Could Model Y be produced at the gigafactory?

[ChrisP]

Just a thought: Concerning the article below, it seems likely that a drive unit assembly lines will be at the gigafactory. So since the battery packs and drive unit will be made at the gigafactory and the fact the Elon said that it would make sense to have future gigafactory making the Tesla car as well, could the Model Y be produced at the gigafactory? Will Fremont be getting a little short on space in the future with model X, S and model 3 big popularity? If I remember correctly, Elon did say he thought the Model Y could be more popular than the model 3 and looking potentially 1 million Model Y to be produced in the future. Would it make sense to have the Model Y produced at the gigafactory in Nevada?

Tesla is building new ‘drive unit production lines’ at the Gigafactory, will not only manufacture battery packs

 

[mspohr]

No

 

[GoTslaGo]

Just a thought: Concerning the article below, it seems likely that a drive unit assembly lines will be at the gigafactory. So since the battery packs and drive unit will be made at the gigafactory and the fact the Elon said that it would make sense to have future gigafactory making the Tesla car as well, could the Model Y be produced at the gigafactory? Will Fremont be getting a little short on space in the future with model X, S and model 3 big popularity? If I remember correctly, Elon did say he thought the Model Y could be more popular than the model 3 and looking potentially 1 million Model Y to be produced in the future. Would it make sense to have the Model Y produced at the gigafactory in Nevada?

Tesla is building new ‘drive unit production lines’ at the Gigafactory, will not only manufacture battery packs

Doubt it. I suspect the drive unit production lines at the GF will free up space at Fremont for vehicle assembly. Model Y will likely be produced with Model 3, as they are making Model X with Model S. Furthermore, if you think about it, if demand for Tesla goes through the roof, then the GF capacity to make batteries and drive units will be maxed.

 

[ecarfan]

No.

 

[SΞXY P100D]

Y not?

 

[mspohr]

Y not?

Metal stamping

 

[3s-a-charm]

Y not?

I see what you did there...

I toured the GF and it is too segmented to produce cars. The GF is a lot and a lot of small stuff where the Fremont factory is a lot of big stuff (I realize that's not a very scientific response). The metal stamping alone is massive.

It would, however make sense to move other things like the drive units, motors, seats(?) etc out of the main factory and make it more of an assembly plant as production increases.

 

[SΞXY P100D]

Seriously, there was a deeper meaning to my "Y not" question.

So based on your GF tour it seems to be the location for manufacturing smaller items such as car parts, roof shingles, etc. in addition to batteries? But the current building is only a fraction of the completed size, therefore I was under the assumption that they will be manufacturing vehicles there, maybe not now but eventually.

Also, I read a post where there was a picture of raw materials entering the GF and a finished car coming out of it. Can't seem to find it.

 

[SΞXY P100D]

Found it.

Not sure how serious he was, but Elon stated at 8:45 of the video: "Raw material... bunch of stuff happens... out comes a car."

 

[BluestarE3]

Not sure how serious he was, but Elon stated at 8:45 of the video: "Raw material... bunch of stuff happens... out comes a car."

A bit off-topic, but this comment reminded me of the infographic where the author mistakenly thought Elon was saying railroad cars would enter the plant and get recycled into finished products, rather than that railroad cars would bring in the raw materials and the latter would be used to manufacture the finished products.

 

[3s-a-charm]

Found it.

Not sure how serious he was, but Elon stated at 8:45 of the video: "Raw material... bunch of stuff happens... out comes a car."

I see what you're saying - this was the part of Elon's speech when he was iterating the vision he has for factories but I certainly got the impression that they were going to utilize nearly every square inch of the finished building for battery manufacturing and related off-shoots (Powerwall/Powerpack). I didn't see the driveline thing coming but it does make sense. I think he was eluding to future factories that would be a one-stop-auto-shop. But Model S/X/3 production will easily tax the GF and Fremont Factory. The subsequent GF2, 3, etc in Europe, China, etc would likely be set up as laid out in the simple diagram - raw materials in, bunch of stuff happens, out comes a finished vehicle.

He mentioned that the Gigafactory was going to be "dense" - like a microchip. Every square inch used efficiently. This is the part I'm very excited about (nerd alert!). It's just one more area where Elon can disrupt an industry - factories are so inefficient right now (and have been since the industrial revolution). They have improved but I think Elon has a vision of a dramatic improvement in efficiency that will be revolutionary. Just another reason to drink the Elon Koolaid another few years

 

[aesculus]

I can see making the rolling chassis (skateboards) at the GF, but not the car. Too many robots involved with the car.

 

[ChrisP]

Ok, so very unlikely that this would happen. Thanks for all your comments.

 

[Ludus]

I think Tesla is working toward a system where the platform the drivetrain is on is a complete module that just needs a plugin body and battery pack. In this system Model Y and the new Roadster would just be bodies that plug into the same skateboard basically that the Model 3 uses.

The Gigafactory will produce those skateboard-drivetrains and battery packs for the Model Y just like for M3.