Tesla Is Investing $350 Million In Its Gigafactory, Hiring Hundreds of Workers (cnbc.com) 136
Just weeks after the massive Gigafactory started producing batteries, Tesla has announced plans to hire more workers and use the facility to make the motor and gearbox for its upcoming Model 3 electric sedan. CNBC reports: Tesla will invest $350 million for the project, and hire an additional 550 people, according to the governor's comments. That will be over and above the company's existing commitment to hiring 6,500 people at the Gigafactory, according to comments made by Steve Hill, the director of the governor's Office of Economic Development, to Nevada newspaper the Nevada Appeal. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made manufacturing efficiency a high priority for the company, but Tesla will require a lot of factory floor to meet its goal of to pumping out 500,000 cars by the end of 2018, and then making one million cars by 2020. Meanwhile, the city of Fremont recently approved Tesla's application for an additional 4.6 million square feet of space there.
MAGA (Score:5, Funny)
Thanks Donald! Great job!
Re:MAGA (Score:5, Funny)
Racist or not (Score:2)
This is what racists actually believe.
We have to get back into the mode where we can make verifiable statements without the other side calling "racist" all the time.
At this point, I think it's a knee-jerk reaction that the left "just always does". Always call "racist"! If it shuts down the conversation, great! If not, you've lost nothing and can try something else.
It's historically clear that local Democratic rule of minority areas has failed. Areas like Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Ferguson, Watts, Memphis, Flint, and so on.
Saying this is not
Re:Racist or not (Score:4, Insightful)
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>1. Are you saying that minorities are not capable enough to go to the DMV? How racist of you.
Nobody is saying that. We're saying poor minimum wage hourly workers generally can't go to the DMV because if they miss a day of work they get fired. That these are overwhelmingly minorities is not something wrong with the people - it's just a convenient fact of historic economics which current racist lawmakers are exploiting.
>. Yeah, they definitely don't care about voter fraud.
I'm sure a lot of their suppor
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Dead people on voter registrations does not equal, or even IMPLY that a SINGLE dead person voted. All it implies is that in the time between voter registrations happening and elections - some people die and sometimes the rolls aren't updated fast enough.
This is by no means indicative of any risk that those names are voting - if you look for actual dead registered voters who SHOWED UP TO VOTE - the numbers drop to basically zero.
Re:Racist or not (Score:5, Informative)
Most of those things use IDs that republicans have conveniently declared you can't use to vote with.
Student IDs for example are not acceptable for voting... fuck knows why, there aren't any SANE reasons to exclude them so we have to assume an insane one... like racism.
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We have to get back into the mode where we can make verifiable statements without the other side calling "racist" all the time.
"Racist" has merely taken on a new meaning.
In judo, you concede by tapping out. In a schoolyard fight, you concede by saying "uncle". In an internet fight, you concede by saying "racist".
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"It's historically clear that local Democratic rule of minority areas has failed. Areas like Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, Ferguson, Watts, Memphis, Flint, and so on.
Saying this is not being racist."
While I would certainly agree that Democratic party rule in those mainly minority filled areas failed and that saying as such is certainly not racist, using a handful of areas to rationalize a statement about Democratic rule in minority areas failing in a general sense is naive and foolish and you clearly have yo
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How am I the racist in pointing out how the black community is being taken advantage of? It seems pretty sure the real racists are the ones who harm the black community while claiming to support them. That's some Deep Racism right there.
I'm just trying to help by point out the obvious so some in the community can become Awake, rather than just Woke.
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SMH -- I am neither right wing (I am libertarian, anti-statist) and as my posts clearly show, rather the opposite of racist. I do have a long history but it's of wisdom distributed to help the lost such as yourself, but I can only take you so far and the rest of the journey is up to you.
I will leave the last response to you, here here on your path is your own. Choose well!
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Using "wisdom" and "libertarian" in the same sentence... libertarianism contains all the wisdom of sticking your condoms to the bedpost with thumbtacks for easy access.
