines.
“My expectation for the next flight is its more likely to reach orbit than not.” – Elon Musk
SPEAKERS
Asking some technical questions were @csi_starbase, John Krause, Mary Liz Bender, Zach Golden Joey Roulette, @Free_Space (Irene Klotz). So check them out!
Thanks to Elon Musk for hosting the Space! This article by Gail Alfar and was first published by Gail Alfar (me) on Twitter.
People await Starship first orbital Launch. Image by the author.
(April 22, 2023) S. Padre Island, Texas
I wanted to write about my first rocket launch. I realized that to best write for you, I had to talk to other people about their experiences. I’m sharing with you some of the beautiful conversations I had at Starship’s first orbital flight test launch. We’ll hear from a SpaceX enthusiast, an ex-NASA engineer, and a SpaceX engineer.
A DREAM COMES TRUE.
When Tesla announced the availability of the first version Model 3 sedan, Jim from Indiana was one of the first to reserve one. Since that date in 2017, Jim has closely been following Elon Musk’s companies and has been supportive of SpaceX. When he heard Starship would launch its first orbital test this year, he had a dream of going there with his daughter.
I saw Jim standing on Isla Blanca State Park beach with his wife, two children and another family friend. Jim’s passion and dedication to supporting SpaceX and its mission to make us multi-planetary is contagious. He wakes up every morning excited about the future!
“I knew I would bring my daughter, and when my wife found out she helped turn it into a family vacation for us all.”
I talked with him on the beach while his children played in the rolling waves at Isla Blanca State Park. Jim is one of many people who came to see the first Starship launch in person on April 20, 2023.
EX-NASA ENGINEER BELIEVES ELON MUSK WILL GET PEOPLE LIVING ON THE MOON.
Fred Becker, an ex-NASA Engineer would not have missed this launch for anything. Fred drove down from Indiana with his tiny Pomeranian in a little carrying pack. When Fred was 16 years old, he watched Apollo 16 land on the Moon on April 16. In a gentle voice, and with a slight sense of humor, Fred told me he wished the Starship launch had been on April 16.
We talked quite a bit, and I felt like I was talking to an old friend, Fred told me,
“NASA has been hamstrung by politics, but Elon Musk is not, for the most part.”
Fred shared with me that he knows Elon Musk is an incredibly amazing and kind person, and if “his mission is to get people living on the moon that’s going to happen.”
As I watched Fred walk away, I thought about how he explained to me that he had played a big role in designing and developing the space shuttle for NASA. Fred came alive when he explained to me his admiration for what Elon Musk is doing. I saw a spark light up in his eye.
There were a lot of NASA folks present at the Starship launch. SpaceX is opening up hope again to them that we will have people living on the moon and beyond!
WORKING FOR SPACEX.
I lingered at Isla Blanca for a while after the launch, the beach started to clear and began to fill up with happy families, kids, toys, and coconut-scented suntan lotion. As I started to walk back to the parking lot, I ran into Justin T., a SpaceX engineer. I asked him what his role was in Starship, and he was gracious enough to explain it to me in terms I could understand. He said he was responsible for connecting the fuel tanks to the Starship, it’s a lot more complicated than that, but I will tell you that he expressed he loved his job and the team he works with.
Justin told me he’s ready to get right back to work for the next launch. He told me he loves working at SpaceX and does not entertain any plans of leaving. He has found his passion and mission. It was incredible to hear him talk and to be able to thank him for his hard work. Without him, the launch would not have been the data-gathering success that it was.
MY THOUGHTS.
I’ve been to Starbase 6 times with most of my family. We’ve camped on the beach 3 times, which is pretty near to the Starship launch site!
When Starship launched, the vibrations in the air and the deep rumbling sound were much more profound than I could have imagined. I could feel the intense pressure in the core of my heart. This was my first launch to ever attend in person! One of my kids was there and when I turned around he had tears of joy streaming down his face. “It made me realize my life priorities!”
If Starship goes to Mars, we have a great chance of passing the great filter and becoming a multi-planetary civilization. If Starship doesn’t make it to Mars, if the program fails, it will still do one thing that is extremely valuable in the lives of people today: Give people hope where there wasn’t any before. Do you love waking up in the morning excited for the future? I know I do. This alone is justification enough for Starship.
