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Tesla Gigafactory Texas construction plans revealed in permit documents

Tesla Gigafactory Texas Construction Update - 9/16/2020 (Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/YouTuber

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Tesla’s construction plans for its newest Gigafactory in Texas were recently revealed on the City of Austin’s official website. In documents filed during the permit process, the shape of the factory itself and specific locations for several landscape features were confirmed. This new information provides a solid basis for comparison to track the step-by-step building process of the future Cybertruck and Semi factory location.

Tesla owner and enthusiast Joe Tegtmeyer has been publishing drone footage of Giga Texas progress updates on his YouTube channel since the first construction vehicles entered the site, and these latest permit images and annotations come courtesy of those efforts. In a video uploaded on September 15th, Tegtmeyer added overlays to drone footage to help viewers identify the features indicated in Tesla’s permit documents. Of particular note were the outlines of the Gigafactory foundation on the site, two switchyards (one temporary), and several water retention ponds to control rainfall that’s typical for the Austin area.

In the flyover update itself, Gigafactory construction does appear to continue its fast-paced progress as expected. A new clearing revealed an old house that will most likely be demolished, and as Tegtmeyer detailed in the video’s notes, it looks as though GeoPier work is being done in the northern part of the site. Efforts to fill in and level where the main factory foundation will go were also underway in the central parts of that area, and construction activity looked to be still drying and filling out the northwestern corner of the main building region where the building’s shape isn’t quite complete.

In related news, Tesla presented a rough time frame for the upcoming Cybertruck and Semi factory location in its “Travis County Colorado River Project Partner Pre‐Qualification Presentation,” which is another document recently published on the City of Austin’s official page. Giga Texas estimates a first “dry-in” by December 30th of this year, and a first “substantial completion” is scheduled for May 2021. If completed as planned, this ambitious schedule will be an amazing feat for such a mammoth-sized construction project. Given that work is being done nearly 24/7 and without much regard for weather, the efforts are the very least well-directed.

The Tesla Semi and Cybertruck are not the only vehicles expected to be produced at the electric car manufacturer’s Gigafactory Texas complex. During this year’s second-quarter earnings call, CEO Elon Musk stated that the upcoming facility would also be producing the Model 3 sedan and its sibling, the Model Y crossover. Musk additionally detailed that vehicles produced in Texas would be slotted for customers residing in the eastern United States.

Tesla’s newest Gigafactory in Texas also has the potential to house the company’s next-generation vehicle production systems, given the technology developments in play for the Semi and Cybertruck. For example, the electric pickup will not have a stamping area due to the vehicle’s use of steel and XY design, so a unique production line is expected there. Additionally, the Model Y line will likely utilize the company’s “Giga Press,” a huge machine that could give the all-electric crossover a rear body comprised of a single piece.

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You can watch Joe Tegtmeyer’s full September 15th Giga Texas update below:

Accidental computer geek, fascinated by most history and the multiplanetary future on its way. Quite keen on the democratization of space. | It's pronounced day-sha, but I answer to almost any variation thereof.

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Tesla Roadster event gets delayed due to unfavorable weather

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is delaying its event for the Roadster, moving it from this Thursday, October 1, to Thursday, October 15, due to unfavorable weather.

The company has said it has been tracking the weather for this Thursday closely with local meteorologists, and because the event can only be held outside, Tesla is making the call to delay it:

“We’ve been tracking the weather closely with local meteorologists, but given the severe conditions predicted & because this event can only be held outdoors, we’ve made the difficult decision to reschedule. New date is October 15. Additional details to follow.”

We are sure that this is bringing back PTSD for some Tesla fans, and we know it is not ideal, but this also reveals some things about the event. Tesla said that this can only be held outdoors, meaning it bodes well for the rumors that the vehicle could potentially hover.

Some believe that this was essentially confirmed by the FAA airspace restriction they were granted, but this could have been for a drone show or to keep drones from spying on the event.

Tesla Roadster is available for order once again following brief hold

The Roadster event has been long-awaited, and it is unfortunate that the weather is going to keep us all waiting a little bit longer.

The Tesla Roadster will be unveiled in Waco, Texas.

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SpaceX turned a heralding moment for Starship into its greatest

Starship reached orbit despite losing an engine, deployed 26 Starlink V3 satellites on Flight 14.

