Tesla Motors how will the company inject the up and coming Model X into the current production line??? Will TM have certain days allotted for Model X Production or will the Model X have its own production line?
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How will Tesla Motor inject new models into the production line?
- Thread starter tdelta1000
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In the Toyota plant in Kentucky, they have different cars coming down the same assembly line. I don't see why Tesla couldn't do the same. I suspect that the stamping is done in batches and then moved to a staging area.
Most of the large manufacturers like GM use the same final asembly line for multiple models. This becomes even more likely with small volume production similar to the numbers Tesla will be producing.
The Chevrolet Volt is produced in the same line in Hamtrack as other GM models.
It seems they make a red Buick after every Volt! :wink:
The Chevrolet Volt is produced in the same line in Hamtrack as other GM models.
It seems they make a red Buick after every Volt! :wink:
I also think that TM may have to build a stamping line for the X but after the part are welded together I can see them going down the same line.
They have robots at the presses for loading and unloading parts and tooling. Perhaps they can simply load in different tooling and continue running...
I assume the dies for stamping are not changed per car. Instead, there might be a second press line. Or they retool the press for batches of several hundred cars. The Tesla assembly process appears to be flexible enough to have different models run through the same part of line where possible (e.g. welding, paint job, assembly).
At the October factory tour they demonstrated how they can replace the stamping dies in mere minutes. They're on these massive carts that roll on rails. I believe even for the Model S they swap out the dies and do different body panels in batches. There aren't that many stamping machines, after all (certainly not one per body panel). They definitely do not stamp body parts linearly with the production of the vehicles (i.e. stamp out one whole body, then the next body, etc.), but instead they run the different body parts in batches which are then assembled later.
They also showed how the robots can quickly swap out tools from a supply of tools (including arms custom fitted for each panel), so it appeared to me that they've been thinking from the beginning about supporting different car models and I don't think it will be much of a stretch for the assembly line to support it.
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