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The Mac culture has its issues as well.
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Some blacks do have those acceptable ID's. But the terms for getting or holding such ID are shaped by keeping the black vote down
As the judge in the North Carolina ID case noted, the Voter ID and early voting restrictions were strategically designed to minimize voting by blacks [washingtonpost.com]
suck on it racist thugs!
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You clearly aren't keeping up
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The circuit court disagrees with your claim
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Show me where I said that. What I said was:
Early ones were, certainly, but that doesn't mean that all are. Plenty of other countries require ID in order to vote, and it's not a racial issue at all there. Surely we can design some sort of requirements that satisfy both sides, yes?
Nowhere do I say "only early ones were preferential".
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Texas lost its appeal of the anti-black Voter ID today.
That's two!!!
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Or do you only read fake news?
How many months to plan this?
certainly more than THREE!
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Not from DeVos Charter schools
Which are UNDERperforming public schools!
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We need DeVos Charter Schools to drag everyone down to the same level as our failed inner city schools.
Make America Dumb Again!
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I believe that the DeVos schools are very expensive. They're just not any good.
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Certainly cheaper and better than DC public schools. Which are admittedly the worst performing, best funded public schools in the USA.
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Problem is therefore NOT "excess" funding for public schools.
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They really don't. There are overwhelming studies that prove chartter schools NEVER outperform public schools - not anywhere. School performance is, at least 80%, determined by school neighbourhood and surrounding social conditions - budgets cannot change that, neither can privatisation (By any name).
The fastest way to improve school performance in the USA would be to set a 15 dollar minimum wage, set up a really solid childcare plan (Trump actually promised one but his cabinent candidate made no mention of
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DC private schools cherry pick applicants.
For any given economic quartile, private schools produce no better academic outcomes
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This isn't to say I support her, just that charter schools in MI are, in fact, doi
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That really helps your case.
Not
Selective quote mining didn't help DeVos case either, since those massive failures were HER company schools
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As for Michigan, half the Charters do a POORER job than do public schools stuck with the "unteachables"A truly shitty solution. [nytimes.com]
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But half the charters perform only as well, or worse than, Detroit’s traditional public schools.
Which means half did better, no? And if half are equivalent or worse, then on average, they're better - no matter what proportion those half are of worse vs. equal, if half are better, the average is higher.
To be clear, I'm not saying the charter school situation in Michigan is ideal; they lack some regulation that would improve things considerably.
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Nice try though!
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Thanks Donald
Gearbox in electric car (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Gearbox in electric car (Score:5, Informative)
The Tesla "gearbox" is just a differential to connect the electric motor to the two drive shafts. There is no clutch. There is only one "gear".
The electric motor has nearly flat torque from 0 rpm up to 16,000 rpm so they don't need to change gears.
Re:Gearbox in electric car (Score:4, Informative)
Tesla needs custom gearboxes for several reasons. First of all, being electric it doesn't need a multi-speed transmission. Second, it has to be able to handle a very high amount of torque all at once since an electric motor can generate high torque at 0 RPM with virtually no lag and very low inertia. Tesla worked with several manufacturers for the Roadster transmission and they all failed miserably due to the high torque involved until they designed and built their own.
Re:Gearbox in electric car (Score:4, Interesting)
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A single speed gearbox is much stronger than a multiple speed one, as all components and force vectors can be optimised.
Making an equally strong multispeed gearbox must be larger (to accomodate the extra gears) and larger to accomodate heavier components.
There's only so much space available in the design and automakers have been producing "weak" boxes for a long time on the basis that it increases their servicing business and 99% of drivers never go near the torque peak on a regular or sustained basis.
Yes,
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There's only so much space available in the design and automakers have been producing "weak" boxes for a long time on the basis that it increases their servicing business and 99%
That's...........
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My math teacher at high school was an automotive designer. He related a story specifically about gearboxes and how he was ordered to despec the componentry to ensure they would eventually fail in service
He quit the industry not long after that.
