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Unless they're melting their own aluminum. =) Note the article doesn't really mention electric-type humming. One neighbor described the sounds he hears at ni
by joezydeco 11y ago
Unless they're melting their own aluminum. =)
Note the article doesn't really mention electric-type humming.
One neighbor described the sounds he hears at night as "sheets of metal slamming, clanking, almost a grinding sound."
This idea they're running large amounts of electricity to charge EVs seems far-fetched. And if a charger is making that much noise to wake the neighbors then, well, they have larger technology issues to handle.
Also: when you're a large industrial electricity consumer and you pull megawatts for your work, the utility usually wants you to run at night so you don't brown out the grid for everyone else during the day. Just another data point.
- semi-extrinsic 11y agoI realise you're joking, but one doesn't turn an aluminium electrolysis cell on and off at a whim (as in off in the day, on in the night). Shutdown and restart is bloody expensive, dangerous, and hard work to boot.
- joezydeco 11y agoI'm half-joking. If this plant is pulling large amounts of current, no matter what they're doing, the utility might be asking them to do it at night.
- semi-extrinsic 11y agoSure. That's why you don't build an electrolysis cell in a location where electricity is (sometimes) scarce. I'm half thinking that this is all shadow games, Apple having two guys running around and making mechanic-sounding noises to stir up the rumor mill. Mainly because a) making cars isn't really something that produces a lot of noise and b) because you don't put your real skunk works in a residential area. But you do put a fake one there. It would be interesting if someone with a thermal imaging camera could have a look at that plant during day/night. If they're pulling loads of 'leccy only during the night, the plant should show anomalous cooling behavior.
- fabulist 11y agoLockheed Martin might have OPSEC needs that require building a fake skunkworks, but Apple certainly does not. One imagines they put it in the suburbs because it was an area which is convenient to commute to, which was a boon to recruitment.
- semi-extrinsic 11y agoThey might not need it for OPSEC, but they do have a stock price to worry about. Financial analysts are making increasingly frequent statements that Apple needs a new market to be the game-changer in if they are to sustain their growth, and Cook has said that anything car-related and groundbreaking will, if it exists, be relatively far into the future. Thus the need to stoke the rumor mill.
- fabulist 11y agoWhile I find that claim much more credible, if I were Apple, I'd focus on breaking into new markets, instead.
- semi-extrinsic 11y agoI'm suggesting they're doing both, breaking into new markets as a long term strategy, increasing buzz/rumors as a short term strategy.