Tesla Opens Model S Facility, Talks Model X [VIDEO]

by Zach McDonald

In a ceremony yesterday attended by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Tesla CEO Elon Musk officially opened the factory that will be the birthplace of thousands of Model S sedans per year. Located in Fremont, Calif., the 5.2-million-square-foot former NUMMI facility is scheduled to begin production in mid-2012, with a starting capacity of about 7,000 vehicles annually-though Tesla says it hopes to raise that number to 20,000 after the first year. Only about 20 percent of the factory's space will be utilized initially, giving the company plenty of room to grow as it unveils new models and increases sales. Since Tesla only paid $42 million for the both the factory and millions of dollars in equipment that were left behind when Toyota shuttered it last year, starting out with too much space wasn't a problem. After a few words of reflection and thanks, Musk raised the curtain on the plant's new signage and huddled with a few members of the assembled media. Among the topics of discussion were the Model S's battery technology, Tesla's planned Model X electric SUV, and the Chevy Volt, which Musk took the opportunity to both chide and take credit for. For all his detractors, you certainly can't say that the man doesn't know how to deliver a good quote from time to time: On the Model X: "I'm hopeful we will unveil a prototype toward the end of next year. When it will go into production is harder to predict because we want to make sure the Model S production line is operating smoothly before we introduce another variant... But certainly [within] two years when we start Model S production, we will have the Model X." On the Model S's battery: "For the Roadster we use an almost unmodified laptop cell, but for the Model S it is actually a highly modified cell... it's an 18650 cell, so the external form factor is the same so that we can take advantage of the economies of scale of 18650 production, but internals are quite different." On the Volt: "That approach is what it is, it's a hybrid...it's actually similar to an amphibian. In the transition form the oceans to land, there were a lot of amphibians, but now there's not that many amphibians... There's a medium-term role for a plug-in hybrid, but in our view not a long-term role. On Tesla's legacy: "I think I'll be pretty happy if they say that Tesla helped to accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation by five years, maybe as much as ten years. You know, the Volt is because of Tesla. I'm not sure if you're aware of that, but Bob Lutz does credit Tesla with being the reason for getting the Volt program going." Reprinted with permission from PluginCars

Post originale: http://featured.matternetwork.com/2010/10/tesla-opens-model-s-facility.cfm