Tesla Officially Opens Texas Gigafactory (theverge.com) 65
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Tesla opened its Austin, Texas-based Gigafactory on Thursday, a crucial step in the company's delayed plans to begin production of its electric Cybertruck. To celebrate the opening, Tesla held an event, billed as a "Cyber Rodeo," to which it invited 15,000 people to listen to live music, eat food, and pay homage to Elon Musk and his company. "We are really entering a new phase of Tesla's future," Musk told the audience. Clad in a black cowboy hat and aviator sunglasses, Musk said he was excited to begin working on Cybertruck production at last. "I can't wait to see this baby in production, it's going to be epic."
Along with a new version of the Cybertruck, Musk also showed off a new Roadster vehicle, which is slated to begin production next year. He also teased a robotaxi he said would look "quite futuristic" but didn't elaborate or provide any details. It is the company's fourth factory in the US, following the vehicle factory in Fremont, California, battery factory in Sparks, Nevada, and solar factory in Buffalo, New York. Tesla also has a vehicle factory outside Shanghai, China, and recently opened its first European factory near Berlin, Germany. Tesla spent an estimated $5 million purchasing the land outside Austin, plus another $1.1 billion to build the plant. "We need a place where we can be really big, and there's no place like Texas," Musk said. "We going to move to a truly massive scale."
The Texas factory is expected to be the site where, starting in 2023, Tesla will make its long-delayed Cybertruck. Indications that the Cybertruck would be delayed first emerged last year, when the online reservation page was changed and then later withdrawn from the site. Musk had said that he expected a few trucks to be delivered to customers by the end of 2021, but no deliveries were ever made. The Cybertruck has already gone through some changes since its initial reveal in 2019 -- including the addition of a comically oversized single windshield wiper, traditional folding mirrors, and invisible door handles. In addition to the Cybertruck, Tesla also plans to build Model Ys and Model 3s destined for the East Coast, as well as the long-delayed Tesla Semi. The company has already started to build Model Y crossovers at the unfinished Texas Gigafactory in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the company's latest earnings report.
Along with a new version of the Cybertruck, Musk also showed off a new Roadster vehicle, which is slated to begin production next year. He also teased a robotaxi he said would look "quite futuristic" but didn't elaborate or provide any details. It is the company's fourth factory in the US, following the vehicle factory in Fremont, California, battery factory in Sparks, Nevada, and solar factory in Buffalo, New York. Tesla also has a vehicle factory outside Shanghai, China, and recently opened its first European factory near Berlin, Germany. Tesla spent an estimated $5 million purchasing the land outside Austin, plus another $1.1 billion to build the plant. "We need a place where we can be really big, and there's no place like Texas," Musk said. "We going to move to a truly massive scale."
The Texas factory is expected to be the site where, starting in 2023, Tesla will make its long-delayed Cybertruck. Indications that the Cybertruck would be delayed first emerged last year, when the online reservation page was changed and then later withdrawn from the site. Musk had said that he expected a few trucks to be delivered to customers by the end of 2021, but no deliveries were ever made. The Cybertruck has already gone through some changes since its initial reveal in 2019 -- including the addition of a comically oversized single windshield wiper, traditional folding mirrors, and invisible door handles. In addition to the Cybertruck, Tesla also plans to build Model Ys and Model 3s destined for the East Coast, as well as the long-delayed Tesla Semi. The company has already started to build Model Y crossovers at the unfinished Texas Gigafactory in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the company's latest earnings report.
1 Roadster pls (Score:2)
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The base price for the Roadster is $200,000.
It is not a car that normal people can buy, which makes it less newsworthy.
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The Model S has negligible sales compared to the Model 3. So it's more pertinent to say it's about 4x the price of an (also base) Model 3, or 3x the price of a higher spec Model 3
Re:1 Roadster pls (Score:4, Interesting)
Yikes, twice the price of a Model S? Wonder why.
The price is high because the Roadster is a Veblen good [wikipedia.org].
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The price is high because the Roadster is a Veblen good.
Nope! If the Roadster were a Veblen good, then Tesla would jack the price up and sell more of them.
The new Roadster will be the fastest car you can buy, full stop. It will lay the smackdown on any Ferrari, any Lamborghini... any supercar or hypercar you can currently buy. And those cars are a million dollars, or four million dollars.
My take on why the new Roadster will be expensive: all the engineering expenses will be spread over a small number of
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> The new Roadster will be the fastest car you can buy
Since you like to be anal, maybe you want to preface that with "street legal" car.
https://www.zeroto60times.com/... [zeroto60times.com]
https://insideevs.com/news/350... [insideevs.com]
Re: 1 Roadster pls (Score:1)
Re: 1 Roadster pls (Score:2)
Because they already have hybrid systems, and Teslaâ(TM)s heavy, spacious four-door sedan with a big trunk and a frunk beats them all already?
Re: 1 Roadster pls (Score:1)
Re: 1 Roadster pls (Score:2)
The video I saw had the plaid ahead for most of the lap.