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“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.” – President John F. Kennedy, Houston, Texas, September 12, 1962
Elon Musk was asked, “Why should we colonize Mars?”
“Being a multi-planet species and being out there among the stars is important for the long-term survival of humanity and that’s one reason, kind of like life insurance for life collectively, life as we know it. The part that I find personally most motivating is that it creates a sense of adventure and it makes people excited about the future. If you consider two futures: one where we are forever confined to Earth until eventually something terrible happens — or another future where we are out there on many planets, maybe even going beyond the solar system! I think that the second version is incredibly exciting and inspiring… and there need to be reasons to get up in the morning. You know, life cannot just be about solving problems, otherwise, what’s the point? There’s gotta be things that people find inspiring and make life worth living.” – Elon Musk
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Starship First Orbital Flight. Image Courtesy Carlos Nunez
Article by Gail Alfar, please credit accordingly. Thanks to Fred Becker, SpaceX, Elon Musk, and Carlos Nunez Images. Original Article appears on Gail Alfar’s Twitter
(Austin, Texas) Earth Day is a time to think about how rare our planet really is. We are all living on a pale blue dot, circling the sun, and thus far, we have not yet had any conclusive proof there are aliens.
We might be alone, so we should take care of our Earth.
This podcast takes you through a scenic area of Austin. I intentionally drive up the famous “Capitol of Texas Highway” or the “360” in order to show you how beautiful the west side of Austin is. I also share a few of the pictures that people have entered into the Official Tesla Earth Day 2023 Contest. You might also wonder who the winners are. Below, I link you to the amazing winners.
If you would like to know what Elon Musk has said about aliens, I also include his words below from his talk in Dubai.
Gail’s Tesla Podcast #12 Let’s drive together in Austin on FSDbeta & enjoy beautiful pictures people have submitted for “Tesla Earth Day Contest 2023” 🌎🌷🌿 pic.twitter.com/izHSyqaLeK
Elon Musk clarifies if he thinks reports of “sightings” are Aliens.
“I don’t think it’s aliens, no. I do find the whole question of aliens a very interesting one. What is typically called the fermi paradox which is that if the universe is really is as old as science seems to think it is, where are the aliens? Have we really been around for 13.8 billion years? If so, shouldn’t there be aliens all over the place? The crazy thing is I’ve seen no evidence of alien technology or alien life whatsoever and I’d think I’d know. You know, SpaceX, we do a lot. I don’t think anyone knows more about space than me or at least space technology.
But I think it’s actually a troubling thing if there are no aliens as well. What that actually could mean then is that civilization and consciousness is like a tiny candle in a vast darkness and a very vulnerable tiny candle that could easily get blown out. We should therefore take great care with what may very well be this tiny candle in a vast darkness and make sure that it does not go out and that we send the light of consciousness beyond earth and do everything we can to ensure that the light of consciousness does not go out.”
“We should therefore take great care with what may very well be this tiny candle in a vast darkness and make sure that it does not go out and that we send the light of consciousness beyond earth and do everything we can to ensure that the light of consciousness does not go out.” – Elon Musk
Tesla Earth Day Winners
To view the winning Tesla Earth Day photos, click HERE or see them on Tesla Official Instagram HERE.
I love taking time to soak up the genius of Tesla Master Plan 3. I think you’ll also enjoy this article as we look together at the intricate plans Tesla has for a cleaner, happier, sustainable world. For this article, I’ll simplify the Tesla vehicle powertrain talk by Colin Campbell (VP Tesla Powertrain) for your understanding. I also talked with a computer engineer to better understand it myself and hopefully, this article will delight you!
EFFICIENCY MEANS MORE AT TESLA. DEVELOPING. MANUFACTURING. REFINING. SCALING.
When we think of vehicle efficiency, we think of how far a vehicle can drive.
At Tesla Investor Day, Campbell explained to us how Tesla vehicles go 25 – 30% further than other EVs in the same class. Tesla’s are more efficient!
He also showed that while efficiency does mean reducing how much energy the car uses, it also means howTesla “develops, manufactures, refines and scales the powertrain for their cars.”
