Investor's Corner
Tesla patents aluminum “spray quench” process for molecular-level strengthening
Tesla has submitted a patent that describes a new, more effective cooling process for manufacturing high-strength aluminum components to be used in its product line.
The patent entitled, “System and Method for Facilitating Pulsed Spray Quench of Extruded Objects”, describes a quenching process that aims to increase the strength, rigidity, and energy absorption of aluminum alloy components. A multi-way spray nozzle system would cool extruded aluminum with an atomized spray of liquid.
“A system includes a billet die at a proximal end configured to accept a billet and form an extrudate, a quench chamber located adjacent to the billet die for receiving the extrudate and comprising at least one pulsed width modulation (PWM) atomizing spray nozzle and a control module in communication with the at least one PWM atomizing spray nozzle and configured to independently control a liquid pressure, a gas pressure, a spray frequency, a duty cycle and flow rate of each at least one PWM atomizing spray nozzle,” reads the patent abstract.
Vehicles today use 6XXX aluminum alloys, which make up the front and rear bumpers, side and back steps, and knee bolsters of a car, the Kobelco Technology Review stated. Tesla also indicates within the patent that it uses 6XXX alloys for its vehicles. After these parts are extruded, they enter a quenching process, which is simply the process of cooling the metal after it has been heated.
Currently, Tesla utilizes a quenching process that involves cooling recently extruded aluminum alloys by soaking the parts in water. This process of quenching is recognized as “quick cooling.” While other cooling means are available, such as air cooling and furnace cooling, soaking the parts in water is the most time-effective method for automotive manufacturing.
However, Tesla’s patent recognizes the adverse effects that quick cooling aluminum alloy parts can have on the structural integrity of the metal. Quick-cooling can not only lead to deformation and warping of metal parts, but things can change chemically as well.
Magnesium silicide, or Mg2Si, is present in these aluminum alloy parts, and quick cooling them can inhibit the compound’s ability to set in the metal. Without the proper setting of Mg2Si by quick-cooling the aluminum alloy in water, the metal requires a higher extrusion pressure and becomes more sensitive to heat, according to Light Metals 2014. The combination of these two properties can effectively compromise the mechanical properties of the final product, making the frame of the vehicle lose strength through the manufacturing process.
Tesla plans to utilize a multi-way spraying system to cool extruded aluminum parts, eliminating the soaking process that is used by so many manufacturers of aluminum alloy. In the patent, the company describes a quenching system that would spray newly extruded metals at varying rates depending on the size of the part. Between one half-gallon and 10 gallons of water per minute would cool the metal in question.
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- Tesla’s described cooling process. (Credit: U.S. Patent Office)
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- Tesla’s described cooling process. (Credit: U.S. Patent Office)
Two pyrometers would be placed at both the proximal and distal ends of the quench chamber. These would hold the responsibility of maintaining the metal’s temperature through the quenching process. The pyrometers would communicate with the system to ensure proper cooling temperatures, making sure the aluminum does not cool too quickly, allowing the Mg2Si to set. In conjunction with the temperature control, spray frequency, liquid pressure, gas pressure, and flow rate will also be monitored to ensure maximum strength after extradition is complete.
Tesla’s recognition of the flaws in quick-cooling extruded metals indicates the company’s realization that increased strength of a car’s frame could improve with a more efficient cooling technique.
In the teardown of the Model Y, Sandy Munro complimented Tesla’s use of what he called the “aluminum rear crush plate.” The piece is located at the trunk hatch and is designed to fold in the event of a rear-impact. The part saves the sides of the body from being compromised in a crash, which can ultimately total the vehicle if the chassis bends excessively.
While the crush plate is durable and prevents excessive damage to the body of the Model Y, the quick-cooling process used during manufacturing could ultimately make the crush plate less sustainable than what it could be. Not to mention, the front bumper, rear bumper, side and back steps, and knee bolsters are also made of aluminum. Using a different cooling technique could eventually lead to an even safer Tesla vehicle, which already has many five-star crash safety ratings from several organizations located around the world.
