Tesla Gigafactory 3’s completion will be an inconvenient truth for TSLA skeptics

Simon Alvarez

By

Posted on May 29, 2019

A recent drone flyover of Tesla’s Gigafactory 3 in China reveals that the factory shell of the upcoming electric car general assembly building is all but complete. Seemingly in relation to this milestone, Tesla has also started teasing the vehicle that will be produced in the expansive facility: the Standard Model 3, which will be competing against locally-made electric cars in China.

Videos of the Gigafactory 3 site taken on Sunday, May 26, 2019 (credit to Jason Yang for the footage), reveal that the shell of the general assembly building is all but complete. Roofs and walls look almost complete, and the facade of the facility has even been lined with Tesla’s trademark red color. Fewer heavy cranes are also currently deployed on the site, suggesting that work is now shifting towards the interior of Gigafactory 3.

Near the general assembly building, color-coded modular units have been built. Tesla has not announced what these units are, though their construction and design suggest that they might be dormitories, possibly for employees who will be working on the factory. A wide staging area has also been completed near the facility, which seems to be designed for presentations and events.

Gigafactory 3’s progress and eventual Model 3 production could provide Tesla with an unexpected boost this year. So far, Wall St. analysts, particularly those who have downgraded the stock, and TSLA skeptics have largely disregarded Gigafactory 3 in their thesis. If Tesla pulls it off and actually starts producing the Model 3 in Gigafactory 3 this year, the facility could provide the company the help it needs to meet its ambitious, self-imposed production and delivery goals this year. Underestimated and ignored by the company’s skeptics over the past months, Gigafactory 3 could very well become an inconvenient truth for Tesla’s critics.

The upcoming completion of Gigafactory 3 means that Tesla is a step closer towards its goal of producing locally-made Model 3s in China. Tesla is already selling the Model 3 in the country, but the vehicles command a high price due to import tariffs. Producing electric cars in Gigafactory 3 will allow Tesla to tap into the lucrative and ever-growing Chinese EV market with vehicles that are competitive in price compared to offerings from local manufacturers.

Shanghai officials have urged Tesla’s construction partner to complete the first phase of Gigafactory 3’s construction within May, and looking at the pace of the factory’s buildout so far, this target appears to be quite feasible. Seemingly in conjunction with this, Tesla has also released a couple of teasers pointing to an important announcement on May 31. A recent teaser released on Tuesday involved the company introducing a guessing game for the price of locally-made Model 3. This all but suggests that the company’s announcement this Friday would be in one way or another related to Gigafactory 3 and the electric sedan.

The pace of Gigafactory 3’s buildout has bordered on the ridiculous, with China’s workforce adopting a 24/7 schedule in its attempt to meet the Shanghai government’s target completion date. The facility’s construction is progressing so quickly; it is on track to set a record for the fastest factory buildout in China to date. Gigafactory 3, after all, only broke ground last January, and the first pillar was set up in mid-March. This means that over the span of two and a half months, Gigafactory 3 has transformed from leveled ground and one pillar to a nearly complete factory shell.

Watch Gigafactory 3’s flyover last Sunday in the video below.  

[embedded content]

Tesla Gigafactory 3’s completion will be an inconvenient truth for TSLA skeptics

<!–

View Comments

–>

Source

Tesla Model 3 owner catches Autopilot acting bizarre only to find it saved him

Simon Alvarez

By

Posted on May 28, 2019

A Tesla Model 3 owner is thanking his electric sedan’s driver-assist system for saving him from getting sideswiped on the freeway. Surprisingly, the Model 3 owner only realized this hours after the incident happened, when he was reviewing footage from his vehicle’s built-in dashcam.

Jeff McQuinn had only taken delivery of his Tesla Model 3 a couple of days before his vehicle was involved in the close call. While driving on the freeway during moderately heavy rain on Autopilot, McQuinn felt his Model 3 swerve into an adjacent lane. He initially thought nothing much of the incident, attributing his Model 3’s rather bizarre behavior to something that might have affected Autopilot.

Based on the footage of the incident, it was evident that the Model 3 actually avoided a potential accident after a truck in an adjacent lane swerved into the electric sedan’s lane. This resulted in the Tesla engaging evasive maneuvers to avoid the other vehicle. The Model 3 owner described his experience in the description of his vehicle’s dashcam footage, which he shared on YouTube.

