| Tesla Roadster Discussion about the Tesla Roadster |
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07-11-2008, 10:36 PM
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#11 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 21 | Quote:
Originally Posted by TEG  | Heck, it is standard for basically ALL of Europe. Almost all business (except some tourism) shuts down for parts of August. Nothing newsworthy there in the least...
-Jon | 
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07-11-2008, 10:57 PM
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#12 | | Head Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Stanford, California Posts: 3,606 | Quote:
Originally Posted by mittelhauser Heck, it is standard for basically ALL of Europe. Almost all business (except some tourism) shuts down for parts of August. Nothing newsworthy there in the least...
-Jon | Thanks, I appreciate the clarification.
Do you think you can repost the photo? | |
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07-11-2008, 11:05 PM
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#13 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 21 | Quote:
Originally Posted by doug Thanks, I appreciate the clarification.
Do you think you can repost the photo? | [FONT='Times New Roman','serif']  [/FONT] | |
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07-12-2008, 02:02 AM
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#14 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Slovenia, Europe Posts: 783 | Quote: |
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.
| 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. | |
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07-12-2008, 03:26 AM
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#15 | | Super Moderator
Join Date: May 2008 Location: Winchester, UK Posts: 2,975 | Quote:
Originally Posted by mittelhauser Heck, it is standard for basically ALL of Europe. Almost all business (except some tourism) shuts down for parts of August. Nothing newsworthy there in the least...
-Jon |
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. | |
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07-12-2008, 09:42 AM
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#16 | | Head Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Stanford, California Posts: 3,606 | Quote:
Originally Posted by Joseph I assume final assembly means installing the battery pack. | 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. Quote:
Originally Posted by Joseph 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. | 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. | |
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07-12-2008, 09:44 AM
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#17 | | Waiting for P121
Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 768 | 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 | |
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07-12-2008, 09:53 AM
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#18 | | Head Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Stanford, California Posts: 3,606 | Quote:
Originally Posted by WarpedOne 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. | It is really labor intensive. I've posted this video elsewhere but I think it's relevant here also. The video shows the Elise assembly. Much of the Roadster assembly is similar.
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. | |
| | | Tesla Blog: Owner tours Hethel Plant | | |
07-18-2008, 02:43 PM
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#20 | | Head Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Stanford, California Posts: 3,606 | Tesla Blog: Owner tours Hethel Plant
Tesla Motors - hear Quote: 
Flying the Glider: Roadster Owner Ken Jacobs Tours Assembly Plant and Test Track
by Ken Jacobs
published Friday, July 18th, 2008
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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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Last edited by doug; 07-18-2008 at 02:52 PM..
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