The QV can only beat the plaid at Nurburgring? Thatâ(TM)s a one-trick pony. (Iâ(TM)m not saying this, itâ(TM)s just what you sound like)
99 out of 100 situations, the plaid will win.
And the race an Alfa will win most often is which one will need to need maintenance first.
But honestly, I donâ(TM)t care about it that much. The important thing is the plaid uses much less energy, you can charge it with solar, and it wonâ(TM)t cost
Re: 1 Roadster pls (Score:1)
Re: 1 Roadster pls (Score:2)
You were going on about the power train.
A Tesla model S Plaid straight out of the factory already accelerates faster than a formula 1 car: a lightweight, multimillion dollar carbon fibre race car with slicks.
If that doesnâ(TM)t impress you, you a) know nothing about cars and b) will never be convinced by anything.
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Yeah, if they could get this in the price range of a Corvette, I'd be all over this!!
It seems that it would be a great marketing thing if they could do that....I can't imaging a roadster would be more costly to manufacture than their other models...?
Re: 1 Roadster pls (Score:1)
Re: 1 Roadster pls (Score:2)
The form-factor alone will make it perform better. Lower roof means less drag and lower centre of gravity, it will have lower suspension also, which gives even lower CofG, giving better grip on the front wheels when accelerating, and better cornering, more stability and better grip in general. They can put bigger tyres on also, giving more acceleration when youâ(TM)re pushing the limits of grip.
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Actually, that's pretty trivial. Use the exact same powertrain but build the car out of composites = faster acceleration. Exact same powertrain but lower CdA = higher top speed (w/gearing adjustments)
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Also the Semi. That got put on hold while competitors shipped.
Bring back the steering wheel too. The yoke is ridiculous.
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The vast majority of people I've talked to who have a Plaid love the yoke.
Semi - and really everything - got put on hold because Tesla was swamped in demand for current products, and has finite resources to devote to scaleup. And in the choice between cloning (and improving) existing lines for existing products, or building brand new lines for brand-new products, the former will get you a lot more product to sell.
Looks like this situation won't be improving much in Q2 - both Austin and Berlin volumes will s
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Personally I would love a hyper-quick little convertible that looks great.
Miata + electric forklift motors. Dead serious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Interesting to see other car makers respond (Score:3, Interesting)
What I am really curious about, if Tesla has a success with the CyberTruck - and it looks like they will even just from initial demand - what kinds of things will other car makers build in response?
Or will they even try.
I am just happy to see any car move away from a now almost universal, boring, sedan design.
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Sedans have already been dead for years. Everything is a "crossover" now.
Yes but all of the crossovers also look like sedans (just look at the Model Y), and they mostly look really similar.
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You have exactly summarized how I feel about the CyberTruck in all regards.
The only I thing I would add in my case is that my wife absolutely hates how it looks so I wouldn't be buying one anyway for that reason, even if I had a use for one which like you, I do not.
Re:Interesting to see other car makers respond (Score:4, Informative)
what kinds of things will other car makers build in response?
Ford has a tonne of pre-orders for the all-electric F-150 truck.
They will sell them as fast as they can produce them.
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which begs the question. Ford's "tonne" of preorders amounts to 100,000. Compare that to the Cybertruck preorders of 1.25 million.
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When reviews start coming in for both trucks, Cybertruck will fall off, as it becomes clear that it's irritating to use it as a truck because of the funny bed shape. This is the only thing really wrong with the design, but it's really wrong.
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How much have you actually used a truck? I owned a Ranger for many years (used it until it was getting too expensive to pass inspections) and actually put it to work (not just some "urban truck") - both in hauling and on trips through our (exceedingly rugged) highlands. I think the Cybertruck design is bloody brilliant, with the integrated tonneau and the huge torsion resistance afforded by the triangular sides (torsion is *not* your friend when it comes to a work truck or offroading!). The sides are also
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How much have you actually used a truck?
I've hauled firewood, I've hauled a truck camper, I've towed a horse trailer, blah blah blah.
I think the Cybertruck design is bloody brilliant,
It won't do one of the things I mentioned above because of the funny shape.
and the huge torsion resistance afforded by the triangular sides (torsion is *not* your friend when it comes to a work truck or offroading!).
It can be. The chassis flex provides additional articulation in numerous designs. At crawling speeds, where chassis flex occurs because of the relevant terrain, the variation in handling is irrelevant. It's also generally irrelevant for a work truck, which has a full frame design and if you buy enough truck to do the work in question, has eno
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Ford is supposed to be shipping F-150 Lightning trucks this year. Chances are it wll be a huge success, love trucks, the F-150 is the best selling vehichle in America, it will probably do numbers far bigger than Cybertruck if Ford can meet demand just based on it being more traditionally styled and marketed. The electric Hummer from GM is also getting released this year.
Americans love big trucks and crossovers so that's what automakers are going to turn electric first. The Model S and 3 being a success a
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Americans love trucks because it's the only car to fit their giant ass and stomach inside. Taste that FREEDUM was you ride 12 feet high with up to SIX grocery bags in the back seat alone!
