Great episode of Ryan McCaffrey's podcast. Worth listening to the whole thing at-
https://teslapodcast.libsyn.com/epi...sUiyBiqdShN60FGcxgCUvsOkXMptyRSmIIWXJoUCPQ0vQ
Here's some relevant Model Y quotes. Looks like Fremont is now the more likely production spot.
Musk: "The Model Y is much roomier on the inside than it appears on the outside. A lot of people think it looks not much bigger than a Model 3... It's intended to not look big, but it's actually... I think the mark of a good design for a vehicle is that it feel much bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside.
On Lesson's learned from the Model Y in design and manufacturing.
Musk: "With Model Y we wanted to avoid the technology bandwagon with the X, where It should have been easy to go from the S to the X and instead it was hell because there were so many new technologies. We didn't want that to be the case and it would be too risky for the company to do that with the Model Y. So we've tried to make the car as similar to the 3 as possible, except to the degree that a change is necessary to achieve SUV functionality. So you'll be able to fit seven people and have a higher ride height, more cargo capacity while still having a low drag coefficient and not increasing the frontal area too much so CDA (Cross Directional Area) and mass are close enough to the 3 that the range is only affected by 8-10%. The CDA is worse with the Y because CDA is higher.
There are some manufacturing improvements with the Y. The rear underbody we're moving to an aluminum casting instead of a series of stamped steel and aluminum pieces. Initially it will be 2 castings and it will go from 70 parts to 2... well 2 plus joiners so 4. And then we we get the big casting machine it will go from 70 parts to 1. With a reduction in weight and an improvement in MBH and a reduction in cost and a significant drop in the capital expenditure required for the robots that would otherwise be necessary to put those 70 parts together."
McCaffrey then asked Elon about how he felt about the unveiling and the reaction to it.
Musk: "I intentionally didn't go all out with the Model Y reveal because I didn't want to convince people to buy a Y instead of a 3. So if everyone just decided ok we'll just buy a Y instead of a 3 then we wouldn't have any customers and there would never be a Y because we wouldn't be able to float the company. So I was kind of, like, medium in presenting the Y but I think when people get it the reaction will be better than they think. It really just if you want an SUV and are prepared to accept a slight cost increase and a slight range decrease then that's great. The advantage of a sedan is that it's going to cost a little bit less and it will have a little more range. So it just depends if you want a sedan or an SUV."
Next, Ryan asked for an update on the ongoing thought process within Tesla about where the Model Y is going to be built.
Musk: "We could do it in either location. The long-lead items for Model Y are mostly the tools for stamping... like the body-side outer tools. Whether we put it in Fremont or Nevada Giga... we have more time to decide that vs the time it takes to machine these giant stamping tools. That's the gating factor on timing. Right now our default plan actually is to produce the Y at Fremont. I was skeptical about whether this made sense at first but my team convinced me that this is fastest way to get to volume production, is to do the Y at Fremont."
Ryan: "I guess especially when you're sharing 75% of the parts it makes sense to have them all under one roof."
Musk: "Yeah, there's some pros to doing it at Giga as well because you don't have to transport the drive units, battery pack, and the chargers. We can just make them right there. The cost of living is less in Nevada, so you can have the same standard of living for less money in Nevada than California... especially the Bay Area. Fundamentally cost of living is on the high side so it's a little counter-intuitive. It's not a totally clear cut decision, but we're optimizing for speed of execution and on balance it seemed like we could get things done faster if we did it in Fremont. And part of it was I was skeptical at first... like where are we going to put this? We've actually found theres some space we're using for warehousing parts in the main factory. And we can sort of append things to the Western side of the factory, and kind of use that wall and add things on there. So it's sort of counter intuitive but it does seem as though we have the room and we can do so without disrupting the Model 3 production, or S and X production."
Make sure to follow the link and listen to the whole thing. Thanks Ryan!
https://teslapodcast.libsyn.com/epi...sUiyBiqdShN60FGcxgCUvsOkXMptyRSmIIWXJoUCPQ0vQ
Here's some relevant Model Y quotes. Looks like Fremont is now the more likely production spot.
Musk: "The Model Y is much roomier on the inside than it appears on the outside. A lot of people think it looks not much bigger than a Model 3... It's intended to not look big, but it's actually... I think the mark of a good design for a vehicle is that it feel much bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside.
On Lesson's learned from the Model Y in design and manufacturing.
Musk: "With Model Y we wanted to avoid the technology bandwagon with the X, where It should have been easy to go from the S to the X and instead it was hell because there were so many new technologies. We didn't want that to be the case and it would be too risky for the company to do that with the Model Y. So we've tried to make the car as similar to the 3 as possible, except to the degree that a change is necessary to achieve SUV functionality. So you'll be able to fit seven people and have a higher ride height, more cargo capacity while still having a low drag coefficient and not increasing the frontal area too much so CDA (Cross Directional Area) and mass are close enough to the 3 that the range is only affected by 8-10%. The CDA is worse with the Y because CDA is higher.
There are some manufacturing improvements with the Y. The rear underbody we're moving to an aluminum casting instead of a series of stamped steel and aluminum pieces. Initially it will be 2 castings and it will go from 70 parts to 2... well 2 plus joiners so 4. And then we we get the big casting machine it will go from 70 parts to 1. With a reduction in weight and an improvement in MBH and a reduction in cost and a significant drop in the capital expenditure required for the robots that would otherwise be necessary to put those 70 parts together."
McCaffrey then asked Elon about how he felt about the unveiling and the reaction to it.
Musk: "I intentionally didn't go all out with the Model Y reveal because I didn't want to convince people to buy a Y instead of a 3. So if everyone just decided ok we'll just buy a Y instead of a 3 then we wouldn't have any customers and there would never be a Y because we wouldn't be able to float the company. So I was kind of, like, medium in presenting the Y but I think when people get it the reaction will be better than they think. It really just if you want an SUV and are prepared to accept a slight cost increase and a slight range decrease then that's great. The advantage of a sedan is that it's going to cost a little bit less and it will have a little more range. So it just depends if you want a sedan or an SUV."
Next, Ryan asked for an update on the ongoing thought process within Tesla about where the Model Y is going to be built.
Musk: "We could do it in either location. The long-lead items for Model Y are mostly the tools for stamping... like the body-side outer tools. Whether we put it in Fremont or Nevada Giga... we have more time to decide that vs the time it takes to machine these giant stamping tools. That's the gating factor on timing. Right now our default plan actually is to produce the Y at Fremont. I was skeptical about whether this made sense at first but my team convinced me that this is fastest way to get to volume production, is to do the Y at Fremont."
Ryan: "I guess especially when you're sharing 75% of the parts it makes sense to have them all under one roof."
Musk: "Yeah, there's some pros to doing it at Giga as well because you don't have to transport the drive units, battery pack, and the chargers. We can just make them right there. The cost of living is less in Nevada, so you can have the same standard of living for less money in Nevada than California... especially the Bay Area. Fundamentally cost of living is on the high side so it's a little counter-intuitive. It's not a totally clear cut decision, but we're optimizing for speed of execution and on balance it seemed like we could get things done faster if we did it in Fremont. And part of it was I was skeptical at first... like where are we going to put this? We've actually found theres some space we're using for warehousing parts in the main factory. And we can sort of append things to the Western side of the factory, and kind of use that wall and add things on there. So it's sort of counter intuitive but it does seem as though we have the room and we can do so without disrupting the Model 3 production, or S and X production."
Make sure to follow the link and listen to the whole thing. Thanks Ryan!
