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Musk, Straubel, and Panasonic exec talk about the Gigafactory
The world is beating a path to the Tesla Gigafactory in advance of the grand opening celebration on Friday. Wednesday evening, Elon Musk, JB Straubel, and Panasonic executive vice president Yoshihiko Yamada took questions from the press in a wide ranging discussion that covered many topics. Here are some of the highlights.
On the Gigafactory
Musk: “The factory itself is considered to be a product. The factory is the machine that builds the machine. It actually deserves more attention from creative and problem solving engineers than the product it makes. What we’re seeing, if we take a creative engineer and apply them to designing the machine that makes the machine, they can make 5 times as much headway per hour, than if they work on the product itself.”
Then he added, “It may sound a little strange and sentimental but I find it to be quite romantic. The final shape will be a diamond, aligned on true north, I like that. It seems incredibly romantic. By the way there’s 10,000 wild horses in the area. They just hang out. We have construction ponds for water, so its quite cool to see the horses drink from the construction ponds.”
Yamada: “Three years ago I thought this gigantic Gigafactory idea was crazy. Because then the production of the factory would exceed production of the industry. I thought it was a crazy idea. But I was crazy, and I was wrong after seeing extreme success of the announcement of the Model 3 and the strong demand.”
-->The 2170 Battery Format
Straubel: “We’ve spent a lot of time on this actually. It’s kind of interesting. There are a bunch of trade offs. There are some things that get better when you make the cell size bigger, and some things that get worse. 18650 was sort of an accident of history. That was what was standardized for early products. So we revisited all of those trade offs and came to this size, which is quite a bit bigger. If you have them next to each other, the actual volume of materials inside is substantially more. And overall it’s about cost optimization.”
Musk: “It really comes from the first principles of physics and economics. That’s the way we try to analyze everything. To say like if no cell existed in the world, what size should it be? What is the size that would achieve the product characteristics we’re looking for, but would be fundamentally optimal? 18650 is not optimal.”
Paying For The Gigafactory
“One part of that is working with strategic partners like Panasonic. We are seeing very good participation from our supplier for the capital costs of the Model 3 ramp. So we are going to fund it by Model S and Model X revenue, with money we have right now, with potentially a modest capital raise, but not a significant one. In a nutshell, there may be a capital raise, but it’s not going to be a huge one.”
-->Panasonic’s Relationship With Tesla
Yamada: “I want to explain to you the relationship with Tesla and Panasonic. I used to be in charge of components five or six years ago. At that time our relationship with Tesla was one of supplier and customer. A conventional business relationship.
“But since we started discussion on the Gigafactory that’s completely changed. One example, is production capacity is now two or three times more. Why? Because Tesla and manufacturing people worked together. We are discussing these details. This type of relationship is quite new for business. We are not the simple buyer and supplier relationship.”
Musk had a great deal more to say about ramping up for production of the Model 3, solar power and energy storage. We will cover those topics separately.
Source and photo credit: Fortune
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Elon Musk
Elon Musk and James Cameron find middle ground in space and AI despite political differences
Musk responded with some positive words for the director on X.
Avatar director James Cameron has stated that he can still agree with Elon Musk on space exploration and AI safety despite their stark political differences.
In an interview with Puck’s The Town podcast, the liberal director praised Musk’s SpaceX achievements and said higher priorities must unite them, such as space travel and artificial intelligence. Musk responded with some positive words for the director on X.
A longtime mutual respect
Cameron and Musk have bonded over technology for years. As far back as 2011, Cameron told NBC News that “Elon is making very strong strides. I think he’s the likeliest person to step into the shoes of the shuttle program and actually provide human access to low Earth orbit. So… go, Elon.” Cameron was right, as SpaceX would go on to become the dominant force in spaceflight over the years.
Even after Musk’s embrace of conservative politics and his roles as senior advisor and former DOGE head, Cameron refused to cancel his relationship with the CEO. “I can separate a person and their politics from the things that they want to accomplish if they’re aligned with what I think are good goals,” Cameron said. Musk appreciated the director’s comments, stating that “Jim understands physics, which is rare in Hollywood.”
Shared AI warnings
Both men have stated that artificial intelligence could be an existential threat to humanity, though Musk has noted that Tesla’s products such as Optimus could usher in an era of sustainable abundance. Musk recently predicted that money and jobs could become irrelevant with advancing AI, while Cameron warned of a deeper crisis, as noted in a Fox News report.
-->“Because the overall risk of AI in general… is that we lose purpose as people. We lose jobs. We lose a sense of, ‘Well, what are we here for?’” Cameron said. “We are these flawed biological machines, and a computer can be theoretically more precise, more correct, faster, all of those things. And that’s going to be a threshold existential issue.”
