Found a LOT of Model 3's in a Tesla lot - Pictures inside

[GaryW]

I went by the Raleigh Sales Center yesterday. I looked at three of the model 3’s being prepped for customers. Two were in the 13xxx’s, one was in the 8xxx’s. This suggests progress, but also a little risk expecting linear Vin numbers. The mess is pollen.

 

[kengchang]

Water table is pretty high in Fremont. Boring here may be challenging.

Elon Musk will drain the swamp!

 

[MidnightRider]

Just an FYI, I saw a trailer full of Teslas East Bound about 4 miles into NJ on Route 80. As I was still getting over the shock of seeing them, another was following 2 miles or so behind it. I was west bound so no PICs. Made my morning

 

[kengchang]

They used to have them, but the spur into the plant was torn up last year. I'm not sure why they haven't replaced it yet.

It's been used as automated inventory storage system

 

[MidnightRider]

View attachment 292578

View attachment 292579

It's been used as automated inventory storage system

Was that the only rail loading that was onsite?

 

[kengchang]

Was that the only rail loading that was onsite?

Yes

 

[Mkorpal]

Yes

For a while they put in a single line with side loading, but that also recently vanished.

 

[Reddy Kilowatt]

That seems odd. Anyone know why they don't avail themselves of the tracks in their own backyard?

-Randy

I had heard in the past they needed the land where the Rail came in, for more buildings. there is just a dirt pile there at the moment. They had a beautiful 3 track rail loading center.

Personally I think it was an ill thought out move that is going to cost them in the logistics. It was there and paid for. Granted a lot of the ties may have needed to be replaced due to age but that is minor to the cost of replacement. But still it was there and paid for.

Railroads have annual maintenance fees. On of those is the cost to retain rail switches. Tesla had two connected to UP. The railroads want to minimize the derailment risks and are very vigilant on their maintenance. So I have heard number of up to $60,000 A YEAR to keep a switch in service, used or not. Tesla at the time wasn't using there so they said cut them out and avoid the fees. (Happened to a buddy of mine here on the east coast). Dirt road crossing fees are $600.00 a year minimum. Daily switching costs from UP are not cheap either.

Now Tesla will have to pay to reinstall the loading center back in and that will now cost Millions to start over. Infrastructure costs for RR's are staggering. Car Demure is also not cheap either.

I don't know what is at Richmond and who they could be sharing the loading facilities with. But Tesla may be avoiding all these direct costs by sharing the site with other car companies??? It could be a UP Transload facility, I just dont know. Here on the east cost is Jessup MD. All brands ship into this location for the Baltimore & DC area. Tesla might be the only outbound cars but others could be coming inbound which is nice for the RR's who would be pulling out empties.

 

[augkuo]

4/9/2018 around 7:30am - no car carriers in the lot. Lot is filled back up with only aisles 1-3 empty (presumably for the carriers)

 

[SMAlset]

What a nice sight knowing they will be gone soon and off to their new homes. Thanks for the updated morning photos. As they ramp up hope they have some great people working in logistics. That could be the next bottleneck otherwise. I read that they were looking to buy the Oakland Collisium property for more land in the area (the East Bay is pretty well built out) and not sure if that will come to fruition or not: Tesla Interested In Purchasing Massive Plot Of Land In Oakland

 

[Reddy Kilowatt]

I just saw the pictures they had 6 tracks for Transloading, that will be missed. they could have driven right off the line into the rail cars, destin for the rail hubs across the country, Presorted. Saved a bunch of labor bussing guys around from Richmond back and forth.

 

[Zorg]

Looks like shipping slowed down a bit last week

 

[israndy]

Or production is up and bottlenecking

-Randy

 

[kengchang]

Train rail loading at the factory does not help if they can't build the car without proper facilities XD

 

[Zorg]

Or production is up and bottlenecking

-Randy

Maybe, but the week prior, there were a dozen semi in the lot every morning, whereas there were a handful for the last few days. Total conjecture on my part since I only pass by the lot around 8ish each morning so I have no idea what's going on during the day.

