Inwards Tesla’s $Five billion Gigafactory for Model three cars
A fresh federal report found a self-driving Tesla car was speeding before a deadly crash in Florida three months ago.
The NTSB’s preliminary review released Tuesday says the Tesla Model S was going seventy four miles an hour in a sixty five zone when it struck the side of a tractor-trailer, killing the driver. The driver was using the car’s autopilot feature.
Despite this and other latest setbacks, Tesla is pushing forward with what some its costliest gamble in Sparks, Nevada. Here in the desert, Tesla is building a massive, $Five billion factory to make batteries for electrical cars, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone.
Deadly Tesla crash raises questions about autopilot safety
In fever and dust, hefty machinery and around 1,000 workers are racing to build the factory that Tesla says will be by far the fattest maker of lithium-ion batteries in the world, and a large gamble for Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Tesla needs the factory to meet request for its mass market Model Trio. The company has 373,000 pre-orders for the $35,000 electrified car.
"We’re truly excited about what’s happening," Musk said. "Things are on track to be able to meet the Model three and embark production in the middle of next year."
"The success of the Model three is truly dependent on the success of the Gigafactory here," said Tim Stevens of CNET. "Tesla needs the battery packs to come out of here on a yam-sized scale and on a indeed cheap cost in order to make the Model three work."
Tesla is depending on economies of scale and the scale of this project in the desert is epic. What’s here now is just the beginning of a factory that Tesla says will have the largest footprint of any building in the world. When this is ended, it will cover an area equivalent to one hundred seven NFL football fields.
Inwards the one section of the factory that is now accomplish, robots and workers have already begun assembling battery packs, but not yet for cars – only for power storage units Tesla is making for commercial and home use.
Meet the Tesla Model Three
Musk is also facing questions about his plan to have Tesla take over Solar City – the solar power company where he presently serves as chairman. And after a fatal accident, he resumes to defend Tesla’s autopilot system.
"I think we did the right thing. We improved the people’s safety, not just in fatalities, but also injuries," Musk said.
But the question for Tesla now is whether the company can build the Model three quick enough.
"Nothing could possibly go wrong," Musk said.
When finished, the factory is projected to employ more than 6,000 workers and Musk said as many as Ten,000. That’s why Nevada has given Tesla $1.Trio billion in tax cracks to put the factory here in the desert outside Reno.
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