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.
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, 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.
TESLA’S EASY TASK LIST IS MADE FOR YOU
When I ordered my Tesla, I received 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 awhile to get fully comfortable with my Tesla because it is very different from a combustion car!
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.
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!
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
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.
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Elon Musk with Black Original Roadster at Giga Texas’ Cyber Rodeo on April 7, 2022 [credit Josh West]
A few days ago Tesla released a video that featured the Giga Texas Cyber Rodeo and it included these words from Elon Musk,
“When we first started out at Tesla, I thought optimistically there was a 10% chance of succeeding, and here we are today, damn!
“We are really entering a new phase of Tesla’s future, with six giant factories around the world, and scaling to extreme size, as you can see from this building, it’s not small.
“This is the machine that builds the machine, and it’s the latest version of the machine that builds the machine. I’ve said it before, that the factory is the product. You know, prototypes require imagination, and they’re not easy, but relative to production, prototypes are easy. Production is hard.
“And this building is the most advanced car factory that earth has ever seen.
Cyber Rodeo was a wonderful Celebration!
Cyber Rodeo was a celebration of the opening of Giga Texas, the most advanced car factory in the world today. When I walked up the entrance stairs into Giga Texas on April 7, what impressed me was that Tesla made a complex manufacturing process look simple. So, I created this three part article series, in the hopes that it will help in understanding Giga Texas.
Tesla builds one car body every 45 seconds
Model Y body in white will head to the paint shop [credit: Tesla Q1 2022 Update]
At the Cyber Rodeo, Tesla explained,
Giga Texas has the highest capacity line for building the car body that Tesla has ever built.
Robots conduct highly precise and rapid movements in an extremely dense space.
Tesla can build one car body every 45 seconds.
This is twice as many vehicles per week compared to previous lines that took up much more space.
Giga Texas’ Paint Shop is Optimized for Speed & Scalability
Tesla’s paint shop is at the center of a highly integrated manufacturing process.
Tesla has reduced time and space between each step
The paint shop is designed and optimized for speed and scalability
The paint shop is nearly 10% denser, requiring fewer vehicle turns than current lines
Layers of paint that are thinner than a human hair form a colorful skin to protect the Model Y
Walking around the Gigafactory
Tesla allowed visitors to walk along the manufacturing line at Cyber Rodeo on April 7, 2022 [credit: Gail Alfar]
Cyber Rodeo was an opportunity to explore most of the robotic assembly areas. This experience was explained by Chris Anderson of TED Talks, who also interviewed Elon Musk at the gigafactory. Chris said,
This is Elon Musk‘s famous machine that builds machine and his view, the secret to a sustainable future!
Its not just making an electric car its making a system that churns out huge numbers of electric cars with a margin so that they can fund further growth.
You can watch Chris’ full interview of Elon Musk at Giga Texas here [recorded on April 6, 2022].
Tesla Thanks Supporters
Since 2003, Tesla employees have defied the odds by accomplishing what others have deemed impossible. By working from first-principles and ignoring bureaucratic conventions, the Tesla team has come together in an effort to accomplish our global mission of accelerating the transition to sustainable energy. We’ve been supported by thousands of fans and customers along the way. Thank you all for believing in us.
My thoughts
Elon Musk was not exaggerating when he said, “And this building is the most advanced car factory that earth has ever seen.” According to my estimation after I discussed with Joe Tegtmeyer, [he has documented progress since the beginning], Cyber Rodeo likely only included 1/3 of just one of four floors of Giga Texas. I think the gigafactory will exceed production expectations because of its size and ability to adapt fast. I like that the Model Y is such a fun car, as this makes the transition to all-electric vehicles enjoyable. Thanks to Elon Musks’ vision, Tesla cars make people happy and joyous. I love this quote from Elon Musk,
What really gets me excited is when people experience delight with the product. I don’t think there are all that many things where you really experience delight and if you can make the product good enough that it far exceeds peoples expectations, I think that’s amazing.
The Tesla Cyber Rodeo inspired me to create this series. Part #1 shows details on how Giga Texas makes front and rear castings and seats. Part #2 explains how Tesla builds batteries into assemblies to form a structural pack to connect the front to the rear casting. Thank you for reading the final part of my series and for being an amazing supporter of Tesla and Elon Musk!