The Model 3 and Y powertrain is a great example of this broader meaning of efficiency.
Since Tesla launched the Model 3 in 2017 they have continuously improved the powertrain and the factory that builds it. Today, the drive unit (the engine of the car) is 20% lighter for the same amount of power. Tesla also uses 25% less “heavy rare earths” than when they started. (We’ll learn more about Tesla and their plans for rare earth use later in this article.)
The powertrain factory at Giga Texas is 75% smaller and 65% cheaper than Tesla’s original factory build in California. Tesla achieved this without making compromises in power/efficiency.
THE SCRUM IN RUGBY.
If you’re familiar with American football, the rugby scrum is analogous to a team huddle, where the attacking team regroups to plan their next play. No matter which game you are playing (rugby, football or computer project management), the idea of the scrum is the same.
Tesla has mastered the scrum.
Here’s how Campbell explained how Tesla designs the whole vehicle and entire factory together as one company,
“We have small and highly capable teams and to make a critical decision. We have the battery cell chemists, the mechanical engineers, the manufacturing engineers, the supply chain team, the automation designers, the software programmers, all in one room working together in real time. That allows us to make decisions that are best for the whole car and to make them really fast and that approach is unlike traditional automotive engineering which is really fractured.”
What Campbell described at Investor Day is a highly agile approach. This is in contrast to the legacy way of making cars.
“If you were to go buy a premium German electric car, the engineers who designed the drive inverter in that car, they did not work for that car company, they work for a contractor and at Tesla we design the entire car and the factory that built it.”
TESLA IN-HOUSE DESIGN. TRANSISTOR PACKAGES. MICROPROCESSORS.
Campbell carefully described how the inside of the charger in a Tesla has transistor packages (tiny square semiconductors on the circuit board) and every electron that moves you down the road flows through one of these packages.
Tesla designed their own custom package using a uniquely fast semiconductor: Silicon Carbide. The Silicon Carbide wafer can extract twice as much heat out of that package as what Tesla could buy off the shelf. This means that what’s inside those transistor packages can be much smaller. “Silicon carbide is an amazing semiconductor but it’s also expensive and it’s really hard to scale, so using less of it is a big win for us!”
Campbell described the process of orchestrating all the transistors to switch in the right ways as “computationally extremely intensive.” But Tesla did it, and it was done first with 4 microprocessors. And that was not good enough for Tesla. The team came up with a way to do the same job with just ONE microprocessor.
ONE MICROPROCESSOR DOES THE JOB OF FOUR.
Tesla developed its own custom microprocessor, replacing 4 microprocessors on the circuit board with one. Campbell said, “It is purpose-built for high-power electronics it’s half the cost and it does in just 1, the job of all those 4.” As a result, Tesla was able to cut both the cost and the size of the chargers in half. No other car manufacturer has this level of expertise in high-power electronics.
TESLA BUILDS CUSTOM SOFTWARE TO OPTIMIZE THE DRIVE UNIT.
In addition to the work that Tesla does in-house in hardware, they do work in-house on software.
If you take a cross-section of the Drive Unit for Model 3, there is a stator and a rotor and they’re both responsible for the core function of the drive unit, which is to convert electricity into motion.
Tesla’s custom software creates a simulation with the rotating magnetic field that is responsible for that conversion. Getting that simulation exactly right is central to the cost, weight, size, and even the sound of the drive unit.
“You can buy software that will do all of this, but our tools are faster and they’re more accurate and it was not easy to do and that allows us to quickly iterate through millions of possible driving unit designs to find the best one,” explains Campbell.
Campbell has his audience’s attention as he explains how Tesla excels because they integrate work that is often farmed out. “When you are making a new product, it’s not enough to think about the product itself you have to think about how you will make it at scale.”
At Tesla, their powertrain and powertrain manufacturing equipment are both designed under one roof. The engineers who are designing the motor are in the same room as the engineers who are designing the machine that’s going to put that motor together, and that collaboration pushes them from day 1 to design products that are not only high-performance but that are really easy to assemble.
Looking forward, vehicles made at Giga Mexico will be another big improvement.
FUTURE. HOW TESLA IS CREATING A MORE AFFORDABLE CAR.
