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In general yes, they solved their manufacturing issues on the Model 3 line and it reached the required speeds and saved the company. See the cashflow turnaround
by panick21 5y ago
In general yes, they solved their manufacturing issues on the Model 3 line and it reached the required speeds and saved the company. See the cashflow turnaround in 2018-2019. They managed to scale that line far beyond their initial targets.
However that experience did teach them that their design was flawed and for future vehicles after Model 3 they did switch to large castings anyway rather then traditional welding of stamping.
If you are interested in the flaws of the initial Model 3, see this interview with Elon and Sandy Munro where the discuss this:
https://youtu.be/YAtLTLiqNwg?t=1026 https://youtu.be/YAtLTLiqNwg?t=1026
First they had two casting in the back for the wheel area, then moved to one. Now they are moving to replace the whole front.
So the new car designs will be two big castings connected by a structural battery pack (yes its removable).
Here you see the changes:
https://electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/04/Tesla-Model-Y-vs-Model-3-underbody.jpg?quality=82&strip=all https://electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/04/Tesla...
The new design:
https://468y981o84o43v2wo2600a0gcj-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/tesla-model-y-underbody-cast.jpg https://468y981o84o43v2wo2600a0gcj-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/w...
Example casting:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0173/8204/7844/files/Screen_Shot_2020-06-04_at_9.59.14_PM.png?v=1591289066 https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0173/8204/7844/files/Scree...
Here the first press in operation:
https://youtu.be/BwoiFC-HwPE?t=302 https://youtu.be/BwoiFC-HwPE?t=302
Since then they have order many of these, 8 for Berlin for example. This should support around 500k cars production.
These custom made for Tesla by IDRA in Italy, they put out a lot information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onCrHQEvgYs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onCrHQEvgYs
Even more information:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyvdbTy3v1d4fxNvP0HTBudD1t0_24puR https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyvdbTy3v1d4fxNvP0HTB...
They are moving to even larger presses for the Cybertruck.