Tesla opens jobs for Gigafactory 3 as first images of factory interior emerge

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on May 23, 2019

Ahead of the completion of Gigafactory 3’s outer shell in Shanghai, Tesla’s recruitment team in China has announced that it will be holding a special job fair on May 29. Tesla noted that it would be looking for applicants for 25 different job positions, each of which will be working under one of six departments when the site begins its operations.

These departments are the stamping workshop, welding shop, paint shop, assembly, facility operation, and logistics. Numerous jobs are up for grabs in each of these departments, with Tesla’s announcement featuring openings for welding press technicians, equipment repair technicians, production monitors, and squad leaders, to name but a few.  

Quite interestingly, Tesla’s job fair announcement for Gigafactory 3 includes references to Elon Musk’s idea of an “Alien Dreadnought” ship. The alien dreadnought is the CEO’s idea of a hyper-automated factory that is essentially a machine that builds the machine. Musk has mentioned this concept to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing back in January, and it was received with much optimism.

Tesla’s complete list of job listings for its upcoming Gigafactory 3 job fair could be accessed here.

Apart from announcing a job fair, Tesla and its construction partner appear to have made significant progress in the construction of Gigafactory 3’s interior. Over the past weeks, the construction of Gigafactory 3 has hit overdrive as China’s workforce attempted to complete the Phase 1 area’s initial construction by the end of May. As the general assembly building takes form, work has shifted inside the nearly completed factory shell.

The pictures of Gigafactory 3’s interior reveal that some parts of the expansive general assembly building’s floors have already been paved with cement. Pillars on the site also look finished and refined. Overall, the interior of the general assembly building looks the part of a large factory before manufacturing equipment is installed.

It remains to be seen if China’s workforce could meet the targets set by Shanghai officials last March, which estimated that Gigafactory 3’s initial construction could be completed by May. Despite this ambitious timeframe, the incredible pace of Gigafactory 3’s construction, which allowed the facility to grow from a single pillar in the middle of March to a full-blown factory shell by May, is something that could very well make it to books. At its current pace, and barring unexpected delays, Gigafactory 3 could see initial electric car production as early as September.

Watch the most recent drone flyover of Gigafactory 3 in the video below.

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Tesla opens jobs for Gigafactory 3 as first images of factory interior emerge

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Elon Musk’s Boring Company secures contract for Las Vegas transport tunnel

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on May 22, 2019

Despite receiving some pushback from two board members of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, The Boring Company has nevertheless secured a contract to build a transport tunnel under the LVCA’s campus. The project, which was approved following a vote by the LVCA’s board on Wednesday, will be comprised of two tunnels that are designed to transport passengers from the LVCA campus’ New Exhibit Hall to the existing North/Central Hall.

The Boring Company’s Las Vegas tunnel is expected to be completed in time for the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show, which will be held in January. Elon Musk has expressed his optimism at the project’s potential completion date, stating on Twitter that the transport tunnel could be operational by the end of 2019. This is a very aggressive timetable, though the relatively short length of the tunnel at less than one mile could improve the Boring Company’s chances at completing the project within Musk’s target timeframe.

The Las Vegas transport tunnel will utilize a Loop System, which is comprised of autonomous electric vehicles (AEV) that can carry passengers from one point to another. The Boring Company notes that standard AEVs are Tesla Model X and Model 3 vehicles, though high-occupancy AEVs are also under development. The latter utilizes a modified Model X chassis that is capable of transporting up to 16 passengers with both sitting and standing room. Provided that The Boring Company could complete the Las Vegas transport tunnel without delays, test runs in the system could begin as early as November 2020, according to the project’s public contract.

In its vote on Wednesday, the LVCA granted a $48.6 million contract to the tunneling startup, though the total project is estimated to cost around $52.5 million. Two-thirds of the total funding for the project will not be released to the tunneling startup until the transport tunnel is complete. Previous reports also hinted that if the Boring Company is unable to receive a certificate of occupancy for the transport tunnel, the LVCA will get back its entire investment.

While the Boring Company was able to secure the Las Vegas contract, the tunneling startup’s proposal still met some pushback from two board members of the LVCA. In recent weeks, board members Michele Fiore and Carolyn Goodman argued against the Boring Company’s proposal, citing the startup’s inexperience. The two board members suggested that the LVCA adopt the proposal of Austria-based Doppelmayr Garaventa Group instead, which will create an above-ground transit system that would cost around $215 million to complete.

Elon Musk’s Boring Company secures contract for Las Vegas transport tunnel

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Tesla rolls out location-based activation preferences for Sentry Mode

Simon Alvarez

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Posted on May 21, 2019

Tesla has started rolling out Sentry Mode preferences to its vehicles, giving owners more control of their electric cars’ built-in security system. The new Sentry Mode options were reported by Tesla owners whose vehicles recently received the company’s 2019.16.2 firmware update.

Screenshots shared by the Tesla community show that Sentry Mode now has location-based activation options. Among these are “Exclude Home,” “Exclude Work,” and “Exclude Preferences.” These options will likely be appreciated by Tesla owners, as they could be assured that their vehicles will not trigger the security system while it is parked in places like their garage.

Tesla has been improving Sentry Mode since releasing the camera-based security system earlier this year. For example, initial iterations of Sentry Mode required Tesla owners to manually activate the security feature every time they leave their vehicle. Later versions of Sentry Mode improved this, by having the system enable when the car is put into Park.

Activating Sentry Mode has become easier as well, with a dedicated button being placed on the vehicles’ infotainment screens. New voice commands, including a Rick and Morty Easter Egg that involves users activating the security system with the phrase “Keep Summer Safe,” has also been introduced.

Tesla has used location-based data for its vehicles’ features in the past. Among these include Smart Air Suspension for the Model S and Model X, which allows the Model S and Model X to change their ride height depending on their location, as well as auto folding mirrors for the Model 3.

Sentry Mode was rolled out by the electric car maker partly as a response to a string of break-ins seemingly targeting Tesla’s electric vehicles. In true Elon Musk fashion, the security system includes several pop culture references, including the glowing red “eye” of 2001: A Space Odyssey’s AI villain, HAL 9000, which informs people that the vehicle is recording footage.

It has only been a few months since Sentry Mode was released, but the system had already proven itself to be incredibly useful for Tesla owners. Since its release, Sentry has helped identify individuals vandalizing or breaking into the company’s vehicles, including a person deliberately keying a Model 3 in broad daylight, as well as a politician who opted to drive away after scratching a Tesla in a parking lot, to name a few.

Tesla rolls out location-based activation preferences for Sentry Mode

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