New Cybertruck Updates From Giga Texas!
In today’s post we’ve got the latest updates on the Tesla Cybertruck and new Model Y, a Tesla Energy powered Bitcoin mining farm, massive deliveries from Giga Shanghai as they struggle with shutdowns and Elon says that Tesla might get into the business of mining lithium. So let’s get going.
New Cybertruck Features Spotted
Tesla’s recent Cyber Rodeo event at their Austin GigaFactory has finally provided us with the opportunity for some clear and close up photos of the new Cybertruck Prototype. This is a recent, Alpha build of the truck that’s still pre-production, but it is updated with new features that were not included in the original 2019 prototype. This is like a halfway point for Cybertruck development.
Previously we’d only really seen this new build from drone videos and some pics on Joe Rogan’s Instagram account - so these are our first crisp, clean views. And what have we learned from all of this new content? Not much.
I mean, we do have some updates on everyone’s favorite Cybetruck feature: the windshield wiper. Thanks to this low angle shot, we can now see that what had appeared to be one ultra gigantic windshield wiper is actually just two regular wipers mounted on one ultra gigantic arm mechanism. This is very important, because I was getting worried that I might have to order some special wiper blade that was only available on the Tesla website and have to wait a week for it to get from Texas to Ontario and then have to pay like 30 bucks for custom’s fees. Luckily this new design looks like I should be able to pop over to Canadian Tire and snag a couple replacements when needs be.
Doesn’t do much to cancel out the ugliness factor, but at least there’s some practicality to be had. Remember when we thought Tesla were going to have laser beam windshield wipers or like, ultrasonic magnet blades? Those were good days.
But that’s not all. Cyber Rodeoers also spotted the rear glass window of the Cybertruck cabin dropped down into the wall that separates the bed from the seats, and we also have unconfirmed reports that the mid gate wall is able to fold down. So that would mean that much like the old Chevy Avalanche pickup trucks, the Cybertruck can have full, unimpeded access between the cabin space and the bed - particularly useful for moving very long objects or for car camping scenarios.
We actually did get a little preview of how the door mechanism works during Elon’s presentation. So we know that the Cybertruck has now had all handles removed, but what does that mean for door operation? Well, the eagle eyed viewers at Drive Tesla Canada were able to spot a moment while Elon is speaking that the door just automatically pops open just a little bit beside him, and then a few seconds later it automatically pulls itself closed again. And then as Elon goes to leave, he touches on the truck’s b pillar to pop the door manually and then pulls it open by grabbing the lip of the door frame.
We got a decently good look at the interior here, but it’s obviously not a finished product. There is a Model S steering yoke in there with a big hole in the middle where the airbag should be and no plastic covers over the steering column. Big, horizontal center display, but no screen on the driver’s side.
And to top that off, we got a video that shows quite nicely how the rear wheel steering function is working on the Cybertruck. If you pay attention to the back wheels as the driver is steering in reverse and then when they turn hard to drive out at the end, there is a subtle steering movement from the rear. This little bit of extra control is going to make the gigantic truck a lot more maneuverable in tight spaces like parking lots.
Moving on to the new, Texas made Model Y, we are still eagerly awaiting some kind of a confirmation about what is going on inside these vehicles. But we do have some Easter eggs.
We know that there was a Austin made Model Y onsite at the party that was called a Standard Dual Motor variant. And we know that all vehicles made at Giga Texas so far have been equipped with 4680 cells. We know that 30 new Y’s were delivered the night of the Cyber Rodeo, but it looks like all of them went to Tesla employees only, who are staying tight lipped about their new cars. One Tesla technician posted a photo of herself with the car on LinkedIn and confirmed that it is a 4680 cell equipped vehicle, but nothing more. And lastly we have a screen grab of the source code from the Tesla website that reveals a Model Y All-Wheel Drive with 279 miles of max range, top speed of 135 mph and a 0-60 acceleration of 5 seconds flat - but unfortunately no pricing information was found.
So hopefully that’s clarified things.