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SpaceX’s Starship reached orbit for the first time on Monday, and for a few nail-biting minutes it looked like it wouldn’t. During ascent on Flight 14, one of Ship 41’s six Raptor engines shut down early, and SpaceX’s livestream host Dan Huot told viewers the team had decided not to commit to orbit. Minutes later, after what Huot described as a lot of conversation in the control room, the final poll came back in favor, and a roughly 19 second burn of a single Raptor pushed the ship into orbit about 170 miles up.

The reversal matters because SpaceX had written the exit ramp into the mission plan. The company said it would only fire the orbital insertion burn if flight controllers confirmed enough backup hardware remained for the deorbit burn, a condition Teslarati laid out ahead of the flight. Losing an engine was exactly the scenario that rule was built for.

Pressing forward fits Elon Musk’s history. Falcon 1 failed three straight times before its fourth launch reached orbit in 2008, with SpaceX nearly out of money, and Starship was developed by flying prototypes until they broke. What changed this year SpaceX going public, and with $SPCX sliding below its IPO price in July when Flight 13 slipped, the short interest climbed significantly, as Teslarati reported at the time. A Starship potentially lost today with revenue generating next-gen Starlink satellites aboard would have landed directly on shareholders.

That pressure showed up after orbit. SpaceX cut a flight planned to last nearly 10 hours to about three, moving splashdown from west of Chile to the North Pacific near Hawaii. SpaceX gave no reason, though Musk said this month the company was being extremely cautious about debris risk. The single Raptor for deorbit worked, and Ship 41 completed its flip and landing burn before breaking apart in the water, an outcome SpaceX expected. Musk has structured SpaceX’s governance to shield long term bets from market pressure.

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The payload is the bigger business story. Musk posted that all 26 Starlink V3 satellites deployed and are “operating nominally.” Each V3 is rated for about 1 Tbps of downlink and 160 Gbps of uplink, so this single launch adds roughly 26 Tbps, about 10 times what a Falcon 9 load of V2 Mini satellites adds. The V3 is too large for Falcon 9, making Starship the only vehicle that can build out the planned 100,000 satellite constellation, at up to 60 per flight once it reaches routine service. Unlike the 20 V3 units on Flight 13, which reentered on a suborbital path, these will raise their orbits and could begin serving customers within weeks and bring in hundreds of millions of additional dollars in projected Starlink revenue.

SpaceX has already begun winding down Falcon 9 Starlink launches from Florida in favor of Starship. Reported targets put Flight 15 as early as October 19, leaving about three weeks to diagnose Monday’s engine shutdown before the next orbital attempt.

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Tesla Cybercab fleet doubles to well over 100 units

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(Credit: Teslarati)

Tesla quietly doubled the size of its Cybercab fleet within the Robotaxi program in Austin, Texas, over the weekend to well over 100 units.

The move not only establishes more of the steering-wheel-less and pedal-less vehicles within the ride-sharing fleet Tesla has been operating for a year, but it also solidifies a more robust Robotaxi fleet as a whole.

Riders started receiving notifications from the Robotaxi app that stated: “Cybercab fleet has doubled: more rides available.”

Tesla first launched rides in the Cybercab in early September, although the Robotaxi fleet has been active for over a year, as rides began last Summer. Cybercab is truly Tesla’s most crucial vehicle release yet, as it is the first car any company has built that is geared toward full-fledged and end-to-end autonomy, never needing human intervention for anything.

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Only available in Austin at the current time, Cybercab has two seats and has been spotted testing around various U.S. states and regions; Tesla plans to deploy the Cybercab in various U.S. cities in the coming months as a best-case scenario.

Tesla Cybercab gets initial tie-in to localized, in-house cathode plant

The availability of the Cybercab has doubled from just 58 units last Monday to 125 the following Friday. Marking a substantial increase in Cybercab availability, the additional ride-sharing units are more than welcome, as wait times for Cybercabs, especially, were quite high.

The dramatic increase is a sign that demand for Robotaxi is growing and Tesla is feeling more confident that its driverless ride-hailing suite, especially its Full Self-Driving software, is able to handle any traffic situation without explicit direction or supervision from a human being.

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