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The top speed is mostly limited by the battery life - top speed goes with the cube root of horsepower. Increase the top speed by 10% and your "top speed battery life" drops by 30%. Teslas are great toys for US roads, but a joke on the Autobahn.
Re:Gearbox in electric car (Score:5, Informative)
The Tesla P100D's dual motors combine for 760 horsepower, which would be more than enough to sustain 200mph+ with proper gearing and tires. By comparison, a Lamborghini Gallardo achieves a top speed of 202mph with just 562 horsepower. The Tesla's motors redline at about 16000rpm, which at the 9.7:1 fixed gearing ratio corresponds to about 155mph. If the gearing ratio were halved, the low-speed acceleration would reduce but the top speed would go up dramatically.
True, at 200mph the P100D battery pack would only be good for about 40 miles. But gas supercars don't do much better. At top speed, a Bugatti Veyron can burn through an entire 26-gallon tank of gas in just 12 minutes (51 miles).
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At top speed, a Bugatti Veyron can burn through an entire 26-gallon tank of gas in just 12 minutes
But that's OK because IIRC, the tyres are only rated for 6 minutes at top speed.
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Re:Doesn't work! (Score:5, Insightful)
Well that's $350 million wasted. I drive 200 miles each way to my ranch each weekend, no way I could do that in an electric vehicle. Electric cars are a fad.
The tech isn't there yet, and it's moving slowly, but it's still moving in the right direction. Give it time and you'll get to your ranch on an all-electric vehicle.
Re: Doesn't work! (Score:1)
Re:Doesn't work! (Score:5, Insightful)
I drive 200 miles each way to my ranch each weekend, no way I could do that in an electric vehicle.
I realize you are trolling, but still want to point out that a Tesla could handle that easily, as long as your ranch has electrical outlets.
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Using it as a vague yet fact-consistent length of measurement rather than something you're able to pedant.
Using pedant as a verb, DWI.
Re:Doesn't work! (Score:5, Funny)
I thought it was stranger s/he's making a 400mile road trip across states on an every-week basis.
400 miles is "just down the road" is Texan mileage units. Anything farther than 400 mile is "just down the road, aways."
Re:Doesn't work! (Score:5, Insightful)
Eeeehh....I wish I could agree. But I drive a Tesla X with a 90 kWh battery. If I ever get it to drive 200 miles on a "full 250 mile" charge, I'll wet myself with glee.
Last weekend left a Supercharger with 230 miles remaining range, drove 90 miles at 68 mph and reached my destination with 110 miles of range remaining. Thankfully I found a L2 charger to plug into while I visited friends so I could make it the 90 miles back to the Supercharger on the way home.
I wish I could do 200 miles without white knuckles or driving 55 mph with the climate control off.
p.s. I agree the author was probably trolling, and with 100 kWh batteries and larger he totally is a troll, but at 90 kWh and below...sort of right.
Re:Doesn't work! (Score:5, Informative)
If I ever get it to drive 200 miles on a "full 250 mile" charge, I'll wet myself with glee.
I suspect that you are "doing it wrong". My wife has a Tesla, and had the same problem, but when I drove her car, I got even better mileage than the indicator. So I watched her drive, and then I mansplained what she was doing wrong. Since then she has gotten much better milage.
In an ICE car, the "accelerator" pedal controls the rate of power going to the engine. If you push on it with your foot, the car speeds up. If you take your foot off the pedal, you coast. On a Tesla, the "accelerator" controls the SPEED OF THE CAR. If you lift your foot, the car thinks you want to slow down, and engages the regenerative brakes. This feeds power back into the battery, but only at about 60% efficiency, so 40% of the power is wasted. Try driving with the power graph displayed, and watch how often it turns orange (regeneration engaged). Practice keeping your foot steady to minimize that. It will make a big difference.
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Yeah...nope. But I do appreciate the mansplaining. For the record, my wife (who expends no effort to drive conservatively) gets WAY worse mileage than I do. It's staggering.
