Tesla Gigafactory Texas seems to be rearing to go and has started preparing for Model Y production already. Recent information from insiders on Tesla’s Giga Texas site suggests that Model Y production in the Lone Star state could start in a few months, with initial manufacturing test runs beginning in the coming weeks.
Drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer talked with an on-site source about Tesla’s progress with Giga Texas recently. The source shared that Tesla expects to produce its first full test Model Y as early as next week. A fully produced test Model Y means that the vehicle is operational, but not street legal. Test Model Y production will train new workers in Giga Texas for the street-legal version of the all-electric crossover.
(Credit: @JoeTegtmeyer/Twitter)
The Giga Texas insider also suggested that street-legal Model Y production could start in about two months. Give or take a few weeks, Tesla could officially start Model Y production by either the end of Q3 or the beginning of Q4. The estimates of the on-site insider match the timeframe Elon Musk gave during the last earnings call.
“So it’s really great work by the Giga Texas team and then also great work in Berlin-Brandenburg with the team there. So we expect to be producing the sort of new design of the Model Y in both factories in limited production later this year,” he said.
The Model Ys produced in Gigafactory Texas will be slightly different from the SUVs assembled in Tesla’s Fremont Factory. For one, Model Y from Giga Texas will have front megacasts. Tesla also hopes to start producing Model Ys with its structural battery pack soon.
“So for example, the Model Y made here and in Berlin will have a cast front body and a cast rear body, whereas the one in California has cast rear body but not a cast front body,” explained Elon Musk at that Q2 2021 earnings call.
“We’re also aiming to do a structural pack with 4680 cells, which is a mass reduction and a cost reduction, but we’re not counting on that as the only way to make things work. We have some backup plan with a non-structural pack and 2170s essentially. But at a scale production, we obviously want to be using 4680s and structural pack. From a physics standpoint, this is the best architecture, and from an economic standpoint, it is the lowest-cost way to go, so the lightest, lowest cost,” Musk said.
After Model Y production, Tesla plans to start working on Cybertruck production in Giga Texas. Model Y production will be the main focus for Tesla for the remainder of the year. This quarter Tesla, announced that Model Y deliveries to Europe will begin. The company also announced that Giga Shanghai is now the main export hub in its Q2 2021 Update Letter.
Check out Tesla latest progress on Gigafactory Texas below!
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