Questions to ask at the Annual Shareholders Meeting on June 3rd, 2014.

[Benz]

The shareholders who will be present will get the oppertunity to ask questions during the Q&A session.

I would appreciatie it of somebody would ask questions regarding the second production line and the increased production capacity at the Tesla Fremont factory. How many cars (S/X) will they be able to produce per week when they will be producing at full capacity at the end of 2015 (assuming there will be no supply chain constraints)?

 

[zax123]

I'd love to know the DATE the Canadian superchargers will go in service.

 

[mibaro2]

I'd love to know the DATE the Canadian superchargers will go in service.

+1 (or +10000000 ).

 

[ltreasure]

Can we expect any changes / modifications for Model S after the 2nd line installation / production stop in July?

 

[erha]

I'd like to know what their plan for the Lathrop factory is

 

[Jack6591]

I would like to know when the production of energy storage products will be ramped up. Both the residential and commercial products.

 

[chickensevil]

The shareholders who will be present will get the oppertunity to ask questions during the Q&A session.

I would appreciatie it of somebody would ask questions regarding the second production line and the increased production capacity at the Tesla Fremont factory. How many cars (S/X) will they be able to produce per week when they will be producing at full capacity at the end of 2015 (assuming there will be no supply chain constraints)?

They have said before 1000 per week by the end of the year... Or are you asking more about theoretical capacity. Given that the plant is capable of 500k a year (has been stated many times by management) and this puts the factory at 50% capacity, I would assume theoretical capacity of these two lines would be 250k. How many work weeks in the year? 50? So what, that would be 5,000 a week or something right?

I'd like to know what their plan for the Lathrop factory is

Numerical control - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been stated before by other insiders and people in the know that they are using this facility for their testing for tooling, so they could free up that space in the factory itself for production volume only.

I would like to know when the production of energy storage products will be ramped up. Both the residential and commercial products.

2014 Energy Storage Symposium - JB Straubels Keynote - YouTube

This whole hour long video is covering a lot of their energy storage, and where Tesla is trying to push the market... It is practically a new market for what they are trying to do, so a lot of it is trying to get other players to understand and work with them. Great video, you should watch it

 

[erha]

Numerical control - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been stated before by other insiders and people in the know that they are using this facility for their testing for tooling, so they could free up that space in the factory itself for production volume only.

Thanks! Must have missed that

 

[Enadler]

I would like to know something that is a little more immediate, when will 6.0 be released. I believe Elon had originally said that it was weeks away back in january. It is now 5 months later.

 

[Benz]

They have said before 1000 per week by the end of the year... Or are you asking more about theoretical capacity. Given that the plant is capable of 500k a year (has been stated many times by management) and this puts the factory at 50% capacity, I would assume theoretical capacity of these two lines would be 250k. How many work weeks in the year? 50? So what, that would be 5,000 a week.

With only 2 production lines they will certainly not be able to produce 5,000 cars per week (S/X), maybe 2,500 cars per week (S/X) at the most. That's why I think that they will add a third production line in 2016, which then will enable them to increase their production capacity towards 5,000 cars per week (S/X).

 

[SteveG3]

With only 2 production lines they will certainly not be able to produce 5,000 cars per week (S/X), maybe 2,500 cars per week (S/X) at the most. That's why I think that they will add a third production line in 2016, which then will enable them to increase their production capacity towards 5,000 cars per week (S/X).

Perhaps the question would be what they see as the production capacity is for each line.

I'm also wondering if they are willing to give a range of deliveries they project for 2015, and the timing of unveiling a production version of the Model X (that is for us to see the design and read specs. they've been updating us on anticipated timeline for deliveries).

 

[jjkroll]

Perhaps the question would be what they see as the production capacity is for each line.

I'm also wondering if they are willing to give a range of deliveries they project for 2015, and the timing of unveiling a production version of the Model X (that is for us to see the design and read specs. they've been updating us on anticipated timeline for deliveries).

I believe the original estimate was 400 cars/week/shift. Maximum of 1200 cars/week/production line. They are hitting 700/week with 2 shifts, so not quite there yet. I don't believe they are running a third shift yet.

 

[chickensevil]

With only 2 production lines they will certainly not be able to produce 5,000 cars per week (S/X), maybe 2,500 cars per week (S/X) at the most. That's why I think that they will add a third production line in 2016, which then will enable them to increase their production capacity towards 5,000 cars per week (S/X).

That doesn't seem right though. Numerous accounts from people have come back stating they have filled out the factory to 50% of the space inside being used. If this is the case, then it would seem to me that if they optimize all that space and production and have full "unlimited" supply that it should be able to push half of the overall stated factory volume which has been stated as 500k a year. This is also why their Battery factory is pushing to output 500k packs, because they have also stated a couple times now that the new factory would simply provide enough supply for Fremont and Fremont alone.