Welcome to Cyber Rodeo Anthology, Part #2. Why not slow down and fix a nice snack, sit for a while and join me to understand better what goes into making a Tesla!
Part #1 of this series showed details on how Giga Texas makes front and rear castings and seats. Part #2 is about how Tesla builds batteries into assemblies to form a structural pack to connect the front to the rear casting. Only Tesla does this, and they only do it with the Model Y so far.
The rodeo took place on April 7, 2022, at Tesla HQ on 1 Tesla Road, Austin, Texas, and showcased almost all aspects of how Elon Musk is mass-producing electric vehicles. The rodeo was unique and used colors, light, and music. Employees were available to explain different aspects of the manufacturing process.
Tesla Builds 4680 Batteries into the Structural Pack
Tesla builds 4680 batteries [left and center], which then form part of the structural pack, right. [Photo credit @GerberKawasaki]
Batteries are first built, then they are connected together in strings, as shown above, next they move to form the inner strength of the structural pack as seen above on the right. All of this work is done by robots.
Battery and Subframe Marraige
Battery and Subframe Marriage takes one simple step at Gigafactory Texas [Photo Credit @DirtyTesla ]
Tesla uses the structural pack as shown above, as the floor. They simultaneously install the front and rear subframe assemblies with the batteries, seats, and interior trimmings. This saves time, space, and resources, making assembly processes on the rest of the line more efficient and ergonomic.
Meet the 4680 Batteries
Tesla 4680 Batteries [above] have 5x greater energy capacity than other batteries. This makes manufacturing a vehicle easier for Tesla. Tesla vehicles are always getting better, and most of those differences are subtle ones from one car generation to the next. As a Tesla owner, I won’t need to be concerned about which battery type lies underneath my drive. The vehicle’s software has the capacity to come close to matching my vehicle’s function to most newer ones.
Battery assembly explained at Gigafactory Texas [Photo Credit @DirtyTesla ].
At the rodeo, Tesla explained that Battery Assembly goes from raw to ready in this way,
Made at Gigafactory Texas, our new 4680 lowers the cost per kilowatt hour. We have everything we need under one roof to produce and assemble the first high volume structural battery pack using our fully integrated process. The structural pack greatly reduces the number of parts used in both the battery pack and the car, allowing our pack manufacturing line to be less than half the size of previous factories.
TESLA
Safety is #1 for Tesla
Seats attach directly to the structural pack [Photo credit of SEATS ON PACK Sawyer Merritt].
Many things are happening at once to create a Model Y at Giga Texas. The above picture shows the seats attached directly to the structural [battery] pack.
The more I reflect on the Tesla Cyber Rodeo experience, the more I think of the gigafactory in terms of 3D engineering. So, while one part of the Model Y is being built in one part of the gigafactory, many other parts of the same car are being built in other parts of the enormous building. In this way, the parts converge together to create Model Y. No other manufacturing system compares to this.
Thank you for reading this article, it is the 2nd in a multi-part series I am writing titled ‘Cyber Rodeo Anthology.’ I know you are here because you believe in the mission of Tesla. Thank you for your role in helping our world be a better place!
If you want to know more about Tesla, check out their recent feature on Giga Texas about jobs and more here. Tesla Quarter One 2022 Shareholder’s Deck is here.
Gail Alfar [edited by Sarah Alfar], Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – April 23, 2022 – All Rights Reserved
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Austin Model Y Production (credit Jeff Roberts, February 17, 2022)
(Austin, Texas) 17 Feb 2022. Today was a very exciting day, as it marks the day when numerous made in the USA Model Y emerged directly from Giga Texas. Tesla employees parked rows of Model Y in a large parking area just south of Giga Texas, possibly because they have now run out of room to store them inside the gigafactory.
All of the Model Y were covered, for reasons unknown. This could possibly just be to protect them from weather exposure, or possibly because Tesla has not yet certified their vehicles for delivery to customers yet. Vehicles spotted today were of colors Solid Black and Deep Blue Metallic.
It is thought that Giga Texas has produced Model Y in all of their offered colors, as a car carrier truck was spotted recently loaded with all variants.