How can the next-generation vehicle cost less to build? The next-gen vehicle will contain Silicon Carbide transistors. You might ask, “But aren’t those too expensive?” They are expensive AND Tesla figured out a way to use 75% less without compromising the performance or the efficiency of the car.
People also ask, “What about shortages of battery cell supplies?” Tesla solved this by creating a new powertrain that is compatible with any battery chemistry. This allows Tesla to have flexibility in battery sourcing.
“Aren’t drive units expensive?” They are. And Tesla’s team found a way to reduce the drive unit cost to about $1000. No other automaker is even close to that number!
FUTURE. SCALING PRODUCTION FASTER.
The bigger a factory is, the longer it takes to build. Tesla found a way to build the same number of cars from a smaller factory. Remember Master Plan 3 and the need to scale production faster? Being able to build a smaller factory faster that makes the same number of cars helps move our world towards a sustainable future much faster.
As Campbell talked, you could see Giga Texas’ production line behind him building Model Ys. “Our next powertrain factory is 50% smaller than the one that’s behind me today even though it has the same capacity. All these improvements are going to be transformative for the adoption of EVs and our ability to scale them.”
FUTURE. ELECTRIC MOTOR WITH NO RARE EARTHS.
Tesla’s next drive unit will be just as efficient and cost less to build and also will not use any rare earth materials. Campbell explains, “As the world transitions to clean energy, demand for rare earths is really increasing dramatically and not only is it going to be a little hard to meet that demand but mining that rare earth, it has environmental and health risks, so we want to do even better than this, we have designed our next drive unit which uses a permanent magnet motor to not use any rare earth materials at all.”
MASTER PLAN.
So how does all this fit into Master Plan 3? Tesla can build lower-cost products that are still efficient and compelling and they can be built at scale. Tesla will use less constrained commodities, less Silicon Carbide, and less rare earth.
Giga Mexico and other next-gen factories will be built quickly and will be more compact while also being high-output.
Tesla will build easy-to-scale powertrains all the way up to the levels that Elon Musk and Drew Baglino mentioned at the beginning of Investor Day.
Campbell ended with thanking the powertrain team, “This achievement, like all of the achievements that I mentioned today, is only possible because of the incredible people on our powertrain teams. They are absolutely committed to the cause of sustainable energy and that is why we can do with no other company can do.”
For More Information:
I’ve included Links if you want to learn more or watch Colin Campbell, (Tesla’s brilliant VP of Powertrain Engineering) discuss this on Investor’s Day at Giga Texas.
Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – April 16, 2023. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support Tesla and Elon Musk in both making life better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization. I write this and all my articles myself without the use of AI/ChatGPT.
Note the people that Tesla AI has sensed in this image of the screen. Taken April 13, 2023.
Construction Zone Success
(Austin, Texas) This episode shows Model Y running Fsd beta version 11.3.6. Tesla is continuously updating it’s AI software. Here, we begin in a parking lot next to “Honest Mary’s” restaurant. The car is put into FSD beta by pressing down in the right-hand stalk twice rapidly. The car moves through the parking lot and it encounters a lot of unexpected construction. As it turns right, the driver is ready to disengage the software if need be, but it is not needed, as the Tesla navigates around and past the construction successfully.
Gail’s Tesla Podcast #11 Let’s take FSDbeta v11.3.6 on a complex ride in Austin: Construction, 2 unmarked Parking Lots, 2 Restaurants and a busy Store ❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/wDGZaqw0h5
The vehicle navigates, with zero disengagement from a local church in Austin to a very busy Trader Joe’s parking lot. The next destination is Five Guys Burgers.
This episode is probably best watched when you are not too hungry.
When the vehicle arrives at Five Guys, there are pedestrians crossing the street. Each person is sensed by Tesla’s Ai software, a testament to the high importance of safety in the entire realm of Tesla products.
Austin at sunset, image courtesy Aeriel Austin, Instagram
Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author and podcaster is to support Tesla (the most American vehicle manufacturer) and Elon Musk in both making life better on Earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization.
Tesla Solar, Megapacks, image Courtesy Tesla, Inc.
