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Come to think of it, I don't think that it was appropriate for me to post Tesla's email verbatim in this forum so I removed it. If it makes its way to Tesla's official web site, I'll post a link to it.
Basically, they're saying how production is picking up and that they should be producing over 100 cars per month by December. Also, the development of the new powertrain is going well and performance is "extraordinary".
And no, I'm not one of the "Signature 100", I wish. I got on the 2009 waiting list earlier this year.
Basically, they're saying how production is picking up and that they should be producing over 100 cars per month by December. Also, the development of the new powertrain is going well and performance is "extraordinary".
And no, I'm not one of the "Signature 100", I wish. I got on the 2009 waiting list earlier this year.
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This is super cool news.
"in addition to sales and service it is the place where all final assembly, tests and preparations are made with each car prior to customers’ delivery. We are pushing forward with planning for our next stores in New York, Chicago, Miami and Seattle."
First of all, the idea of having your car assembled where you buy it is so awesome. It really, truely fits the image Musk gives us in the company blog (Tesla Motors - feel) where he compares watching a technician service your car to a watching a chef rpepare your food at a restaurant.
I wonder if all the Tesla Stores will have final assembly of the Roadster on-site, at the store. This would be a great idea. At a production rate of ~three cars a day, it may be feasible. I assume final assembly means installing the battery pack. This be a really good idea because that would make the Roadster almost 1,000 pounds lighter during shipping, which I'm assuming saves lots of money for them.
"...they [Roadsters] will keep arriving at the rate of 4 per week (except for the scheduled factory shut down in the last two weeks of August)....In large measure we deliberately limit the production until we install our own born and bred final transmission by mid-September"
I hope it's really, really true when they say the main reason for such slow production is that they're just waiting for Powertrain 1.5. I find it interesting that they are shutting down the factory in late August, and beginning to install Powertrain 1.5 in mid-September. Maybe the two have something to do with eachother? Or maybe Lotus is shutting down the factory? I would find that strange, unless the Roadster is built on the exact same assembly line as the Elise, which I doubt because the two cars are so different. Someone correct if I'm wrong though.
"in addition to sales and service it is the place where all final assembly, tests and preparations are made with each car prior to customers’ delivery. We are pushing forward with planning for our next stores in New York, Chicago, Miami and Seattle."
First of all, the idea of having your car assembled where you buy it is so awesome. It really, truely fits the image Musk gives us in the company blog (Tesla Motors - feel) where he compares watching a technician service your car to a watching a chef rpepare your food at a restaurant.
I wonder if all the Tesla Stores will have final assembly of the Roadster on-site, at the store. This would be a great idea. At a production rate of ~three cars a day, it may be feasible. I assume final assembly means installing the battery pack. This be a really good idea because that would make the Roadster almost 1,000 pounds lighter during shipping, which I'm assuming saves lots of money for them.
"...they [Roadsters] will keep arriving at the rate of 4 per week (except for the scheduled factory shut down in the last two weeks of August)....In large measure we deliberately limit the production until we install our own born and bred final transmission by mid-September"
I hope it's really, really true when they say the main reason for such slow production is that they're just waiting for Powertrain 1.5. I find it interesting that they are shutting down the factory in late August, and beginning to install Powertrain 1.5 in mid-September. Maybe the two have something to do with eachother? Or maybe Lotus is shutting down the factory? I would find that strange, unless the Roadster is built on the exact same assembly line as the Elise, which I doubt because the two cars are so different. Someone correct if I'm wrong though.
Apparently an August holiday is SOP at the Lotus factory.
Lotus Factory closed in August? - LotusTalk - The Lotus Cars Community
Lotus Factory closed in August? - LotusTalk - The Lotus Cars Community
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Actually, that is true. Roadsters and Elises are build on the exact same assembly line. I don't have a link handy but it was stated so by some TM stuff. Lotus can make 2 Elises, 1 Roadster, 3 Elises, 2 Roadsters, etc coming down from the line one after another. Assembly is highly manual work though.