Jeff Roberts contacted me today after he photographed these beautiful American made vehicles. I asked him how he felt seeing these emerge straight out of Giga Texas for the first time. “I had seen new Model Y in the Westside parking lot, and that was cool, and I had seen a full load of Ys on a car carrier with Texas plates, but until you see them driving out of the factory, you always wonder in the back of your mind – are these production vehicles that were made at Giga Texas? – but now we know 100% and that felt so exhilarating! I’m on cloud nine!” stated Joe.
Currently, the paint colors that Tesla offers at no extra cost are Midnight Silver Metallic and Pearl White Multi-Coat. Tesla also provides the 21’’ Überturbine Wheels for no extra charge with the performance version. Model Y has two independent motors that digitally control torque to the front and rear wheels. The Performance Version of the Y goes from 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds. Tesla’s website states: “Model Y is fully electric, so you never need to visit a gas station again. If you charge overnight at home, you can wake up to a full battery every morning. And when you’re on the road, it’s easy to plug in along the way—at any public station or with the Tesla charging network. We currently have over 30,000 Superchargers worldwide, with six new locations opening every week.”
Tesla Model Y Supercharging (Credit: Tesla)
Why I created this blog
I love to share good vibes about Tesla, Giga Texas, Tesla China & Tesla Solar. I really do believe our future is bright! “What’s Up Tesla” is one way that I support the mission of Tesla and Elon Musk. It is also my way of preserving what I consider major milestones for Giga Texas. There is truly a long road ahead for Tesla!
Having fun painting the Flying Model Y
Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – February 17, 2022. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author 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.
Header Image Red Model Y Supercharging Credit: Tesla
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(Austin, Texas) by guest contributor Joe Tegtmeyer
Jow Tegtmeyer is a dedicated Tesla enthusiast and highly skilled drone operator. Today he shared observations of Tesla Giga Texas with me that I would like to pass along to anyone interested. Thankfully, Joe gave me his permission to do this.
Giga Texas South End
The morning started out with strong winds, low clouds but warm temperatures. Immediately noticeable when I arrived at Tesla Road is that something palpable has changed on the site.
Tesla Giga Texas North End
Most, if not all of the equipment, cranes, materials, and trash containers have been removed from the north and northeast sides of the casting, paint, and battery cell structure, and the stamping test part containers and other materials have been removed from the southeast corner of the stamping machine area. Other areas around the main factory building similarly look much cleaned up. Only one small crane was lifting drywall up onto the loading platforms which themselves look much more “clean” with all of the plastic and extraneous structures now removed.
As I said, it is immediately noticeable today!
Tesla Giga Texas 4680 battery production area
We also get a good look into the 4680 battery production area on the 3rd floor of the battery cell structure this morning. We see quite a bit more has been installed and most appear operating. There was also activity of workers in this area tending to the machines, possibly doing tests or calibrations. It appears more “completed” for lack of a better word and more of the equipment appears to be operating. All great signs!
Here are some other highlights from around the site this windy morning:
Tesla Giga Texas South End
– On the south end, we see quite a bit of concrete has been poured and is well on it’s way to curing, while some of the remaining phase 2 area forms and rebar are in preparation to complete this area. The stormwater pipe install in this area also is nearing completion.
– The south end of the General assembly structure also is much cleaner with most equipment and materials relocated to the east side staging areas. We look briefly into the two large openings on this end (ground level) and see more materials moved inside here as well. Overall, the south end looks much “cleaner” and organized this morning.
– On the east side of the stamping area, most of the AIDA stamping press crates and parts are now gone, with just a few remaining near the disassembled gantry crane. The bins that were used for test parts in this area are also noticeably absent, which may mean they have moved to a different phase of operations.
– On the roof of the General Assembly structure, we see solar panel installation continuing, but also nearby, we see crews working on the HVAC large ducting over the body-white structure. The vents themselves were emitting quite a lot of vapor, but it was quickly blown away due to the strong winds.
– On the north end of the battery cell, we also see more wall panels have been added, almost finishing off this area (except where the temporary loading platforms are). Only three much smaller loading docks are now visible on the ground level.
– The electrical conduit installation on the northeast of the casting structure is now surrounded by concrete barriers and overall this area also presents a much cleaner appearance.
– On the east parking lot area, we see the earthwork nearest to the powerlines has moved farther north and now reaches the new Tesla Road. The parking lot also had a lot of cars parked on the eastern half, indicating lots of activity.