Tesla’s Master Plan Part 3 was published April 5 and I’m excited to share the main points with you. The link for you to read it is here, and it is 41 pages. I’ll simplify it for you and share my thoughts. I also hope you’ll be able to sit, back, relax, make yourself a little snack (how about an Apple Danish?) and enjoy this read!
Introduction: Today’s Dirty Energy Economy
Master Plan Part 3 starts out by raising awareness about our current energy economy. Many of us may not be fully aware of how inefficient and expensive it is to maintain our world’s current energy economy. We are living in a time where MOST energy is supplied by fossil fuels (81%). What causes alarm for me is how much of that energy is wasted! A shocking 64% is wasted. How is this possible? Three reasons:
Extraction and refining oil uses energy
When electricity is generated, there are transformation losses
Internal combustion engine vehicles and natural gas furnaces have losses due to inefficient use
In the end, only 36% of the primary energy supply produces useful work or heat for our world’s economy. This is very wasteful, and Tesla has a fabulous approach to correcting this problem.
“There is a clear path to a sustainable energy Earth.
It doesn’t require destroying natural habitats.
It doesn’t require us to be austere and stop using electricity and be in the cold or anything.
The story, and I think this holds together quite well – it will be actually published in a detailed white paper with all of our assumptions and calculations — is that there is a clear path to a fully sustainable earth with abundance.” – Elon Musk
Quick View of the Plan to Eliminate Fossil Fuels
Master Plan Part 3 is the whitepaper Elon Musk mentioned on March 1. It is Tesla’s brilliant plan to eliminate fossil fuel use in our world. I’ll summarize the 4 areas which are: Transportation, Power for Homes and Businesses, Power for Massive Industrial Processes, and Power needed to build a sustainable energy economy.
Transportation will be powered by batteries that store energy that comes mostly from solar.. If you are reading this you’re already familiar with how Tesla is accelerating passenger car production. We’ll see this happen faster with light-duty trucks and Class 8 semis, Tesla says,
“Electric vehicles are approximately 4x more efficient than internal combustion engine vehicles due to higher powertrain efficiency, regenerative braking capability, and optimized platform design.”
Batteries and Charging for Cargo Ships: Cargo ships and all other bulk carriers will need to be powered by batteries. If shipping were a country, it would be the world’s 8th-biggest emitter of CO2.
“Both continental & intercontinental ocean shipping can be electrified by optimizing design speed & routes to enable smaller batteries w/ more frequent charge stops on long routes” – Tesla Master Plan 3
If shipping were a country, it would be the world’s 8th biggest emitter of CO2.
Synthetic Fuel for Planes: Long-distance airplane flights can be powered by synthetic fuels. Tesla says, “Longer distance flights, estimated as 80% of air travel energy consumption can be powered by synthetic fuels generated from excess renewable electricity leveraging the Fischer-Tropsch process, which uses a mixture of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2) to synthesize a wide variety of liquid hydrocarbons, and has been demonstrated as a viable pathway for synthetic jet fuel synthesis.”
Power for Homes, Businesses and Industry
Two residential air source heat pumps
You may be familiar with heat pumps. Heat pumps are already in use in many homes, apartments and commercial buildings as well as in many industrial processes.
Instead of generating heat, like a gas furnace or boiler does, a heat pump uses electricity to move heat from one place to another. Because they’re not generating heat, heat pumps are highly efficient and use much less energy than a furnace or a boiler!
Heat pumps transfer heat using a system that’s similar to a refrigerator or an air conditioning unit. In the summer, they keep buildings cool by absorbing heat inside and releasing it outdoors. In the winter, the process is reversed and the heat pump is able to absorb heat from the outside and bring it indoors.
I just learned that gas furnace heating systems can be retrofitted with air source heat pumps. Tesla says, “Air source heat pumps are the most suitable technology for retrofitting gas furnaces in existing homes,” and “Gas furnaces create heat by burning natural gas. They have an annual fuel utilization efficiency of ~90%. Therefore, heat pumps use ~3x less energy than gas furnaces.”
Power for Massive Industrial Processes
In everyday life we don’t think about the energy it takes to produce many of the things we use daily. This area of Master Plan Part 3 addresses clean energy for industrial processes.
Tesla explains that “Industrial processes up to ~200C, such as food, paper, textile and wood industries can benefit from the efficiency gains offered by heat pumps.”
