The massive, big message Tesla CEO Elon Musk and different execs tried to impart throughout its four-hour Tesla Investor Day was how the corporate can be the driver of a worldwide shift away from fossil fuels and in direction of renewable power. Traders, not less than these energetic after the market closed, weren’t impressed maybe as a result of it lacked that huge product announcement, particular particulars on the subsequent step in its so-called grasp plan 3 or Musk’s signature “another factor” line.
Shares of Tesla fell 5.66% in after-hours buying and selling.
A lot of the occasion was extra historical past lesson than a forecast of future enterprise — though the nuance was that, after all, all roads result in the longer term. And huge sections of the occasion have been devoted to operational efficiencies and efforts to cut back price at nearly each stage of firm. (which usually buyers like).
Maybe probably the most attention-grabbing elements are what was not mentioned. Musk and an unusually lengthy lineup of division leads didn’t share new particulars on Tesla’s next-generation EV and its upcoming manufacturing unit in Mexico nor did they deal with present points with its Full Self-Driving software program that’s presently unavailable to those that opted to purchase the $15,000 possibility as a result of a recall.
Nonetheless, there was some information and insights from the occasion. Right here’s a roundup highlighting the massive stuff.
20 million EVs a yr by 2030
Picture Credit: Tesla/screenshot
This isn’t a brand new objective for Tesla. However a string of executives, who got here on stage to speak about the whole lot from manufacturing and uncooked supplies to design, charging and batteries, all actually tried to show their case for how they might attain that objective.
The slide above exhibits the prevailing portfolio, the Mannequin S, Mannequin X, Mannequin Y and Mannequin 3 — in addition to the Tesla Semi and the Cybertruck, and two veiled autos.
It’s value wanting on the 20 million autos per yr quantity for a little bit of a actuality test. Tesla produced 1,369,611 and delivered 1,313,851 autos in 2022. Toyota, the worldwide gross sales chief, bought 10.5 million autos final yr.
Meaning, and observe the mathematics, Tesla would want to extend its manufacturing (and gross sales thoughts you) about 15 occasions from 2022.
So, how will Tesla obtain this? Musk mentioned it’s not a requirement drawback (a phrase he has used repeatedly previously). The powerful half is constructing the darned issues, he mentioned. Tesla’s solutions are: vertical integration, scaling current factories and constructing new ones, making the manufacturing course of extra environment friendly and including a number of extra fashions. (However, curiously, not too many; Musk mentioned perhaps 10 fashions whole).
Vertical integration and slashing prices
Tesla is legendary for its fixed push in direction of vertical integration. It’s the one automobile firm in latest reminiscence that took on making its personal seats, as an example.
That message continued on the investor occasion, with executives discussing completely different items of the vertical-integration objective. Tesla has introduced in home already, together with constructing its personal chip. However the firm has continued to push the bounds of vertical integration, proper all the way down to the software program it makes use of for in-house operations. Execs mentioned that lately that removed an outsourced software program for recruiting to make use of its personal and that it developed its personal purpose-built microprocessor for high-power electronics that may scale back prices by half.
For Tesla, vertical integration equals price reductions. And that’s one of many huge goals to realize that greater mission.
Lithium plant in Corpus Christi
Picture Credit: Tesla/screenshot
Tesla has even prolonged its vertical integration efforts to the supplies it makes use of in battery cells.
Tesla formally broke floor at a brand new lithium refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, Drew Baglino, senior vice chairman of powertrain and power engineering, confirmed through the occasion.
In the course of the presentation, Tesla confirmed a rendering of the 50 gigawatt-hour per yr lithium refinery. The corporate’s messaging round pace and scale continued with the refinery undertaking, as Baglino famous they’re working to have it operational by the top of 2023.
“It is a good instance of one thing the place we’re mainly speaking about breaking floor and and beginning commissioning inside 10 months and with precise manufacturing inside 12 months,” Baglino mentioned. “That’s the goal.”
Musk added later, throughout a Q&A session, {that a} cathode processing facility will finally be constructed adjoining to the lithium refinery. He additionally famous that the corporate would favor if others took on lithium mining.
“We’re doing it as a result of we’ve to not as a result of we wish to,” Musk mentioned.
Mexico manufacturing unit
Picture Credit: Tesla/screenshot
Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador technically broke the information Tuesday, however Musk reiterated the announcement with out sharing any new particulars apart from a rendering.
“We’re excited to announce that the subsequent Tesla gigafactory might be in Mexico close to Monterey,” Musk mentioned. “We do wish to emphasize we are going to proceed to develop manufacturing in any respect of our current factories, together with California, Nevada, right here in Texas, Shanghai, so we intend to extend manufacturing in any respect factories. So the Giga Mexico can be supplemental to the output of all the opposite factories.”
Musk went on to tease a grand opening occasion on the manufacturing unit.
Subsequent-gen autos
Picture Credit: Tesla/screenshot
As we talked about above, Tesla displayed two veiled autos through the presentation, hinting at the way it will construct its next-generation of autos on a very completely different platform design. A giant a part of that design is constructing in a means that depends on automation to scale quicker and cheaper.
