I'm sure it's likely if you are watching this, then you also couldn't resist dropping everything
you were doing and watching the Munro Live video the instant you saw it released. I find these
videos or events too intense sometimes, I guess such a build of anticipation of this battery,
and to finally discover some major facts about it, well it's almost too much for me.
I'd just like to
quickly extend all my appreciation of the work that Munro & Associates
does with EVs and Teslas. For those of you invested back when the Model 3 came out,
there was a lot of FUD about the build quality of the car. But it was Munro that tore down the car,
and revealed how an impressive job Tesla were actually doing in manufacturing,
despite perhaps a few panel gaps. Which we came to learn, only really occur when there
is extreme ramping to volume production. Now since Tesla are the only company in
the world that is actually capable of making EVs in volume production, then I don't think anyone
else can really comment on Tesla's panel gaps, as Tesla literally have the fewest panel gap issues
out every single volume produced EV in the world, and that is EVs not just BEVs.
But anyway it's tough when you have invested a significant proportion of you net worth
in just one single company, not to mention also likely being down at on said investment.
Munro really was there for us investors,
to know that we had invested in a company that actually did make a quality product.
Even though Tesla being so new to the industry, at an early sign they were leapfrogging old
manufacturing processes. Of course a classic example of that is Tesla's Octovalve.
Ok, on to the tear down. Now how Tesla installs their front seats,
is by mounting them on to the actual structural pack. We first saw this at the Berlin Festival.
But we get to see it close up now. We now know that they are mounting the seats, console and
carpet all on the pack, and then placing it into the car. Cory from Munro Associates
seems quite impressed by this. Also bear in mind how easier it is to manufacturer a car
where you can just lift the seats into the car. There are so many clever techniques happening,
saving money and increasing production speed.
The center console is on rails, and slides back and forth. This was solely for production
purposes, not for user functionality. So once the battery is installed the center console is slid
forwards on rails, to engage with the instrument panel. This is done in order to make it easier
to deck it. So the center console can slide on rails, and move to allow for easier manufacturing.
I thought that was really impressive, and not sure how common things like that usually are in
auto manufacturing. I think it just goes to show more outside the box thinking from Tesla when it
comes to manufacturing. And let's be honest, most of us are not close to qualified enough to truly
appreciate exactly what is happening here, yet we are still somehow in awe of what we are seeing.
FLOOR STRUCTURE Cory likes to
point out how big a deal it is to be standing under a vehicle on a hoist,
and have absolutely nothing for the floor structure. He says that Munro & Associates
have seen the evolution of the automotive industry for the past 30 to 40 years.
The look up at the car from underneath, he then says coming from a background of
benchmarking vehicles, he says you would usually have hundreds of stamp parts,
where the front giga casting is, hundreds and hundreds of parts he says.
I know the analogy of Elon playing 3D chess is thrown around a lot, and it is a good depiction,
and we compare the competition to playing drafts. Well the giga castings are actual 3D pieces,
whilst everyone else is stamping and welding 2D parts together. I don't think the giga
presses are close to appreciated of what they are achieving. But in we can be forgiven,
as there is so much else that Tesla throw at us to appreciate. And we know that it
removes about 300 robots and processes too, and that's each giga casting, and Tesla have
two. And the structural battery pack removes over another 100 processes and robots again.
I mean it probably takes the competition about 1000 additional robots to build their EVs.
According to Herbert Diess, a Volkswagen ID3 takes 3 times longer to produce than
a Model 3. Model 3 doesn't use giga castings or structural pack.
These are going to be made about 10 times faster than a Volkswagen when they eventually ramp.
And that giga casting looks super tidy and solid as well.
Cory goes on to explain the level of integration the castings have too,
for multiple mounting features, and points out a small fin of aluminum as an example.
And they then explain how it was relatively easy to remove the battery pack from the vehicle.
They weighed the structural battery pack,
including the console, lines cooling tubes and seats. It came to a weight of 1,198 lbs.
Cory says "which is incredible". He is very impressed with the weight of this pack,
and to put into perspective he says they have 3 or 4 other EVs
along with a Rivian, he says that the batteries for those EVs will weight
twice that, at around 2400 lbs. That is just the weight of the batteries alone. I repeat
just the batteries. Tesla's 4680 pack weighs half of that, and also includes the seats and console.
But that's not all the Tesla battery includes is it? No, the it also includes the structure.
Admittedly the Rivian might not be the best example to compare, given that it does have
quite a large battery size. However, if we compare it to the Model Y Long Range,
then it's actually the same weight as the 2170 battery pack. Of course that pack has seats,
console, and structure to add too. It will be great to get the actual weight of the pack though.
And remember although the 4680 pack may not be as big as the 2170 pack, or as long a range,
it's a larger battery as far as cell volume is concerned, so once the energy density is
at parity with the 2170 chemistry, the 4680 pack should have a higher energy capacity. Of course
this is also more reason as to why to speculate on the possibility of range being software limited.
Anyway, long story short, we have clear evidence that Tesla have saved a lot of weight with the
structural pack. If they end up giving us figures on how much just the pack weighs,
that will be an important number that I can base all sorts of measurements from. I should be able
to calculate the actual weight saving we see from the structural pack, which should be interesting.
And that's as far as they got
for now. I know we are on the edge of our seats with excitement to see what is inside that pack.
We still don't officially know how many cells are in this vehicle. We have heard 828 cells,
and I think to be honest there is about an 90% chance that there will be 828 cells. However, we
just don't seem to feel that it matches the 68 kWh battery size with only 280 miles of range. Cory
actually says they believe there to be 800 to 850 cells inside the pack, so it probably is likely.
Apparently it's possible to connect a 4680 cell to an OBD2 reader,
and that would give the cell capacity, but no one has done that on any tear downs yet.
Just saying, it might be really good to know the capacity of these cells.
I am not sure if Munro will do that though. The current estimate is about 82 Wh per cell. But
if we discovered it to be 90 or higher, then there is some software constriction happening somewhere.
Anyway, we will get to see how Tesla are securing these 4680 cells to the top cover, and see what
else is inside, so prepare to be impressed, and I believe this is happening on Friday.
I think Munro are going to make almost a dozen episodes on the tear down of this car,
I'm sure they are all going to be impressive. Cory says that they
are also going to do a full comparison of what has changed since the 2170 Model Y,
which is going to be really interesting too. He even mentions a few he noticed
already like improvements in the routing of the high voltage line to the heat pump.
Ok not too much secret sauce unveiled in this one,
but it sure sounds like everything is at least as impressive as Munro was hoping,
the general assembly sounded it like it was even easier than they expected.
I don't have close to the credibility of these guys, but I think judging from their reactions,
Tesla has once again knocked it out the park. Anyway, it was just a prelude to what is coming,
the actual battery pack tear down. Which is all just here to keep us entertained to
remedy our patience for the 4680 ramp. This quarter is starting to look better already!