Some industrial processes require temperatures above 200C such as steel, chemical, fertilizer and cement production and this is where Tesla explains the power of electric resistance heating, electric arc furnaces and thermal storage.
Most of the steel production industry in the USA today uses electric arc furnaces. Master Plan 3 goes into great detail about thermal storage. I would summarize this by saying there are multiple ways to store thermal energy and Tesla shows them all and specifically details water, molten salt and air.
Tesla also links to a wonderful explanation of thermal energy storage using carbon blocks by Antora Energy and a paper by Sandia National Labs that explains, “sensible thermal storage includes storing heat in liquids such as molten salts and in solids such as concrete blocks, rocks, or sand-like particles.”
Thermal energy stored in carbon blocks. Image courtesy Antora Energy.
Green Hydrogen Production and Storage
Hydrogen is needed for powering steel and fertilizer production. But the catch is that hydrogen is produced from coal, oil and natural gas. Master Plan 3 has a solution for that. Tesla explains, “Green hydrogen can be produced via the electrolysis of water (high energy intensity, no carbon-containing products consumed/produced) or via methane pyrolysis (lower energy intensity, produces a solid carbon-black byproduct that could be converted into useful carbon-based products).”
Storage of Green Hydrogen will be important and I really like the Master Plan 3 solution to this:
“Underground gas storage facilities used today for natural gas storage can be retrofitted for hydrogen storage; the modeled U.S. hydrogen storage requires ~30% of existing U.S. underground gas storage facilities.” – Master Plan 3
An underground gas storage facility in California
Power Needed To Build The Sustainable Energy Economy
Achieving Master Plan 3 will require about 4 Petawatt-hour/year (PWh/year) of sustainable power to manufacture the batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines which are required. This shows us how comprehensive Master Plan 3 is and that it sets realistic and achievable expectations. I had to look up Petawatt, and it is a unit of power measurement system where 1 Petawatt = 1015 watts. Petawatt-hours are large enough to conveniently express the annual electricity generation for whole countries and the world energy consumption.
What a Fully Sustainable Energy Economy Looks Like
Master Plan 3 pages 13-17 are an in-depth model of a fully sustainable energy economy in the USA. There are 6 graphs/tables that detail things like energy demand, energy capacity, demand in various regions of the USA, solar energy curtailment and seasonal hydrogen storage needs. My favorite graphic in this section is Table 3, it shows wind and solar average historical capacity factor and fully electrified economy demand by region.
Wind and solar average historical capacity factor, and fully electrified economy demand by region, Image courtesy Tesla Master Plan Part 3.
Regarding Investor’s Day, Elon Musk emphasized that it was a message for the people and life of Earth.
“Looking forward to Tesla Investor Day on March 1. By this, we mean the broadest definition of investor, as in the people & life of Earth. It will be a message of good hope & positivity for the future.” – Elon Musk
Electrification Demand In The USA And In The World
Master Plan Part 3 is for the entire world and to estimate the world’s needs for power generation and storage needs, Tesla simplified the process by scaling the USA resource mix 6 times.
“Applying the 6 steps to the world’s energy flow would displace all 125 PWh/year of fossil fuels used for energy use and replace them with 66 PWh/year of sustainably generated electricity.” – Tesla Master Plan Part 3
Cathode Components Needed for Batteries for Vehicles, Ships, and Planes
This is a delightful part of Master Plan Part 3 because Tesla revealed some details about three products under development. These are the Compact car, Commercial/Passenger Van, and the Tesla Bus!
For batteries, Tesla says standard-range vehicles can utilize the lower energy density chemistries (LFP), whereas long-range vehicles require higher energy density chemistries (high nickel).
Vehicle Fleet Breakdown. Image courtesy Tesla, Master Plan Part 3
Master Plan 3 shows that long-range ships will need a higher density Nickel and Manganese-based cathode while short-range ships will require a lower energy density LFP cathode.
20% of the Airplane fleet flies short range and that portion can be electrified with 7MWh packs with High Nickle cathodes.
How much Investment is required?