But I've tested the heck out of this thing. I have tested this out with and without cruise control. City driving and freeway driving. Long drives and short drives. With and without climate control. I've shut it down to "Sport" and even tested it out locked down in Valet mode. I've drafted, I've coasted, I've driven it like the Prius I us
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On a Tesla, the "accelerator" controls the SPEED OF THE CAR.
Also inaccurate by the way. If you keep your foot on the accelerator at the exact same point and the car moves from a flat to a hill, you will slow down, not maintain speed. Here is Seattle we have a lot practice with the hill thing. You need to press further if you want to maintain speed on the hill.
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If I ever get it to drive 200 miles on a "full 250 mile" charge, I'll wet myself with glee.
My neighbour is a Taxi driver for Schipol airport. Their entire fleet is made of Teslas. He gets that mileage twice daily with one stop at the Zuidoost supercharger for a lunchbreak.
You're doing it wrong.
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Those are all Tesla S cars at Schipol, which get much better mileage. I have driven an S and had no problem getting good mileage. The X is a different car and notably harder to achieve good mileage on. If I can drive an S efficiently without any difficulty but struggle with an X, it seems unlikely I'm "doing it wrong."
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Right, sorry missed that. Agree the X has quite underwhelming range.
He might not be (Score:2)
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I have a problem. End points of my main long journey are about 350 miles apart, I usually fill up on petrol (gas) at half tank so never go more than 200 mile between fill up stops. I would want electric vehicles to have same ability, . i.e . top up to full in say 15 minutes during half way stop. This is the critical factor to occasional long distance use, when normal commutes etc are about 60 miles per day.
I rejected a hybrid because of cost, and until electric-top ups are both cost ( money) and time (sho
Re:Doesn't work! (Score:5, Interesting)
The entry level will have a 200 mile range. I'm sure there will be versions with more than a 200 mile range. As long as there is charging at the ranch it isn't a problem. I drive over 200 miles in my model S without any problems. Also, adding 20-50 miles of range at a supercharger doesn't take very long. When the supercharger kicks in on my model S it charges at over 300 miles/hour and my car is a 1st generation. The current ones charge faster since mine is limited to 90KW (revision A battery pack) and the new ones charge at 135KW and may soon hit 150KW. With my car, if I had to add 20 miles of range and my battery were at 20-40% it would take approximately 4 minutes to add 20 miles of range.
Being smaller and lighter I expect the model 3 will gain range quite a bit faster than the model S, since the same amount of power will provide more range.
On my last trip to Reno I had to stop in Truckee to use the restroom at the nearby grocery store. In the time it took me to use the restroom and buy a couple items I had another 50 miles of range.
I generally find that the speed of charging at a destination isn't all that important as long as I can be fully charged overnight.
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It's good to see that the problems are being worked on, even to the level where the most miserable arguments (what if i'm driving through the sahara and there are no charging spots) are being invalidated.
The only thing is getting the supercharger network even more densely connected.
Re: Doesn't work! (Score:2)
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After all, the electric bullet trains of Japan can only go....1500 miles
Any reason we can't have Charge stations every 50 miles, like we have gas stations?
Only politics, only politics.
Re: Doesn't work! (Score:2)
Re: Doesn't work! (Score:5, Insightful)
now, what were you saying about economics?
Let the profiteer pay the costs and electric cars will dominate the road
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How's that feel Texas? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:How's that feel Texas? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Not Tech news (Score:3)
Pretty ambitious (Score:2)
Tesla produced about 25,000 vehicles in Q3 2016, so they'll have to increase that by tenfold in 4 years. Not impossible, but sustaining that kind of growth brings all kinds of challenges, and the auto industry seems to be heading into a bit of a slump. And the incoming administration doesn't seem very green-friendly. Unless you mean the color of money.
Price reduction (Score:2)
Tesla Gigafactory and degeneration (Score:1)
How many are US Citizens? (Score:2)
Would be nice to know that citizens are filling these jobs, especially those looking for work.
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