Impossible Engineering episode on the GigaFactory 5/25/17

[HankLloydRight]

This was a bit disappointing. Too much filler with tangential stories. It was also weird they gave Tesla credit for coming up with regenerative braking. This was overwhelmingly about the Fremont factory with only about a minute or two about the Gigafactory. I think the "How It's Made: Dream Cars" and "Megafactories" episodes from a few years ago did a much better job covering the Fremont factory and the construction of the Model S.

Agreed.. pretty disappointing. A LOT of filler -- more so than other episodes they do. Too many silly animations. Didn't really offer anything that hasn't been well covered before.

I'm also getting really tired of their repeating show meme "here's this amazing work of engineering, but to do it, they had to look to the past..." and then cover something tangential or loosely related to the current project. It gets old, quick.

 

[Lloyd]

Disappointing is correct. No New Stuff!!

 

[BluestarE3]

Agreed.. pretty disappointing. A LOT of filler -- more so than other episodes they do.

Just a guess, but maybe Tesla limited how much footage they could film inside the factory, especially with portions closed off for the Model 3 production line? Consequently, they had to fill out the rest of the hour with more fluff than in other episodes. Same thing with the Gigafactory. They weren't allowed to film inside, so they just used some stock aerial footage of the factory at various stages of construction. What's interesting is that there was no mention of the upcoming Model 3; at least not that I recall.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Yeah, that's what I thought too. They re-used almost every piece of footage at least twice.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Also, and I could be wrong about this, but I thought the paint that Tesla used was a dry powder that electro-statically adhered to the car until it was baked in the oven, and then it turned into the paint we see. They way they portrayed it, with their stupid little demonstration with a spray can I think wasn't really accurate.

 

[scaesare]

I agree it was only OK...

When they were leading up to the regen part, they used some verbiage about the other revolutionary technology Tesla had introduced to make EV distance driving practical, and I thought they were gonna cover Superchargers. The regen piece felt rather crammed in there...

 

[SMAlset]

I never expected to see anything new revealed on the show so wasn't really disappointed in that respect. I did hope to hear more about the Gigafactory though.

I've seen some of these Discovery Channel and other production company shows and always felt they were geared towards junior high viewers as a target audience. Stuff is kind of glossed over and nothing really in depth. Good for giving a basic understanding. The "filler" material illustrates how technology builds on itself (and why we need science to be promoted). Manufacturing/technology and science go hand in hand and all important to progress and our economy. I do think it's important for kids who might be interested in one area to know that related studies have value too. Discoveries come from unexpected sources and failures too.