Pages 26-29 of Master Plan 3 on investment needed for manufacturing facilities, mining and refining operations are fascinating to study. If you want details please see Tesla’s tables 12 and 13a,b and c.
The biggest takeaway from this section is that a sustainable energy economy is 60% the cost of continuing fossil fuel investments!
Investment Comparison. Image courtesy Tesla, Master Plan Part 3
Amount of Land Area needed
At first, I thought Tesla’s Table 14 on page 30 was missing something! As you can see below, the total land needed to power our world with solar and wind is tiny! Tesla says, “The global solar panel fleet of 18.3TeraWatts will require roughly 71.4 million acres or 0.19% of the total 36.8 billion acres global land area.” For wind, “the global wind turbine fleet of 12.2TW will require an estimated 9.2 million acres or 0.02% of total land area.”
Solar and Wind Direct Land Area. Image courtesy Tesla, Master Plan Part 3
What Materials Are Required to Power and Connect the Grid?
The last section of Master Plan Part 3 contains about 10 tables/figures that list and detail the various materials and tonnage required for solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, transmission and generation as well as what is needed to build the approximately 60 million circuit miles that will need to be added or reconductored globally to achieve a fully sustainable, electrified global economy.
My favorite exhibit in this last section is Figure 18, which shows the global minerals reserve/resource base and how public perception often falsely thinks that the global reserve of minerals will be seriously depleted. In reality, global reserves will increase as the figure demonstrates.
Tesla explains, “Resources and Reserves have historically increased – that is, when a mineral is in demand, there is more incentive to look for it and more is discovered.”
Global Minerals Reserve/Resource base – Correcting Public Perception. Image courtesy Tesla Master Plan Part 3.
CONCLUSION
My experience renting in California in my college days in the 1990’s was always with gas furnaces in old buildings and looking back I think they were never created to be a long-term heating solution. I think they were a fast “track home” solution (70-80 years ago) created to incorporate a limited resource (gas) that will run out. Some sources say natural gas will run out by about the year 2100 and others give it less time. New buildings in California and elsewhere are still being built with gas furnaces, in fact California subsidies that incentivized builders to install gas lines to new buildings were common and are being phased out this year (2023).
The reason I mention my trivial story is that we all have experience with energy. It is part of all our daily lives. I’ll leave you with this statement from Elon Musk about Master Plan 3:
“It’s about scaling. How do we scale? How do we get to that fully sustainable energy economy? And what tonnage do we need of what materials? And what is maybe the best way to get all of those materials and turn them into batteries? But the fundamental governor of the rate at which we can transition to sustainability is the rate at which we can grow the output of lithium-ion batteries.” – Elon Musk discussing Master Plan Part 3 on Johnna Crider’s Podcast
Austin Q2 Stadium. Image courtesy Aerial Austin.
Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – April 8, 2023. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author is to support Tesla and Elon Musk in both making life better on earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization. I write this and all my articles myself without the use of AI/ChatGPT.
Ellie in Space and Gail Alfar after the Podcast on Tesla V11 FSD beta.
Ellie in Space Joins us on the Podcast
For this Podcast Episode, we are joined by citizen journalist Space reporter Ellie in Space. Ellie is recovering from a broken femur in which she has undergone several hospitalizations. She has shared many details about her journey to physical recovery on her X account and her Youtube channel.
For this ride, we experience the firsthand delight of Ellie on her first-ever ride in a Tesla on FSD beta.
We are running Version 11 in the very hectic area of South Lamar and the video features an unprotected left turn on a road that would make even a grown man cry. The vehicle is able to choose the exact moment when it should smoothly and quickly ease between traffic to get us to the famed Zilker Park.
I think you’ll enjoy watching and hopefully, you will also be inspired that we will one day see a time when all cars are fully autonomous. The human race will one day benefit immensely from the hard work that Tesla Engineers are putting into developing the most advanced real-world AI software known.
Gail's Tesla Podcast #10 Guest: Ellie in Space FSD beta V11 and a wild unprotected Left on busy South Lamar in ATX “ahhHH!” – @esherifftvpic.twitter.com/bPDf6pudfK
Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author and podcaster is to support Tesla (the most American vehicle manufacturer) and Elon Musk in both making life better on Earth for humans and becoming a space-fairing civilization.
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