While it is true that much of mainland Europe tends to shut down for a simultaneous summer holiday/vacation, this is not really true of the UK. If Lotus do it, they are an exception. Also don't forget the Roadsters body panels are made in France.
Whereas it used to only mean the battery pack, I believe final assembly now means installation of the entire powertrain. That means battery, motor, transmission, probably also the PEM.
That's an interesting idea. Certainly every service center should have the technical expertise to do that, since they may someday need to repair/replace a part of the drivetrain. The Menlo Park shop makes a lot of sense, though. It's pretty big, has lots of service bays (used to be a Chevy dealership) and is only a 15 minute drive down El Camino from their San Carlos HQ. Also, probably after initial installation there's some testing and verification they do that they'd want to keep consistent for the time being. When production is in full swing, and gliders start coming in by boat across the Atlantic, it may make more since to have the drivetrain installed on the east coast for non-California customers.
As a useless piece of information I might add that the common summer vacation is true as well in Norway though then it's the 3 last weeks of july. But generally everything is slow during the entire summer in Norway as you've got mandatory 4 weeks of vacation and 3 weeks of those has to be done simultaneously during summer.
Cobos
Cobos
It is really labor intensive. I've posted this video elsewhere but I think it's relevant here also.
Kimbal Musk posted some pictures of his car (P5) during glider assembly on his blog.
If you pay attention, you can see this very same room in the video.
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Tesla Motors - think
Ze'ev Drori offers up another Tesla production update - AutoblogGreen
Tesla starts delivering Roadsters as production ramps up, hires hotshot engineering exec - Engadget
Update on Production and Delivery of Cars to Customers
by Ze'ev Drori
President and CEO
published Saturday, July 12th, 2008
The following update was sent by Ze’ev Drori to Tesla customers yesterday.
You know of course the saying “Good things are worth waiting for” …
Ze'ev Drori offers up another Tesla production update - AutoblogGreen
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Tesla Blog: Owner tours Hethel Plant
Tesla Motors - hear
Tesla Motors - hear
Flying the Glider: Roadster Owner Ken Jacobs Tours Assembly Plant and Test Track
by Ken Jacobs
published Friday, July 18th, 2008
...
I was amazed to see that it is entirely a manual process. No robots. No power tools. Just simple screwdrivers and wrenches and some pulleys mounted from above to hoist heavy components. The Roadster is clearly a hand-made vehicle, with a lot of love and personal attention given to each vehicle as a result. The main assembly line in Hethel has 12 stations, at each of which the workers have 43 minutes to do the work required to move the car along. Each station has 2 or 3 guys working on a phase of the assembly process, whether it’s integrating the pre-built chassis with the frame, installing the wheels and brakes, the windshield, the body panels or the seats.
At each step, the technicians must be very aware of the specific car they are building, and whether it is a Tesla Roadster or a Lotus Elise. The Roadster and the Elise are different vehicles, of course, and have many different parts, even though they share the same assembly line. The workers ensure that each Roadster gets the right Tesla parts, installed to Tesla specifications for such things as the proper torque levels for tightening bolts, etc. At the end of the line, after 12×43 minutes (about 8 hours), something very much like a Lotus Elise or a Tesla Roadster will emerge.
The Lotus assembly line was specially modified for the Roadster, to accommodate the installation of the 900-pound ESS (”energy storage system”), the car’s battery. The original intent was to ship complete and drivable Roadsters from the UK to the US. This has now changed. My understanding is that when Tesla begins installing powertrain 1.5 in new Roadsters, it will be done in California. Thus, everything but the battery and powertrain will be installed in Hethel. The resulting so-called “glider” is then shipped to California (about 5-6 weeks by boat, I’m told). For each battery, 6,831 lithium ion cells are sent from Japan to California, where the battery is built. This change saves Tesla shipping costs, and makes the Roadster a “California car”. The Tesla Store about to open in Menlo Park will do the final installation of the battery and powertrain.
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