Tesla Energy Set to Power Renewable Bitcoin Mine
Tesla is getting back into the crypto currency game with a new Bitcoin mining project that will be powered by Tesla solar panels and Megapack battery units.
The project is a collaboration between Tesla and two blockchain startup businesses, one is Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s digital payment company Block, formerly known as Square - and the other is called Blockstream, who make a bunch of applications that support the Bitcoin network.
The three companies are teaming up to build a bitcoin mining farm in Texas. The renewable energy bitcoin mine would feature a 3.8 mw solar array paired with a 12 mw/h battery system, which would be 4 Tesla Megapack units.
It was only about one year ago that Elon Musk famously threw his support behind Bitcoin and opened it up as a payment method on the Tesla website, allowing people to buy electric cars directly from the manufacturer with crypto. This caused Bitcoin to spike in value straight in the direction of the Moon and laser eyed investors like the Winkelvos twins were literally ruining their pants with excitement.
Then a couple days later, Elon changed his mind and walked the whole thing back, saying at the time, “Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.”
Not surprisingly this sent Bitcoin in the exact opposite direction of the Moon and basically all of those Elon gains disappeared as quickly as they arrived. The Winkelvos twins were able to save some money on pants, at least.
Now with this new partnership, it looks like Elon might be solving his own problem using Tesla Energy and solar installations.
We can assume that the idea is to start out small and then grow these operations over time if things go well. The first Bitcoin farm is reported to be 30 petahashes per second of mining power - I don’t necessarily know what that means either. But after some quick looking around we can see that one of those dedicated Asic miner units that are like the size of a cinder block and cost 10 grand, they have about 100 terahashes per second of power at the high end - and there are one thousand terahashes in a petahash. So this particular bitcoin farm would be about 300, high powered Asic miners - give or take.
The mining infrastructure is all being taken care of by Blockstream and the group are aiming to have everything up and running this year.
Giga Shanghai Deliveries Up Again
Tesla has managed to deliver over 65,000 vehicles produced at Gigafactory Shanghai in the month of March - which is an impressive feat considering there were multiple days of factory shutdown over that period. This is double the number of vehicles they were able to deliver over the same period last year, and a 16% increase in productivity over the month of February.
Of course, the bad news here is that factory shutdowns have continued well into April, with the Chinese government desperately trying to clamp down on the spread of new COVID variants in the city. This will obviously have a negative effect on Giga Shanghai output, but could even have a ripple effect to Giga Berlin, where they rely on importing battery cells and supplies from Tesla China.
At this point, operations at Giga Shanghai have been down for two weeks. There is a tentative reopening date set for April 18th, but that’s looking less likely to happen. So at this rate, Tesla is losing at least 2,000 cars worth of productivity for every day that the factory is down. That’s going to add up fast.
Tesla is set to hold their next earnings call with Q1 results on April 20th. So obviously Elon is going to come on and speak on the 4/20 call, right?
Tesla Might Revisit Lithium Mining Operations
In a recent Twitter post, Elon Musk speculated that Tesla “might actually have to get into the mining and refining” of lithium due to recent price increases to “insane levels”.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because Elon announced back at Battery Day in 2020 that Tesla had already purchased a 10,000 acre claim of lithium-rich desert land in Nevada. At the time, Elon said that Tesla had developed their own method for lithium extraction from clay material that would be both environmentally-friendly and economical.
In the meantime between Battery Day and right now, the price of lithium has gone up by more than 400%.
In his recent tweet, Elon said, quote, “There is no shortage of the element itself, as lithium is almost everywhere on Earth, but pace of extraction/refinement is slow.”
So it’s hard to say if Elon is talking about mining lithium for Tesla’s own supply or if he’s eyeing this booming market as a way to drive extra profit for the company by extracting and refining the material, then selling it to other battery makers as well.
If Tesla’s production capacity is going to live up to the expectations that Elon set at his Giga Texas presentation - which was basically to rapidly scale Tesla up to the largest manufacturer on planet Earth - then they are going to need a crazy amount of lithium to make that happen.
