Connect with us

Tesla Model S

Tidbits Inside the Tesla Factory Tour in Fremont, CA

Last week, Michael Brown got his wish, a full Tesla factory tour. Later, he made a video of his thoughts from the experience and posted it to YouTube.

Published

on

The morning after Elon made his debut on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, one Tesla enthusiast got his wish by taking a Tesla factory tour which included a big bonus in the form of a Model X.

Michael Brown accounts what he saw during the Tesla factory tour on his YouTube channel.

According to Michael:

The tour started with a walk through of the enormous administrative and engineering departments just outside the production area. Program Manager of the Tesla Factory Tour,  Adam Slusser, introduced the tour group to the rolled sheet aluminum and ingots from which the body of the car and its components are made. He learned that the total weight of the aluminum Model S chassis is only 410 lbs.

What amazed Michael is the bounty of production equipment left behind by Toyota after the Fremont factory was closed. Tesla bid on the empty factory building itself, but was surprised to learn that millions of dollars of equipment was being left behind and could be purchased for pennies on the dollar, including the largest stamping machine in North America valued at $72,000,000. It is driven by an 8,000 hp hydraulic pump and is 7 stories high — 3 underground and 4 above. The first time Tesla started it up, it triggered seismic warnings in Berkeley, 30 miles away.

Advertisement

The stamping line begins with 6 foot wide rolls of aluminum weighing 20,000 pounds each. Each piece takes 3-5 stamps to get it into the proper shape. A run of 600 pieces (enough for 600 cars) takes 2 days to complete. The factory floor utilizes more than 1,000 6 axis robots that are accurate to within 0.25 mm. The flexibility of these robots means Tesla can build left and right hand drive versions, as well as the Model X, from the same production line, greatly increasing production efficiency. Cars are built simultaneously for delivery to the same parts of the world, further promoting delivery efficiency.

Michael caught sight of three Model X cars during his tour — one just the bare chassis, one a well used testing mule and one a recently completed production car. His tour guide told him only about 20 people within the factory have ever seen a completed Model X in final form and ready for delivery to a customer.

For more of Michael’s insights from his factory tour, check out the full 20 minute video. You are bound to find out something about the company and its cars you didn’t know before.

 

Advertisement
Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla pushes crazy ‘Luxe’ incentive package on flagship Model S and X

Tesla is pushing more customers to the Model S and Model X with a new incentive package.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has pushed a crazy new incentive package, known as the “Luxe Package,” on the flagship Model S and Model X, along with a $10,000 price increase on each trim level.

The move aims to likely bolster margins for the company on the two cars while also giving those who choose to buy the Tesla lineup mainstays a variety of awesome advantages, including Free Supercharging, Full Self-Driving, and other add-ons.

Tesla is offering a crazy Supercharging incentive on its two ‘sentimental’ vehicles

Last night, Tesla launched the “Luxe Package” for the Model S and Model X, which includes the following four add-ons:

  • Full Self-Driving (Supervised) – Your car will be able to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal driver intervention
  • Four-Year Premium Service – Wheel and Tire Protection, Windshield Protection, and Recommended Maintenance
  • Supercharging – Charge for free at 70,000+ Superchargers worldwide
  • Premium Connectivity – Listen to music, stream movies, monitor live traffic, and more – no Wi-Fi needed

Full Self-Driving is priced at $8,000. Free Supercharging for the life of the car is between $10,000 and $15,000 over the life of the vehicle, although Tesla has valued it at $5,000 in recent promotions.

Free Premium Connectivity is roughly $1,000, and the four-year tire, wheel, windshield, and maintenance plan is about $3,200.

Advertisement

In all, the value is over $25,000, but this is loosely based on usage.

The Model S and Model X are low contributors to Tesla’s overall sales figures, as they make up less than five percent of sales from a quarterly perspective and have for some time.

Advertisement

As they are certainly the luxury choices in Tesla’s lineup, the Model 3 and Model Y are the bigger focus for the company, as a significantly larger portion of the company’s sales is made up of those vehicles.