He concluded: “I just think it’s important for us as a human civilization to prioritize. We’ve got to make this Earth our spaceship. That’s really what we need to be thinking.”
News
Blue Origin announces Super-Heavy New Glenn 9×4 to Rival SpaceX Starship
The announcement followed the company’s successful NG-2 launch on November 13.
Blue Origin has revealed plans to develop New Glenn 9×4, a “super heavy” rocket designed to deliver 70 metric tons to low-Earth orbit and directly compete with SpaceX’s Starship.
The announcement followed the company’s successful NG-2 launch on November 13, which deployed NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration Dynamics Explorers) Mars mission and landed the first stage.
Upgraded engines and reusability
As noted in a Universe Today report, Blue Origin will roll out upgraded BE-4 engines producing 640,000 lbf each, up from 550,000 lbf, starting with NG-3. This should boost the New Glenn rocket’s total first-stage thrust to 4.5 million pounds. Upper-stage BE-3U engines are expected to improve from 320,000 lbf to 400,000 lbf over the next few flights as well.
“These enhancements will immediately benefit customers already manifested on New Glenn to fly to destinations including low-Earth orbit, the Moon, and beyond. Additional vehicle upgrades include a reusable fairing to support increased flight rates, an updated lower-cost tank design, and a higher-performing and reusable thermal protection system to improve turnaround time,” Blue Origin noted.
New Glenn “Super Heavy” 9×4
The super-heavy New Glenn 9×4, with nine BE-4s on the booster, four BE-3Us on the upper stage, will feature an 8.7-meter payload fairing. Blue Origin expects New Glenn 9×4 to be capable of transporting 70 metric tons to LEO, 14 tons to GSO, and 20 tons to trans-lunar injection, as noted by the company in a blog post. This is very impressive, as New Glenn 9×4’s capacity exceeds Falcon Heavy, SpaceX’s largest rocket available to consumers today. Falcon Heavy is capable of carrying up to 64 metric tons to low Earth orbit in a fully expendable configuration.
-->That being said, SpaceX’s Starship’s capacity is extremely impressive. As per SpaceX, Starship is designed to be capable of carrying up to 100-150 metric tonnes to orbit in its fully reusable configuration. At its expendable configuration, Starship’s capacity enters unheard-of territory, with SpaceX stating that the vehicle could transport 250 metric tonnes of cargo.
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Tesla FSD approved for testing in Nacka, Sweden, though municipality note reveals aggravating detail
Nacka, Sweden, a municipality just a few miles from Stockholm, has given its approval for FSD tests.
Tesla has secured approval for FSD testing in an urban environment in Sweden. As per recent reports from the Tesla community, Nacka, Sweden, a municipality just a few miles from Stockholm, has given its approval for FSD tests.
A look at the municipality’s note regarding FSD’s approval, however, reveals something quite aggravating.
FSD testing approval secured
As per Tesla watcher and longtime shareholder Alexander Kristensen, Nacka is governed by the Moderate Party. The shareholder also shared the municipality’s protocol notes regarding approval for FSD’s tests.
“It is good that Nacka can be a place for test-driving self-driving cars. This is future technology that can both facilitate mobility and make transportation cheaper and more environmentally friendly,” the note read.
The update was received positively by the Tesla community on social media, as it suggests that the electric vehicle maker is making some legitimate headway in releasing FSD into the region. Sweden has been particularly challenging as well, so securing approval in Nacka is a notable milestone for the company’s efforts.
-->Aggravating details
A look at the notes from Nacka shows that FSD’s proposed tests still met some opposition from some officials. But while some critics might typically point to safety issues as their reasons for rejecting FSD, those who opposed the system in Nacka openly cited Tesla’s conflict with trade union IF Metall in their arguments. Fortunately, Nacka officials ultimately decided in Tesla’s favor as the company’s issues with the country’s unions are a completely different matter.
“The left-wing opposition (S, Nackalistan, MP and V) voted no to this, referring to the fact that the applicant company Tesla is involved in a labor market conflict and does not want to sign a collective agreement. We believe that this is not an acceptable reason for the municipality to use its authority to interfere in a labor law conflict.
“Signing a collective agreement is not an obligation, and the company has not committed any crime. The municipality should contribute to technological development and progress, not work against the future,” the note read.
Elon Musk and James Cameron find middle ground in space and AI despite political differences
Blue Origin announces Super-Heavy New Glenn 9×4 to Rival SpaceX Starship