“It’s going to look one thing like this the place we construct all the edges of the vehicles independently, we solely paint what we have to, after which we assemble the elements of the automobile as soon as, and solely as soon as. We put them the place they should go,” Baglino mentioned.
Baglino famous that this might imply extra folks and robots having the area to work on separate items of the automobile, fairly than lugging heavy objects to a central buildout. What that appears like on the manufacturing unit ground is sub-assemblies, whereby the entrance, rear and ground with seats are assembled individually, after which put collectively at closing meeting.
“To extend the dimensions of adoption of electrical autos to the orders of magnitude that we simply confirmed you, we’ve to make constraints a part of the answer,” he mentioned. “It leads us to larger than 40% discount in footprint, which implies we are able to construct factories quicker, with much less capex and extra output per unit greenback.”
Whereas that theoretically sounds neat, factories are harmful locations and when extra folks work in nearer quarters, accidents can occur.
Neither Baglino, Musk nor head of design Franz von Holzhausen gave extra particulars on next-generation autos. The one trace: This next-gen design can also be used on the Cybertruck, in accordance with Baglino.
Uncommon earths
Picture Credit: Tesla/screenshot
As a part of Tesla’s next-gen design, the corporate is growing a brand new drive unit that it says might be extra scalable, largely as a result of it can finally remove using uncommon earth supplies.
“Now we have designed our subsequent drive unit to make use of a everlasting magnet motor to not use any uncommon earth supplies in any respect,” mentioned Colin Campbell, VP of powertrain engineering, noting that the brand new drive unit price has been lowered to $1,000. These financial savings might, in principle, be handed onto the buyer to make for a extra accessible, reasonably priced EV.
Tesla mentioned its subsequent powertrain may even use 75% much less silicone carbide with out compromising efficiency or effectivity of the car. The brand new powertrain can be suitable with any battery chemistry, which is able to give Tesla extra flexibility in battery sourcing, mentioned Campbell. Lastly, Tesla’s new powertrain manufacturing unit is seemingly 50% smaller than the present one in Austin, which Campbell mentioned means quicker scaling of EV manufacturing.
Warmth pumps
The third a part of Tesla’s Grasp Plan Half 3 is to modify house, enterprise and industrial heating to warmth pumps. Most of that portion of the presentation was only a Local weather Tech 101 on the unwell results of conventional heating programs and the way warmth pumps might assist. Musk mentioned in some unspecified time in the future Tesla would possibly contemplate constructing warmth pumps for the house to assist remedy this drawback.
Tesla already produces warmth pumps for its vehicles, so increasing into houses wouldn’t be far out of left subject. However you probably have a fuel or oil heater, the excellent news is you don’t have to attend for Tesla to exchange it. Loads of different firms already do that, together with Sealed and BlocPower.
Charging and power storage
Picture Credit: Tesla
Tesla broke up its info-dump with some bulletins, and several other hints, on the way forward for its EV charging and power storage companies. Most concretely, the automaker formally launched Magic Dock, an improve to Tesla’s charging stations which opens them as much as autos that aren’t Teslas. Rolling out the tech will allow Tesla to faucet into billions in federal subsidies.
Tesla additionally mentioned it can add a $30 “limitless in a single day house charging” plan to Tesla Electrical in July. An invitation-only electrical plan, Tesla Electrical is solely out there to Powerwall havers in elements of Texas the place retail selection exists. Tesla added that it goals to develop its electrical plan into different areas — “market by market, in the identical means that we’ve approached Tesla insurance coverage.” The corporate provided no particular dates.
Later, the automaker mentioned it could debut new power storage merchandise in 2023. One chart proven to buyers appeared to depict new megapack and powerwall designs, additionally hidden beneath illustrated veils. Take this with a grain or extra of salt; Tesla has a monitor file of lacking its personal deadlines.
Robotic
Picture Credit: Tesla/screenshot
Tesla teased a bit of extra details about its humanoid robotic, the Optimus, with a video displaying two robots slowly constructing one other bot — a giant step up from the prototype Tesla confirmed final October at AI Day.
As ordinary, Musk acknowledged that Optimus might be value considerably greater than the automobile facet of issues. Optimus is educated utilizing the identical AI that trains Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD, and Musk detailed how even a lot of the {hardware} for Optimus is taken from Tesla’s vehicles.
“The actuators in Optimus are all customized Tesla actuators,” mentioned Musk. “We designed the electrical motor or the gearbox, the facility electronics, clearly the battery pack and the whole lot else that goes into Optimus. The identical staff that designed the groundbreaking electrical motors which can be within the Mannequin S Plaid designed the actuators within the robotic.”
What this implies, mentioned Musk, is that Tesla has the instruments to convey an precise humanoid robotic product to market at scale. Now it’s only a query of timing. And likewise, apparently, of what the ratio of people to humanoid robots might be. Musk reckons it’ll be larger than one-to-one as a result of the robots can be utilized at houses, in industrial use circumstances and extra.
How the robotic suits into Tesla’s Grasp Plan Half 3, which is targeted on a sustainable power future for Earth, isn’t precisely clear.
