charliemagpie

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This machine will make millions of Cybertruck front ends.

The purchase/transport/install cost will cost less than the ongoing maintenance/upgrades over its lifetime.

And if we consider the savings in production time, and Robots, it may be the most significant advancement since Robotics and Henry Ford's moving assembly line.

These casting machines, return to vertical, the 4680 and Pack is a revolution.

Overall, the CT will represent in features and price all of what Tesla has achieved thus far.

Just random ...
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Ogre

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If not, since these are largely new materials and processes for Tesla, where else have they previously had a 9 ton press to iron everything out?
So long as the press operates to spec, it shouldnā€™t take 18 months to iron out issues. They have 6 ton presses, and I assume theyā€™ve done in-house testing with IDRA to verify it works before they shipped it. When they rolled out the 6kt presses previously, they were only on site for a few months before production.

Also, as a general rule, would you want to have half a billion dollars worth of robots and gigapress sitting idle for 18 months?

On the other hand, is the notion here that the press is basically the last part of the CT production line needing built?
The biggies are :
  • Gigapress ā€” This is what weā€™re talking about.
  • 4680 production ā€” Seems like ramp is finally progressing smoothly.
  • Stainless steel folding thing ā€” Weā€™re not quite sure on this.
  • Assembly line ā€” Robots, other stamping machinery etcā€¦ weā€™ve seen a lot of this.
  • Staff ā€” lots of hiring for Cybertruck specific jobs.
Really the only thing which we donā€™t have a solid visibility on is the steel folding. But folding steel isnā€™t a dark art, the only big question is how they do it at a scale which can keep up with the rest of production while maintaining quality.
 

charliemagpie

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Now that's synergy in a moment.
 

Ogre

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I expect Tesla will have harder time tweaking the SS bending/forming machines than this IDRA, imho
Scoring metal and bending it along a fold is pretty old school, particularly with simple 1 way folds. Only thing which is challenging is the speed.
 


HaulingAss

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Really the only thing which we donā€™t have a solid visibility on is the steel folding. But folding steel isnā€™t a dark art, the only big question is how they do it at a scale which can keep up with the rest of production while maintaining quality.
Actually, bending various shapes of cold-rolled stainless steel, is kind of a dark art when it must be done to high tolerances, repeatedly. And I suspect they are not folding it with a traditional industrial brake, but progressively, as they cold-roll harden it with custom rolling/bending machines designed in-house. We just don't know.

I would guess they are far enough along that it's not going to hold them up, but we have very little to go on beyond guessing and their history of moving at Tesla speed and getting difficult jobs done in often suprisingly short amounts of times. And putting the stainless-steel portions in high volume production certainly qualifies as a difficult job. It will be a work of industrial art.

Let's hope they impress once again!
 

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Scoring metal and bending it along a fold is pretty old school, particularly with simple 1 way folds. Only thing which is challenging is the speed.
Cold-rolled steel has a directional grain to it. Since the panels need to be folded in different directions, that will complicate getting consistent results. There are springback issues that can vary with time and temperature and variations in the cold-rolling process as well as the original temper of the steel to begin with that can impact the way the steel takes a bend and the consistency of that. These kinds of problems can be particularly vexing to solve. Nothing like it has ever been done before as not many items are mass produced from cold-rolled stainless steel. It's usually used in limited, low-volume or custom applications.
 

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If they get it assembled they can have it running before Feb, that gives them 3 months to iron out kinks.
Yes, and for how much a Giga press costs. I can't imagine Tesla wants to have it constructed, and not making products. :)
 

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Let's say they conceived exoskeleton CT in 2018. By mid 2019 they worked out how to manufacturer it.... Maybe not, but they did work it out before announced CT in December. No one builds multi million dollars machines and installs them in factories without first knowing how they will operate.
What I'm trying to say is they know how to fold SS. They know how to cast everything. Sure there will be kinks but nothing major.
They told us the hold up was batteries and that it is no longer the case.
They told us high nickel batteries are required which means they have those being built now.
Yes, I imagine the casting machine is the last piece needed before assembly begins.
 


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The employees don't know much. My delivery guy that brought us the new Y we purchased last week said "Cybertruck is two years out, maybe next year though". Verbatim.
Whenever I go to our local Tesla showroom or service center I know more about Tesla cars and Cybertruck than they do. Trust what you see over what you hear.
 

Deleted member 12457

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....

How/where are these things ā€œtestedā€? I mean, is there a 9ton gigapress somewhere else in the world that has done all the requisite proofing and boofing of the CT parts specifically?
....
I believe the only thing about this gigapress that wasn't tested in Italy was the actual injection of aluminum. Everything else was tested. It was fully assembled and tested at IDRA. I don't know who makes the dies but it wouldn't surprise me if IDRA does and they might even have run an initial test of the injection system.

Reassembling it will take some time but I assume IDRA disassembled it in sections that could be "easily" moved and reassembled. What the photos show is the simple part of large components. Now they have to add all the support pieces, robots, and assembly line components IDRA doesn't (necessarily) supply. At least it's there and being reassembled. This is exciting because now we know it's actually happening!
 

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I believe the only thing about this gigapress that wasn't tested in Italy was the actual injection of aluminum. Everything else was tested. It was fully assembled and tested at IDRA. I don't know who makes the dies but it wouldn't surprise me if IDRA does and they might even have run an initial test of the injection system.
sure, I assume the same roughly

I just donā€™t know anything about how that form of limited / simulation testing is direct comfort for full line automation slamming out multiple units a day.

Iā€™m not here casting doubt (pun intended), so much as scoping my awe at the possible expedience of time between completion of limited/simulation testing vs build out to actually slamming out units
 

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sure, I assume the same roughly

I just donā€™t know anything about how that form of limited / simulation testing is direct comfort for full line automation slamming out multiple units a day.

Iā€™m not here casting doubt (pun intended), so much as scoping my awe at the possible expedience of time between completion of limited/simulation testing vs build out to actually slamming out units
The Model Y uses a 6K ton gigapress, which should be that much different than the 9K ton. My concern is more on the folded body with stamped interior framing than the cast parts. I don't remember seeing any photos of the body molding processes. Interior and motor assemblies should be easy since they would be similar to other Tesla vehicles.
 

Ogre

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Let's say they conceived exoskeleton CT in 2018. By mid 2019 they worked out how to manufacturer it.... Maybe not, but they did work it out before announced CT in December. No one builds multi million dollars machines and installs them in factories without first knowing how they will operate.
What I'm trying to say is they know how to fold SS. They know how to cast everything. Sure there will be kinks but nothing major.
They told us the hold up was batteries and that it is no longer the case.
They told us high nickel batteries are required which means they have those being built now.
Yes, I imagine the casting machine is the last piece needed before assembly begins.
Yep, Only reason I brought up the stainless as an unknown is because we have a pretty good bead on the status of everything else. Weā€™re not quite sure what the status of the bending equipment is. Weā€™ve seen a press brake going in, but not clear if thatā€™s it or not.

Tesla has a test line somewhere they have demoed each step on and are just now doing the full assemble. Iā€™d just like to know what that particular step looks like!
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