 

[mongo]

Maybe, but the week prior, there were a dozen semi in the lot every morning, whereas there were a handful for the last few days. Total conjecture on my part since I only pass by the lot around 8ish each morning so I have no idea what's going on during the day.

What is the average round trip time for road transport? May have a bunch of non-synchronous cyclical peaks and valleys due to availability/ scheduling. (my conjecture)

 

[doofenshmirtz]

I had heard in the past they needed the land where the Rail came in, for more buildings. there is just a dirt pile there at the moment. They had a beautiful 3 track rail loading center.

Personally I think it was an ill thought out move that is going to cost them in the logistics. It was there and paid for. Granted a lot of the ties may have needed to be replaced due to age but that is minor to the cost of replacement. But still it was there and paid for.

Railroads have annual maintenance fees. On of those is the cost to retain rail switches. Tesla had two connected to UP. The railroads want to minimize the derailment risks and are very vigilant on their maintenance. So I have heard number of up to $60,000 A YEAR to keep a switch in service, used or not. Tesla at the time wasn't using there so they said cut them out and avoid the fees. (Happened to a buddy of mine here on the east coast). Dirt road crossing fees are $600.00 a year minimum. Daily switching costs from UP are not cheap either.

Now Tesla will have to pay to reinstall the loading center back in and that will now cost Millions to start over. Infrastructure costs for RR's are staggering. Car Demure is also not cheap either.

I don't know what is at Richmond and who they could be sharing the loading facilities with. But Tesla may be avoiding all these direct costs by sharing the site with other car companies??? It could be a UP Transload facility, I just dont know. Here on the east cost is Jessup MD. All brands ship into this location for the Baltimore & DC area. Tesla might be the only outbound cars but others could be coming inbound which is nice for the RR's who would be pulling out empties.

why do I remember the phrase "Cheaper than rail" ?

 

[Moderatefan]

why do I remember the phrase "Cheaper than rail" ?

Musk mentioned that in re: Tesla semis, which need to travel few in a row so that less air resistance causes the cost of electricity to run them be cheaper than to transport goods by rail.

 

[Reddy Kilowatt]

why do I remember the phrase "Cheaper than rail" ?

Yea.

Trust me if they could ship enough cars the RR would lose all the fees and would kiss their butts non stop. RR's will be cheaper in bulk. Tesla needs miles of cars to fill all the rail cars.

 

[jelloslug]

I had heard in the past they needed the land where the Rail came in, for more buildings. there is just a dirt pile there at the moment. They had a beautiful 3 track rail loading center.

Personally I think it was an ill thought out move that is going to cost them in the logistics. It was there and paid for. Granted a lot of the ties may have needed to be replaced due to age but that is minor to the cost of replacement. But still it was there and paid for.

Railroads have annual maintenance fees. On of those is the cost to retain rail switches. Tesla had two connected to UP. The railroads want to minimize the derailment risks and are very vigilant on their maintenance. So I have heard number of up to $60,000 A YEAR to keep a switch in service, used or not. Tesla at the time wasn't using there so they said cut them out and avoid the fees. (Happened to a buddy of mine here on the east coast). Dirt road crossing fees are $600.00 a year minimum. Daily switching costs from UP are not cheap either.

Now Tesla will have to pay to reinstall the loading center back in and that will now cost Millions to start over. Infrastructure costs for RR's are staggering. Car Demure is also not cheap either.

I don't know what is at Richmond and who they could be sharing the loading facilities with. But Tesla may be avoiding all these direct costs by sharing the site with other car companies??? It could be a UP Transload facility, I just dont know. Here on the east cost is Jessup MD. All brands ship into this location for the Baltimore & DC area. Tesla might be the only outbound cars but others could be coming inbound which is nice for the RR's who would be pulling out empties.

There is a very good chance that the existing rail line was going to have to be completely revamped anyway to serve their future needs. We will know the end result at some time in the future...