The Luxe Package is an especially good idea for those who drive high-mileage and plan to use the Model S or Model X for commuting or long drives. The free Supercharging makes the deal worth it on its own.

As for the price bumps, each of the vehicles are now priced as follows:

  • Model S All-Wheel-Drive: $94,990
  • Model S Plaid: $109,990
  • Model X All-Wheel-Drive: $99,990
  • Model X Plaid: $114,990
Continue Reading

News

Tesla takes first step in sunsetting Model S and X with drastic move

Tesla won’t be taking custom orders of the Model S or Model X in Europe any longer.

Published

on

Credit: @supergeek18 | X

Tesla has seemingly taken the first step in sunsetting two of its older vehicles, the Model S and Model X, by ending international orders.

The flagship sedan and SUV from Tesla are the two oldest cars in the company’s lineup. They account for a very small portion of overall sales, and several years ago, CEO Elon Musk admitted that Tesla only continues to build and sell them due to “sentimental reasons.”

Earlier this year, there were calls for Tesla to end the production of the two cars, but Lars Moravy said that the Model S and Model X were due to get some love later in 2025. That happened, but the changes were extremely minor.

Tesla launches new Model S and Model X, and the changes are slim

Some took this as an indication that Tesla has kind of moved on from the Model S and Model X. A handful of people seemed to think Tesla would overhaul the vehicles substantially, but the changes were extremely minor and included only a few real adjustments.

Advertisement

In Europe, customers are unable to even put a new order in on a Model S or Model X.

We noticed earlier today that Tesla pressing the ‘Order’ button on either of the flagship vehicles takes you to local inventory, and not the Design Studio where you’d configure your custom build:

Advertisement

Tesla simply does not make enough Model S or Model X units to justify the expensive logistics process of shipping custom orders overseas. It almost seems as if they’re that they will essentially build a bunch of random configurations, send them overseas every few months, and let them sell before replenishing inventory.

Inversely, it could also mean Tesla is truly gearing up to sunset the vehicle altogether. It seems unlikely that the company will fade them out altogether in the next couple of years, but it could absolutely think about ending international orders because volume is so low.

Continue Reading

News

Tesla confirms massive hardware change for autonomy improvement

Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has confirmed that a recent change made to some of its recently refreshed vehicles is, in fact, a strategy it will use to improve its suite as it continues to work toward autonomy.

Tesla first introduced a front-facing camera on the front bumper with the Cybertruck.

Then, the Model Y “Juniper” received the hardware update. The Model S and Model X both received the front-facing camera with its latest update, which was officially revealed last week.

Tesla used new language with the release of the front-facing cameras on the Model S and Model X, confirming they will assist with several things, including “using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities”:

“Enhanced visibility when parking or using Autopilot and Actually Smart Summon capabilities.”

Advertisement

This tiny feature on the new Tesla Model Y is perhaps its biggest addition

This is the first time Tesla has used this sort of language, as it was a completely different description with the launch of the new Model Y in January.

When Tesla launched this vehicle, it said the front bumper camera “provides a wider field of view for automatic assisted driving and advanced Smart Summon.”

Tesla switched from using cameras and sensors to only cameras with the launch of Tesla Vision several years ago. The company’s utilization of cameras comes from Tesla’s belief that Ultrasonic Sensors (USS) are not needed for self-driving efforts:

“Along with the removal of USS, we simultaneously launched our vision-based occupancy network – currently used in Full Self-Driving (FSD) (Supervised) – to replace the inputs generated by USS. With today’s software, this approach gives Autopilot high-definition spatial positioning, longer range visibility and the ability to identify and differentiate between objects. As with many Tesla features, our occupancy network will continue to improve rapidly over time.”

Advertisement

CEO Elon Musk has said that sensors were only a crutch and that self-driving would be solved through the use of cameras:

“When your vision works, it works better than the best human because it’s like having eight cameras, it’s like having eyes in the back of your head, beside your head, and has three eyes of different focal distances looking forward. This is — and processing it at a speed that is superhuman. There’s no question in my mind that with a pure vision solution, we can make a car that is dramatically safer than the average person.”

Continue Reading

Trending