The NTSB report indicates that the car’s traffic-aware cruise control and autosteer lane-keeping assistance – two features that constitute Tesla’s Autopilot system – were in use at the time of the crash. What’s here now is just the beginning of a factory that Tesla says will have the largest footprint of any building in the world.
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It’s Tesla Motors’ biggest bet yet: a massive, $5 billion factory in the Nevada desert that could almost double the world’s production of lithium-ion batteries.
Tesla has previously said that the truck’s white color, against a bright background, led neither the Model S’s onboard cameras nor the operator to see the hazard and adjust prior to the incident. The California-based company also operates solar energy storage company Tesla Powerwall, which produces eco-friendly energy for homes and business. Model 3 will be Tesla’s least expensive vehicle.
Tesla’s new factory could almost double global production of lithium-ion batteries. That plan includes proposals to move his company beyond electric cars and batteries, including ones for heavy-duty trucks and for high-passenger-density urban transport, which is something luxury carmaker Daimler is now developing. Additionally, the powertrain assembly will be shifted to the Gigafactory. Musk said: “Obviously long term it’s going to make sense to have a Gigafactory in Europe, one in China and probably one in India”. Workers are assembling batteries made in Japan into battery packs that then go into Tesla’s Powerwall and Powerpack products. Model S sedans and Model X sport utilities are now built using two separate lines of welding robots.
“It’s possible to fund quite a bit with that”, Musk said, adding that not all the proposed new vehicles will happen simultaneously. Inside the factory, Tesla’s partner, Panasonic Corp. – which has invested $1.6 billion United States into the factory – is installing machines in sealed, humidity-controlled rooms that will start making battery cells before the end of this year.
Electric motor vehicle maker Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has officially opened its Gigafactory in Nevada, though the US$5bn plant is far from complete. Japanese firm Panasonic Corp partnered with Tesla for the Gigafactory build, indicating in January that it may invest up to US$1.6 billion in the facility.
Most major automakers are also looking at autonomous cars.
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The NTSB report said the force of the initial impact of the crash resulted in the battery disengaging from the electric motors powering the auto. The new paint shop at the factory will be able to paint more than 500,000 vehicles per year.