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I'm sure that all five people who get theirs in May will be very happy.
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Re:Interesting to see other car makers respond (Score:5, Insightful)
According to a quick Google, Ford already has three years of production capability in 200,000 pre-orders, but the Cybertruck has 6 times as many pre-orders. So there's a chance Ford won't be able to beat Tesla's numbers, though they just might if Tesla can't ramp up production fast enough.
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It's interesting that being common doesn't seem to hurt the Tesla brand. Like Apple, it's premium but also very common. Think Different, like everyone else.
The Cybertruck might also lose out on practicality. It's a small bed and the side walls are high. Plus the Ford will have a steering wheel instead of a yoke.
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It's not "a small bed". It's a standard bed, the most common size in the US by far, and it can be extended by folding down the rear of the cab.
If you want to complain about small beds, you should be talking about the Rivian R1T. Now *that* is a small bed.
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he average SUV and Pick-up truck owner would be far better off with a minivan, yet they still continue to buy SUVs and Pick-ups.
You have no idea what you are talking about. My family owned a work truck for many years when I was younger, I can think of very few things we used that truck for that would have been well served, or even possible with a mini van.
Currently we own an older jeep Cherokee, a real SUV Wirth a decent amout of space. We use it for some things a pickup would really be better for, but we
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That's not really a CyberTruck response though (Score:2)
Ford is supposed to be shipping F-150 Lightning trucks this year. Chances are it wll be a huge success
The electric F-150 is nice and interesting, but I would argue that's a response to Tesla generally and not really to the Cybertruck at all.
What happens I wonder, if the Cybertruck outsells the F-150 by 2x to 10x, that's the response I am wondering about.
P.S. I also wonder how reliable the electric F-150 will be, it seems like other car makers have had mixed records in producing reliable electric vehicles to
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> I also wonder how reliable the electric F-150 will be
It's a ford. It won't.
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> the F-150 is the best selling vehichle in America
Yeah, and McDonalds just loves to boast about its "billions and billions served." But they're not even the best fast-food chain burger you can get. And if you leave the chains behind altogether, you can get a burger that's orders of magnitude better... just like if you leave the "big 3" behind altogether, you can find epically better vehicles to buy.
I owned a ford once. I will never make that mistake again.
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> I am just happy to see any car move away from a now almost universal, boring, sedan design
The friggin sedan format is actually the one that minimizes air resistance while providing the best road handling due to lower center of gravity, and is more comfortable for long trips. Due to best handling, cornering etc. the sedan format is already least "boring". 90's minivans and other relatively tall cars are boring, what fun is there in driving a bus-like thing? Even if named "truck" or SUV
The sedan format i
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I have no use for a family car.
backorders raise the prices (Score:2)
I do wish I would have put a down payment on the C9 when it was first offered.
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Eh...this always happens with newer models of the Vette.
Prices will normalize. The only wre
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Just give me a 2 seater sports car in the price range and performance level of a corvette and I'll be in 100%.
How about a Corvette?
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Well, others have been saying go EV...and I'd only be interested in an EV that was a 2 seater sports car....but I need it in the price range of a vette, which should be doable.
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> How about a Corvette?
There are these things on the roads called "turns" and "curves." Some of us like to drive around them with our wrapping our cars around a tree. If you don't want to spring for something in the range of an M8, GTR, or NSX... and you like to do more than just drive fast in a straight line... you're better off saving the cash and buying an MX-5 or BRZ/GR-86.
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> How about a Corvette?
There are these things on the roads called "turns" and "curves." Some of us like to drive around them with our wrapping our cars around a tree. If you don't want to spring for something in the range of an M8, GTR, or NSX... and you like to do more than just drive fast in a straight line... you're better off saving the cash and buying an MX-5 or BRZ/GR-86.
C8 Corvette is no slouch through the chicanes, and price wise it is a steal for a mid engine V8 powered car.
I'm quite happy with my M240i though. That is my more practical side showing.
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I think a lot of people have assumed more "cyber" cars, but it's important to note that the look of Cybertruck was a result of its engineering requirements, not an attempt to be quirky, and any attempt to mimic the look out of its role would just be for aesthetics and in general hurt the vehicle's performance.
To be specific, Cybertruck had the challenges of:
* Extreme loadbearing strength relative to mass, esp. torsion.
* Extreme ability to resist abuse
It had the benefits of:
* Energy c
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Just wanted to say I really enjoyed that post as a thought exercise, and some good points about the CyberTruck design being more utilitarian than aesthetic... it's part of why I wonder what other car makers would follow ups with, currently they just look like they plan to build the same old trucks with electric motors bolted into them, but performance has to suffer in some way compared to the CyberTruck which was designed from the ground-up to be an electric truck from the start.
Top eight highlights (Score:1)
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I'm assuming the light show at the beginning was done with drones, correct?
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Yeah - best drone light show I've ever seen. Much more impressive than the fireworks that came later.
Drone light shows have come a long way.
Taxi! (Score:3)
When do we get Johnny Cab?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]