Read Tesla’s patent for a new aluminum cooling process below.
Tesla SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING PULSED SPRAY QUENCH OF EXTRUDED OBJECTS by Joey Klender on Scribd
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Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck production snaps back after ugly supplier fight
Cybertrucks are piling up again at Giga Texas after Tesla’s court win against a parts supplier.
Cybertruck production at Giga Texas is showing its first visible recovery since Tesla sued a supplier last month over withheld manufacturing tooling.
Aerial observer Joe Tegtmeyer flew over the Austin factory Wednesday morning and counted roughly 100 or more Cybertrucks filling the outbound lot, a sharp jump from the thin numbers seen in recent weeks. The flyover came a day after a judge granted Tesla a temporary restraining order against Angstrom Automotive Group, the parts supplier at the center of the dispute.
Tesla filed an emergency lawsuit in late July after Angstrom told the automaker it planned to close the Troy, Texas facility where Tesla’s die-cast tools, trim dies and other Cybertruck stamping equipment were housed. According to Tesla’s complaint, a shipment of 700 finished parts never left the building, and when Tesla sent representatives to retrieve its equipment, accompanied by law enforcement, they were turned away. Angstrom allegedly then asked for an extra $250,000 a week to keep operating, which Tesla’s filing described as holding its own property for ransom.
TESLA: U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Wolfe of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division granted Tesla a Temporary Restraining Order and Writ of Replevin in its dispute with Angstrom Automotive (Case No. 6:26-cv-00477).
The order authorizes… https://t.co/E1DKcQSxMn pic.twitter.com/LR8aAiV2Og
— S.E. Robinson, Jr. (@SERobinsonJr) August 5, 2026
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The restraining order gives Tesla immediate right of entry to Angstrom’s facility to recover the tooling. It is temporary, with a fuller hearing still to come, but the speed of Wednesday’s rebound suggests the Angstrom shortage was indeed the main bottleneck limiting Cybertruck output. Outbound lot counts are an imperfect measure of actual production, since finished trucks can sit for days before shipping, but a lot that full after a lean stretch is a meaningful signal.
Cybertruck output at Giga Texas has fluctuated all year as Tesla worked through supply issues and introduced new trims, including a cheaper Dual Motor AWD version that drew strong early demand.
Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya has cautioned investors shorting SpaceX shares, drawing a direct parallel to the intense short-selling pressure Tesla faced in its early public years.
Responding to reports of elevated short interest in the newly public rocket, satellite, and AI company, Palihapitiya noted that similar dynamics played out with Tesla, where aggressive short sellers ultimately “went broke.”
SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) went public on June 12, 2026, in the largest IPO on record, pricing at $135 per share. Shares quickly surged to an all-time high of $225.64 just days later, briefly implying a valuation exceeding $2 trillion. The stock has since retreated sharply amid valuation concerns, lockup expiration fears, and broader market dynamics.
By early August, it traded near $108–$125, representing a roughly 50 percent decline from the peak and bringing the market capitalization closer to the $1.5–1.7 trillion range. On August 4, shares closed up more than 9 percent at $125.33 ahead of earnings before facing pressure in after-hours and premarket trading.
Short interest has climbed dramatically. According to S3 Partners data widely cited in market reports, short positions reached approximately 219.3 million shares by late July, about 34 percent of the limited public float of roughly 640 million shares, and represented a notional value of around $24.6 billion.
Utilization of shares available to borrow hit 95 percent, with borrow fees rising. This level of shorting exceeded the dollar value of short bets against Tesla at the time and built rapidly ahead of two catalysts: the company’s first post-IPO earnings and an August 6 lockup expiration that could free up to 911.5 million additional shares.