So, 50% of space = 250k hypothetical. Unless I am missing something? It is unclear what all they are missing (asside from supply) that would limit them from hitting that on their current space usage. Since I have never been there in person, It could very well be that a new "line" doesn't require 25% of the factory? Since there are some parts that would provide shared resources. Like, say, the initial alluminum stamping... maybe one "line" of machines doing stamping is all that is needed to get 500k frames out a year... so it would be just assembly itself that needs more lines? Maybe I am just jumping to the wrong assumptions on what I was stating... In any case, I will be happy with the 1000 a week by the end of the year

There is one caveat to that... they are currently doing final pack assembly in Fremont... I don't know how much space that eats up, but that should be moving to the new battery factory.

- - - Updated - - -

I believe the original estimate was 400 cars/week/shift. Maximum of 1200 cars/week/production line. They are hitting 700/week with 2 shifts, so not quite there yet. I don't believe they are running a third shift yet.

That might explain it a bit better then So if they add a third shift onto both lines, then that should also fill out the line nicely... I assume they are avoiding that at the moment since I am sure that night shift workers cost more than day shift.

 

[eepic]

I believe the original estimate was 400 cars/week/shift. Maximum of 1200 cars/week/production line. They are hitting 700/week with 2 shifts, so not quite there yet. I don't believe they are running a third shift yet.

As has been discussed many times on TMC, the idea of cars/week/shift is a very misleading. Vehicle production involves a series of many different sub-assembly processes within the factory, each operating with very different production patterns. The capacity maximums of specific equipment and personnel across all the different areas cannot be measured with any practical meaning by defining it as an overall shift. The whole "when will they add a third shift?" really has no useful meaning, unless you want to know specifically about one step in the process that is not representative of the overall vehicle production.

I believe this was specifically talked about in the Q4 2013 earnings call.

 

[sleepyhead]

What is the actual 'Tesla' annual capacity for the Fremont factory? Can they actually produce 500,000 cars per year?

Is there a link to a live stream and what time does it start?

 

[RobStark]

Only some sections of the line are using a second shift like the "finishing area."

Futuris, the Australian seat supplier, has been manufacturing seats inside Fremont but they have recently purchased their own facility in nearby Newark CA.

So "at 50% factory capacity" is not exactly analogous to a GM or Toyota running at 50% capacity because Tesla has been using Fremont as storage, indoor test track, subleasing to suppliers etc. Eventually, these secondary uses for Fremont will be moved to other locations and Fremont will be used to stamp sheet metal and assemble cars. Even battery pack assembly will eventually be moved to the Gigafacotry, and Fremont will just install them in cars.

 

[eepic]

What is the actual 'Tesla' annual capacity for the Fremont factory? Can they actually produce 500,000 cars per year?

Is there a link to a live stream and what time does it start?

That was approximately what the factory produced under its NUMMI days. I think it means that most of shared production processes between Tesla's EV's and ICE cars (paint shop, for example) will be able to support a 500k+/year throughput. Same with the overall logistics of the site for raw material delivery, employee parking, finished product transportation, etc.

I believe Gilbert had mentioned in the National Geographic Megafactories that they have plans to get to the 500k number someday, but we know the production and integration process of Tesla is different in many significant ways so its hard to say to what precision he meant when he said that.

+1 Also interested in a live stream of tomorrow if someone got one to share.

 

[RobStark]

That was approximately what the factory produced under its NUMMI days. I think it means that most of shared production processes between Tesla's EV's and ICE cars (paint shop, for example) will be able to support a 500k+/year throughput .

Remember that Toyota/GM could do that on 50 hrs a week or 1.25 shifts.

A manufacturing plant can be operated 160 hrs/ 4 shifts per week with eight hours left over for maintenance.

I am sure there are more than enough unemployed people in the Bay Area that would love to work for Tesla, even on the graveyard shift.

After college I worked at a Cigar Bar. I loved working the "swing shift" of 4 PM to 1 AM.

 

[sleepyhead]

This is exactly why I think it would be a good question to ask...

 

[c041v]

Things like the test track, final pack assembly, stamping, etc. make me wonder if Gen III will even come out of Freemont. There seems to be a lot of uncertainty around the true plant capacity, and I have a feeling that one Model S/X line does not equal one Corolla/Vibe line. I imagine Tesla has been generously using the space as it would have been very difficult to completely foresee the requirements of Gen III would have in 2010 when they were doing the initial set up.

Perhaps the a modifier to the original question would be "Do you see Gen III being produced at Freemont?" 500K capacity (If it even is that) will not be enough for Gen III and a signifcant chunk of that capacity will be eaten up the S/X lines. I don't see how it's worthwhile for them to max out Freemont for ~<400K Gen III units annually (Depending on how you measure the S/X line capacity)

Tesla has a history of picking up plants for cheap, I'm sure there's an idled one around somewhere that is ripe for Gen III.

Where do they produce the ELR? Not likely much to be going on there, hehe.