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Tesla gives fresh look inside Giga Berlin: ‘The Machine that Builds the Machine’

Credit: Tesla

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Tesla gave a series of fresh, new looks inside Giga Berlin, its electric vehicle production facility located in Germany. The videos show how the factory is truly “the machine that builds the machine,” as automation, as well as a few helpful hands on the manufacturing line, help produce its products.

Tesla Giga Berlin has produced the Model Y for just under a year now, reaching a run rate of greater than 250,000 vehicles per year. The facility finally produced roughly 3,000 vehicles per week by the end of Q4, helping Tesla maintain a significant market share in Germany and the European market as a whole.

Today, Tesla gave a fresh look inside Giga Berlin, showing everything from casting and stamping to its “world-class” paint shop and general assembly lines.

Casting Lines

Tesla utilizes the IDRA Giga Press in Berlin, just as it does at other factories, to not only make manufacturing more efficient but also improve vehicle quality and safety.

Tesla shared multiple videos displaying the numerous processes of the casting design for the Model Y. “13 different body parts are stamped with a total of 7,300 tons of force, in a press line that runs at up to 16 parts per minute,” the automaker said. Additionally, Tesla showed portions of the rear casting process, which eliminated over 70 parts and refine the manufacturing process for the Model Y.

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Stamped parts and castings are welded together by more than 600 robots. The car is lifted into the paintshop by “Godzilla,” which Tesla said is “one of the largest industrial robots ever.

Paint Shop

Tesla has always said that the paint shop inside Giga Berlin would be its best yet. Referring to it as “world-class” before it was even operational, the automaker has utilized the facility to roll out new colors in the European market, including Quicksilver and Midnight Cherry Red:

“Giga Berlin is home to our most advanced paint system yet, enabling multi-layer painting for depth, dimension & a hand-painted look.”

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Tesla has struggled with paint quality at its other factories, but Giga Berlin has undoubtedly helped as it utilizes a series of high-quality paint and better processes to improve its look. Tesla filed to upgrade paint shops in Fremont, where some quality concerns arose several years ago.

General Assembly Line

Relying on both automation and humans, Tesla’s General Assembly line at Giga Berlin is where the final touches are put into place, and the Model Y truly takes shape. Over 1,000 people build the Model Y at any given time, installing HVAC, power electronics, drive units, and other elements.

CEO Elon Musk said in the past that he relied too much on automation to get things done with production, and humans were “underrated.”

The new look at Giga Berlin shows the cohesiveness between both robots and humans, which helps to complete the entire production process.

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The videos truly encapsulate how “the machine” that is Giga Berlin helps build “the machine” that is the Model Y. Tesla has refined its manufacturing processes to take advantage of both automation and humans.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla V2L adapter for Model Y stirs up a new complaint among owners

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Credit: Tesla

On Friday, Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter that enabled Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) energy transfer, meaning owners could essentially utilize their cars as a power source for things like laptops, electric grills, or string lights.

However, even owners of some of the newest builds of the Model Y are finding out that their cars are not compatible with the new $80 accessory, stirring up a new complaint among members of the community.

Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.

Upon the release of the Outlet Adapter on Friday, I signed into my Tesla account to order the accessory. However, I was met with the dreaded “This product is not compatible with your 2026 Model Y” message at the bottom of the screen.

Some said their accounts also displayed the same message, but they ordered anyway. However, they might be surprised to find that this is no mistake; some of the newest Model Ys do not have the appropriate Power Conversion System (PCS). Mine, which was ordered on this day last year and delivered on August 31, has the old 48A, single-phase PCS.

Vehicles with the new, two-piece PCS are able to utilize V2L features on their cars:

Obviously, it’s disappointing. Many owners have taken delivery this year and still can not utilize the Outlet Adapter because their cars feature the old PCS:

It looks like if you have one of these older PCS units, you can upgrade, but the parts alone are $1,750, and that’s before Tesla adds labor for installing. It is honestly more logical to get some kind of portable power supply or power station at that point.

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It is great that Tesla has enabled V2L for Model Y vehicles, but it is also unfortunate that vehicles that are less than one year old are not able to take advantage of this awesome new feature.

With that being said, it truly is a first-world problem; can you really complain when Full Self-Driving is available, maintenance is incredibly inexpensive, and the car has been so good through a year of ownership?

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Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has launched a new Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y vehicles in the United States, meaning you can now power devices like laptops or light strings with your vehicle’s battery.

It appears the capability will be available for any Model Y Premium trim, including those that were purchased prior to the Adapter being launched. It will also only impact Juniper Model Y vehicles, so the first-gen owners will unfortunately not have access to this capability.

If your Model Y was purchased before Tesla renamed the trim levels to “Premium” and “Standard,” it does not seem to be compatible. My Model Y is technically a Premium build, as it is the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive. However, Tesla says it is not compatible with my vehicle.

For $80, you can now utilize your car as a portable charger for small appliances or devices. This is perfect for things like tailgates, concerts, or camping, as you can now plug in devices that you might use. Those string lights for camping? That laptop for the other games that are on at the tailgate?

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They’ll both utilize energy from your Tesla’s battery to be powered. This is the first time Tesla has expanded the capability to vehicles outside of the Model Y Performance and Cybertruck. However, this feature has been highly requested by owners for an extended period of time.

Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter in China last year:

Tesla China rolls out Model Y L V2L adapter, and it’s free for early owners

You will need the Mobile Connector to operate the Outlet Adapter: the Outlet Adapter will plug into the main housing of the Mobile Connector, where the appropriate adapter to charge your vehicle will plug in.

It is rated for 120 volts and 20 amps, and has a max power rating of 2.4kW.

You can buy it here from Tesla for $80.

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Tesla Roadster unveiling nears, and it will fly: The Information

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(Credit: Dami Kolz/Twitter)

Tesla is nearing its long-awaited unveiling of the all-electric Tesla Roadster, a new report from The Information claims, as the company has said several times this year that the event would take place “soon.”

Now, it appears there is movement on Tesla’s end regarding when it will happen.

The report says that Tesla will unveil the Roadster as soon as this month with a SpaceX version that will utilize cold-gas thrusters to help the vehicle float for a short period of time. This is something CEO Elon Musk has talked about with the Roadster for years.

Additionally, due to the delays, Tesla explored “a variety of designs” for the Roadster, potentially planning to abandon the design it showed off for the first time in 2017 and adopting an entirely new aesthetic.

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According to The Information, Tesla considered utilizing a repurposed Model S Plaid and even wanted to upgrade the look to something like a Lamborghini Countach.

Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again

We’ve heard all of these things before, including teases about the date and how “soon” the Roadster will finally be ready to be shown off to the world (for the second time). Musk said that the event would occur in April, then May, then Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen continued to say it would be coming “soon.”

We do expect to see the Roadster by the end of the year, and now with this new report swirling, it appears it could be sooner rather than later.

The wait has been incredibly long, but there is likely a good reason for it. Tesla’s desire to make the Roadster the craziest vehicle on the road was non-negotiable, and it likely took a lot of time and resources to develop and perfect into something that was safe and suitable for a vehicle like this.

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