– The trailer area just south of the electrical sub-station also has much of the equipment and other vehicles formerly located on the north end of the main building, possibly indicating a shift in where this equipment will now be stored.
– The far northeast clearing area is buzzing with activity this early morning with many earthmovers and excavators at work removing hills, ponds and getting ready to improve the overall grade of the land area.
Overall, there is definitely something that has changed in the construction of Giga Texas, and it seems we may be moving into a new phase of operations, possibly related to Model Y production-ready to pick up soon.
Distinct Tesla T at the entrance to Giga Texas
Gail’s Thoughts on today:
Tesla Model Y production in Texas is going to move Tesla into a new and brighter phase that will put this factory on the global stage. Giga Texas will take center stage as it ramps up production. Currently, Giga Shanghai leads in production, and my take is that operations in Austin likely benefitted from talent from both Tesla China and talent from Giga Berlin Tesla team (as well as Tesla Fremont of course). This places Giga Texas in a position to serve as a flagship model for future operations.
Gail Alfar, Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – February 16, 2022 – All Rights Reserved
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Some weeks ago I went to a drive-in movie. The Twilight Drive-In sits atop a building in downtown Austin. It has a great view of the city. It was a cold evening, and I put the Tesla in CAMP mode and enjoyed a Pepsi and some Popcorn. It was the perfect setting for a fast-moving action movie.
It was word-of-mouth that led me to go see True Romance. Word-of-mouth is also how people first hear about Tesla. It is the best form of advertising!
“Tesla does not advertise or pay for endorsements. Instead, we use that money to make the product great.” Elon Musk
Money Spent Making a Better Product
Elon Musk knew from the beginning that money is better spent on making a better vehicle than on advertising. There are so many wonderful qualities about Model Y, it is such a beautiful vehicle.
Tesla’s approach is to spend effort on making a product that generates word-of-mouth. In dollar amounts, they spend $0 on advertising. Instead, their relentless dedication to creating the best product possible is worth pure gold in the form of word-of-mouth. When I was in film school at CSULB, one of my professors explained that nothing creates a box office hit more than a great film that makes you talk about it after you watch it. No amount of advertising compares to word-of-mouth.
Other vehicle manufacturers spend money to attempt to convince us their product is worth our money. Subaru of America is a great case study in this. Subaru spent over $100 million on advertising in digital, print, and national TV in the last year. They created a campaign to evoke feelings of warmth and benevolence and use the word ‘love’ often. Tesla takes a better approach,
Yeah, what we’re seeing is that word-of-mouth is more than enough to drive our demand in excess of production. We have no plans to advertise at this time. At some point in the future, we may do advertising not in the traditional sense but more to just inform people and make sure they are aware of the product, but not engage in the typical trickery that is commonplace in advertising. Elon MuskQ3 Earnings Call in 2019
Tesla vehicles are wonderful for travel, something many people also share by word-of-mouth and on social media. Tesla obviously won’t advertise it, but the Model Y would make an incredible “Adventure Vehicle.” A good friend and I came up with this idea,
“Model Y Adventure option”:
Forest Green Paint
Roof and Bike Racks
All-Terrain Tires, Mudflaps
“Off-Road” assist with 7″ Ground Clearance (comes standard already)
Model Y can sleep two people and a dog in comfort. Model Y is perfect for driving on dirt, sand, gravel, and snow. It has superb traction control, especially on ice.
Tesla Model Y on the Spiral Jetty in Utah
Marjorie Allen recently put her Model Y to the test in Utah, in a quest to see Smithson’s notable earthen sculpture that spirals into the Great Salt Lake. “The spiral jetty was further off-road than I was expecting and the Y handled it like a champ!”
Marjorie Allen’s Tesla Model Y at Spiral Jetty
CONCLUSION
As a consumer, it’s great to know Tesla places so much value on creating a better product instead of conjuring up ways to make us think they have a better product.
When is the last time you saw a really great movie? I think “True Romance” is one of the best movies from the 1990s. You may want to check it out. I hope you will join me here every Saturday for a fresh and positive view of Tesla. Thanks for reading!
Made-in-Texas Model Y. credit Joe Tegtmeyer from August 30, 2022
5 Takeaways from Tesla’s 2022 Shareholder Meeting This article features highlights of what Elon Musk said about Tesla Gigafactories, AI, Cybertruck, Optimus robot, how we can help support the mission, and more.