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CEO Elon Musk has issued warnings of his own. In mid-July, as short interest approached one-third of the float, he posted that “the survival probability of firms who maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low,” reiterating his view that the company could ultimately be worth more than Earth if it achieves its goals.
On August 4, just before earnings, Musk responded to the latest short-interest data by saying, “I try to warn them, but they just double down.”
SpaceX delivered its first quarterly results as a public company after the close on August 4. Second-quarter revenue rose 92 percent year-over-year to $7.8 billion, beating consensus estimates near $6.8–6.9 billion.
The net loss narrowed to $541 million, or 9 cents per share, better than the roughly 23–24 cent loss expected. Starlink/connectivity contributed about $4.3 billion (up 66 percent), while the AI business generated $2.6 billion (up roughly 250 percent). Capital expenditures were heavy at $18.4 billion, largely tied to AI infrastructure. Management projected a $100 billion annualized revenue run rate by year-end 2026 and outlined a path toward $1 trillion in annual revenue by 2030.
The combination of Chamath’s historical reminder, Musk’s repeated alerts, and the company’s ambitious growth targets underscores the high-stakes debate surrounding SPCX. Short sellers are positioned for near-term supply pressure from the lockup, while long-term bulls point to Starlink scale, Starship progress, and AI compute expansion as reasons the bears may ultimately face the same fate as many early Tesla skeptics.
Investor's Corner
SpaceX and Nvidia team up on Musk’s orbital AI bet
SpaceX revealed a new Nvidia satellite partnership, then Musk pledged an exclusive Nvidia hardware commitment.
SpaceX and Nvidia are now working together on the hardware that will power Musk’s orbital data center ambitions. SpaceX announced on X on Tuesday that it is partnering with Nvidia to design the compute payload for Starmind AI1, the first satellite in a planned constellation built to run AI workloads directly in orbit. Each Starmind satellite will carry Nvidia’s Rubin GPUs and Vera CPUs, according to the post, which included renderings of the payload design.
The announcement landed hours before SpaceX’s first earnings call as a public company, where Musk went further, saying the company has committed to building its AI infrastructure exclusively on Nvidia hardware. “We think the Vera Rubin architecture is the best architecture. We think it’s the best AI computer, and we greatly value our close cooperation and partnership on many levels with Nvidia,” Musk told investors on the call,. “So we’re exclusive to Nvidia.”
Musk said SpaceX plans to deploy Nvidia’s Vera Rubin NVL72 rackscale system, codenamed Kyber, both on the ground and in space. He set a target of 2 gigawatts of compute capacity online by the end of this year, scaling to roughly 10 gigawatts by the end of 2027.
SpaceX’s newest Starmind will make earth data centers obsolete
Starmind has been in development since Musk confirmed the name in June, following an xAI trademark filing that tipped off the project before SpaceX made it official. The idea is massive in scope and instead of moving data down to ground based servers, satellites equipped with onboard processors and large solar arrays would compute AI workloads in orbit and beam results back to Earth. SpaceX has already filed with the FCC for a constellation of up to one million satellites to support the effort, citing constant solar power and the absence of zoning restrictions as advantages over terrestrial data centers.
The Nvidia exclusivity marks a shift in tone from just two weeks ago, when Musk was busy knocking down a report that SpaceX had ordered $52 billion worth of Nvidia GPUs through Foxconn, calling it fake news at the time. The dollar figure in that rumor may have been wrong, but the underlying direction seems correct. SpaceX’s AI division already leases Colossus compute capacity to Anthropic and Google, and Tuesday’s earnings report showed AI revenue climbing sharply as those deals ramp up.
Nvidia shares rose roughly 3% in Tuesday trading on the news, while SpaceX stock climbed nearly 9% during the day before giving back gains after hours as investors digested the earnings report’s capital spending figures.
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Tesla Cybertruck production snaps back after ugly supplier fight
Space finally faced the people living next to its next Terafab mega-project
