Gigafactory 4 (Part III - Innovation)

Unlike many car manufacturers, and largely due to being a new automaker, Tesla models are built from the ground up and not following existing platforms, or building on top of previous versions as its commonly the norm in the industry.

Whilst this requires much more heavy lifting, it's also a great environment to drive innovation as there is no legacy to be accommodated for. This translates into a distinct and unique approach to car design and how users interact with the car (UX), but also in manufacturing.

In the first article (Part I - Size) of this series on Gigafactory Berlin, I briefly covered about the world's largest front and rear single casting machines. These machines are a direct result of this innovation quest grounded on a first-principles approach applied to manufacturing.

How do you improve a car's longevity? Reduce its manufacturing cost? Improve assembly-time? Reduce supply chain complexity? All these questions led to a simple answer: using lesser parts, much inspired by toy cars.

But what happens when such machines to build such single large parts do not exist? We'll, you build them!

This approach has extended to every aspect of Tesla's business and it started with the skateboard chassis design (drive units logged in the cars axles with a flat battery pack between the two - as the Model Y pictured above in Berlin) that became the norm for the most efficient EV cars.

Then came battery design and manufacturing. As Tesla started ramping car production for Model S (and then X), so did demand for battery cells. As part of Elon's masterplan the objective was always to create a mass market vehicle. Seeing that Tesla was already using most of the battery cells designed for the computer industry, it started developing its own battery cell formats, and vertically integrating all aspects of manufacturing.

After using the 18650 (18mm in diameter, 65mm in length) in Model S and X, it debuted 2170 cell format production using in the Model 3 and in the Model Y.

The next biggest evolution in this battery format is the upcoming tab-less 4680 cell that was announced at the Tesla Battery Day. Thanks to its format and design this cell is expected to help deliver an increase of 16% in range, while producing 6X more power further reducing the price per kWh.

The cell format is however not the only big innovation.

Inspired by the aerospace industry, where airplane wings double-up as fuel tanks, these new battery packs which are to make their debut in Giga Berlin build Model Y (pictured below) will become an integral body structure, linking the single front and rear underbody parts.

Touring the Gigafactory is really an inspiration for anyone with an inclination for engineering and an appreciation for manufacturing. It's fascinating to see how each aspect of car manufacturing and battery production has been revisited and improved, and all these different elements coming together harmoniously under one (massive) roof.

Next week, for the last article on Giga Berlin, I will cover another aspect of the county fair that is inherent to the Tesla culture: fun!

Hope you enjoyed this read. See you next week! Stay safe.

Christopher