GigaPress Progress!
On January 6th, prolific Tesla watcher Joe Tegmeyer caught a delivery of two very large, IDRA-stamped packages to GigaTexas with his drone. Not long after that, two more IDRA packages were spotted by another drone operator - Brad Sloan.
Given the markings it’s not too much of a stretch to think that these crates contain the pieces for the long-awaited 9000 tonne Gigapress that Tesla will be using to produce their Cybertruck this year.
But there’s more.
Here’s a shot of one of the 9000 tonne Gigapress parts crated up at IDRA HQ in Italy, taken in October of 2022. Remember the second group of crates captured by Brad Sloan’s flyover? Looks awfully similar right?
Add to that this long package here. This is likely the giant rods that the dies sit on and move across, as they can’t be broken down into smaller components.
And then there’s the timing.
As early as the beginning of 2022 we’ve known that Tesla was aiming to have Cybertruck production begin - in at least a limited capacity - by the first quarter of 2023. And in the Q3 2022 earnings call back in October, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the company was primed to begin production at GigaTexas in the new year.
And we don’t have to just take Elon’s word for that.
On December 18th, bills of lading were discovered by twitter sleuth @greggertruck that showed Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas had ordered 66 new Kuka production robots. The Kuka bots are produced in Germany and are Tesla’s robot of choice for all of their production lines.
So, while 66 bots isn’t a gigantic amount when compared to GigaTexas’ Model Y production lines, that number should certainly be enough to get the new Cybertruck line up and running.
Connecting all of those dots makes a picture of a GigaTexas that is about to start calibrations for the first casting attempts of their Cybertruck - and just around the right time for Musk’s predictions too.
It’s likely going to take a little bit for Tesla and IDRA’s technicians to set up the monster Gigapress - as well as the Kuka robots for the new production line. We’re not sure exactly how the press was packaged, but it certainly seems like they’d need one or two more big crates to contain the whole machine. Regardless, with the Cybertruck team still in their “tooling phase” - where they prepare the specifications and procedures that will be used in production - everything should line up nicely.
But in looking over the IDRA Group’s LinkedIn page for that shot of the Gigapress crate, we also ran across this:
Like last time, IDRA didn’t give any mention of who exactly this press was for, but given no one else is currently using presses this big, it’s not a big leap to imagine that this one is bound for Tesla’s gigafactory in Shanghai.
But it’s one thing to guess that a press that’s only been made for Tesla is likely heading to their Asian factory - it’s another thing entirely to guess for what.
There’s been no announcements on plans to produce the Cybertruck in Shanghai - although it’s not out of the realm of possibility. GigaShanghai has been a powerhouse of a facility for Tesla this year, smashing all sorts of production records despite several shutdowns - even supporting other Tesla factories.
But there is the possibility that a press this size could be used for a new, third platform that Elon and Tesla execs talked about in the Q3 2022 earnings call.
In response to an investor question, Musk and his team revealed that Tesla is working on their next generation vehicle platform, and revealed some key points.
They said that they were aiming for this new platform to be half the cost of the Model 3 and Y, that they expect it to exceed the production of both, and - pivotally - it will be smaller than the other two models as well.
Rumours have been flying around for some time about a potential $25,000 USD vehicle in development, but this is the only real evidence we have for that - and while it doesn’t confirm a new model like that is coming - it does line up with the potential for a smaller vehicle whose production would be made much more efficient by using another 9000 tonne Gigapress.
At this point though, that’s all speculation. Aside from Tesla and Elon’s comments in the earnings call, and a shiny new Gigapress that’s apparently off to Asia, there’s nothing to be said with any certainty.
It is, however, exciting to see big packages with IDRA marked on the sides rolling up to GigaTexas. We can’t wait to see the first test castings!