Reasons Why Tesla Has the Best Factory Safety in the Industry This article will bring you along with me as we look into how Tesla has become a leader in job site safety in manufacturing. Our focus will be on statements about workplace safety from Elon Musk at the 2022 Shareholder’s meeting and the Tesla 2021 Impact Report.
Gail Alfar, Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – All Rights Reserved.
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Giga Texas is built with an iconic Cybertruck look and is at once powerfully productive. Giga Texas’ attention to detail is evident the minute you see it for the first time. I see Tesla as wanting to celebrate engineering production at scale, not just churn out cars from a boring cement box. No one EXPECTS a vehicle factory to be aesthetically pleasing. Then again, when people ride in a Tesla it is also an unexpectedly pleasurable experience.
Cruising past Giga Texas at night you see the suspended Model Y soaring high amongst perfectly aligned and symmetrical steel beams, lighting, and conduits.
Austin Model Y Suspended in Giga Texas, credit, the author
The flying Austin Model Y is delightful and evokes Elon Musk’s sense of irony
Consider that Giga Texas is perfectly aligned true North, a mile long, and blends in with the Texas landscape. The lines of the Gigafactory also resemble the lines of the Cybertruck. The front of the factory incorporates an abstract T for Tesla. The solar panels on the roof will spell out TESLA for the enjoyment of all who fly over Austin.
It is a celebration to drive past the Gigafactory as an observer. People smile when they see this large structure with angular glass. Giga Texas is designed so that you are invited to look inside, especially at night. I take you there in the video below.
This connection is taken so seriously that Elon Musk insisted Giga Texas will one day be open to the public, not closed and only for Tesla.
“It’s right on the Colorado River, so there’s actually going to be a boardwalk where there’ll be a hiking and biking trail. It’s going to basically be an ecological paradise, birds in the trees, butterflies, fish in the stream, and they will be open to the public as well. So not closed and only Tesla.” Elon Musk, Q2 2020 Earnings Call
Giga Berlin Celebrates German Precision and Local Art
It is notable that Giga Texas and Giga Berlin have both been designed to showcase incredible beauty on the outside while being a manufacturing powerhouse on the inside.
German Model Y is highly acclaimed for its luxury excellence. The factory also features local graffiti art, as seen below. This imaginative approach is appreciated because it creates an important connection with local talent.
GigaFactory Berlin Graffiti (Source: Tesla Q4 and FY2021 Update)Gigafactory Berlin Graffiti (source @GF4Tesla/Twitter)
Giga Texas Model Y Flying High at Night. credit, the author
Note: Giga Texas and Giga Berlin are both currently under construction, hopefully, they will be open to the public when construction is completed.
CONCLUSION
Giga Texas is an artistic landmark that celebrates engineering production at scale
The factory is perfectly aligned true North, a mile long, and blends in with the Texas landscape
One day, the factory grounds will be open to the public, Elon Musk said it will be an “ecological paradise, birds in the trees, butterflies, fish in the stream.”
Giga Berlin is known for its manufacturing excellence and precision as well as being a showcase for local artistic talent.
Tesla Giga Texas. credit Joe Tegtmeyer. August 30, 2022
Here’s why I created this blog. In January 2022, I was frustrated over spending valuable energy on trivial matters. My friend Johnna Crider, suggested to start painting or start a blog. I did both (you can see my Giga Texas painting here). We tossed around different names. Johnna came up with “What’s Up Tesla.” I rented shared office space in order to work uninterrupted. I am thoroughly enjoying expressing creative energy in support of Tesla and Elon Musk in this way.
5 Takeaways from Tesla’s 2022 Shareholder Meeting This article features highlights of what Elon Musk said about Tesla Gigafactories, AI, Cybertruck, Optimus robot, how we can help support the mission, and more.
Reasons Why Tesla Has the Best Factory Safety in the Industry This article will bring you along with me as we look into how Tesla has become a leader in job site safety in manufacturing. Our focus will be on statements about workplace safety from Elon Musk at the 2022 Shareholder’s meeting and the Tesla 2021 Impact Report.
Gail Alfar, author. Exclusive to What’s Up Tesla – February 5, 2022. All Rights Reserved. My goal as an author 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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