“My Tesla Model 3 was only two days old, and it saved me from getting sideswiped in moderately heavy rain. I first thought there was something wrong with my car, or Autopilot was not working well in the rain when it swerved hard into the other lane. It gave all the warnings, but I thought maybe rain got onto the camera lens. It wasn’t until I looked at the dashcam (footage) that (I realized that) it saved me (from) a moderate accident,” McQuinn wrote.

More than a convenient driver-assist system, Tesla’s Autopilot is a safety system designed to protect drivers on the road. Autopilot uses a suite of cameras, radar, and ultrasonic sensors, and artificial intelligence to observe a vehicle’s surroundings, and all these came into play when McQuinn’s Model 3 avoided getting sideswiped by the truck. Ultimately, the Model 3 owner’s experience is something that would likely become more common in the future, as Tesla rolls out more vehicles with Autopilot as a standard feature.

Tesla has been releasing vehicle safety reports for Autopilot over the past quarters, and so far, results suggest that the driver-assist system makes driving significantly safer. In the first quarter of 2019, for example, Tesla registered one accident for every 2.87 million miles driven in which drivers had Autopilot engaged, while one accident for every 1.76 million miles driven was recorded for vehicles that did not have Autopilot engaged. By comparison, the NHTSA’s most recent data reveals that in the United States, there is an automobile crash every 436,000 miles.

Watch a Tesla Model 3 on Autopilot save its owner from a potential accident in the video below.

[embedded content]

Tesla Model 3 owner catches Autopilot acting bizarre only to find it saved him

<!–

View Comments

–>

Source

Fiat Chrysler proposes merger with Renault amid emissions deal with Tesla

Avatar

By

Posted on May 27, 2019

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is making another strategic move to aid in its shift towards electrification, this time proposing a 50-50 merger with Renault that would make the joint venture the 3rd largest car manufacturer in the world with around 8.7 million annual sales.

The primary motivation for the deal is to split capital expenditure as both companies carry out their commitments to powertrain transitions, and FCA has estimated a $5.6 billion dollar cost savings to result from the merger. This move comes on the heels of an emissions credit deal with Tesla estimated to cost the Italian automaker over $1 billion dollars, and it doesn’t appear this expense will be affected by the merger in the short term.

Strict European Union (EU) emissions regulations led Tesla and FCA to enter into a vehicle pooling deal in April. Under the agreement, FCA will be counting Tesla’s zero-emissions fleet in its figures, allowing the company to lower its average CO2 output per vehicle. Both parties significantly benefit from the deal as FCA avoids EU penalties and Tesla receives monetary compensation. It also gives FCA extra time to work at its 5-year plan to move away from diesel and produce only all-electric and hybrid car models.

Fiat-Chrysler’s CEO Mike Manley previously estimated that 80% of FCA’s CO2 compliance would come from purchasing credits from Tesla in 2020 before falling to around 15 per cent in 2021. It’s not completely clear how Tesla’s emissions deal with FCA will be affected by a merger; however, as time is of the essence, very little may change, if at all. “If this merger proceeds, the creation of a new company could require more than a year,” Manley commented about the deal with Renault. If that’s the case, FCA would still need to meet EU regulation requirements in the meantime.

Beginning in 2020, 95% of automotive fleet-wide emissions in the EU must average under 95g of CO2 per kilometer, i.e., have a fuel efficiency of about 57 mpg for internal combustion vehicles. A Fiat-Renault merger would go well past this deadline, according to Manley, meaning FCA would still have to bear the cost burden of its deal with Tesla alone and on the original terms.

In 2021, full EU auto fleets must be compliant, and the penalties could add up to financial ruin for companies unable to meet the strict standards. FCA has been slower than its industry peers to adopt an electrification plan and needed to buy more time to carry out its strategy. The company’s efforts towards lower emissions will likely not manifest into enough production vehicles to avoid the EU fines by the impending deadline, leading to the deal with Tesla and representing another factor motivating the merger with Renault.

The terms of FCA’s proposed merger with Renault would give both auto makers equal representation on the combined board of directors, and shareholders would split the stocks equally. FCA further stated that no plant closures would result from the deal, although layoffs are still a question. Tesla, of course, is quite familiar with these types of changes that are necessary to completely uproot a century-old, gasoline-dominated industry in favor of one that’s more environmentally sustainable.

Fiat Chrysler proposes merger with Renault amid emissions deal with Tesla

<!–

View Comments

–>

Source