The highway winds gently between bleached hills: on this gray January day, the snow has chased the wild horses that usually graze there, in the middle of the desert. When suddenly, the white building surmounted by a red band appears in the distance. A building adorned with legends and mysteries: it’s here, 35 miles from Reno, Nevada, that beats the heart of the industrial device of Tesla.
Welcome to “Gigafactory” of the manufacturer of electric cars, the first of the name, which prides itself on producing today more batteries than all the other automakers gathered in the world. The excitement is palpable within the small group of journalists who are about to discover the scene: it is the first time since its production started, there are hardly two years, Tesla opens its doors to media European.
Bottlenecks
What strikes from the arrival is the immensity. The giant L-shaped factory already occupies nearly 180,000 square meters on the ground – the equivalent of 33 football fields. And still, it reaches only 30% of its projected size: the model of the lobby has a huge hexagon. “As the lines span three floors, it will eventually occupy 1.2 million square meters of production floor space – and will become the largest building in the world,” says Chris Lister, director of plant operations.
Entering Tesla a year and a half ago, this former Pepsico has not had the easy task since his arrival. This is where the batteries and engines of the Model 3, the first production vehicle of the Elon Musk firm, are produced. And it’s here that bottlenecks, last spring, slowed down the rise of production of the vehicle, preventing Tesla from to achieve his goals several times – to the point of precipitating the company on the verge of bankruptcy. “We have not slept much in recent months,” confesses the leader smiling.
The machine that makes the machine
Today, the lines are running at full speed, 24 hours a day. “We have reached the pace of 10,000 battery packs per week . It was a huge challenge, “he says. “And we keep up the pace.” Objective, to ensure deliveries of the Model 3 in Europe , which should start next month. Including the stationary batteries also produced here (the famous Powerwall for residential use, and Powerpack for industry), production reached an annualized rate of 20 GWh in June – and analysts believe that the long-term goal of 35 GWh per year has already reached by the end of 2018.
To achieve this, it was necessary to review the organization in some places and come back to excessive automation – whereas the “gigafactory” was to be, according to Elon Musk’s vision, “the machine that makes the machine”. The contrast is striking. On certain lines, such as the manufacture of motors or the assembly of sills (where the batteries are integrated), it is a ballet of robots, huge articulated arms pivoting and tilting rhythmically, which welcomes the visitor. Without a human, or almost, in sight. But on others, operators are ubiquitous.
Integrated supply chain
The assembly of the batteries in module, in particular, has been reorganized. “There was too much going back and forth between different posts, too many passes by the elevators. And some tasks, such as cable assembly, are more suitable for human manipulation. We had to simplify the process, “explains Chris Lister. Even though yellow dotted lines marked with an “AGV route” sign abound on the floors of the immense corridors, the AGVs (for “automated guided vehicles”, these automated carriages which proliferate in the most modern automobile factories), still seem rare. .
For efficiency, Tesla has chosen to welcome its suppliers under its roof, first and foremost Panasonic , which produces the cells of lithium-ion batteries – small tubes 6.5 cm long and 1.8 cm in diameter. “But it’s not the only one: there are also other partners, like the French company Valeo, which manufactures cooling tubes for the modules,” says Chris Lister. This is a scoop because Tesla generally prohibits its suppliers from mentioning any link. “This integration of the supply chain not only reduces logistical costs, but also solves problems more easily,” he continues.
Bright open spaces
To promote communication, closed offices are prohibited. People dedicated to the administrative, engineering or planning work behind raised offices, in bright open spaces, surrounded by windows. But here, no gyms or relaxation as on campuses “tech companies”.
North-oriented to favor GPS signals, the plant is also expected to operate entirely with renewable energies – using solar panels on the roof or wind turbines. For now, only a small part of the roof is covered with panels, and Tesla remains connected to the network. Hard to fight on all fronts.