Tesla opened its super factory in Texas on the 7th local time, marking the official opening of the plant.
Mr Musk said the Texas plant was the "largest and most advanced" manufacturing plant. Tesla plans to start production of electric trucks Cybertruck and Semi, second-generation electric supercar Roadster and V1 Optimus at the plant next year.
Nowadays, the supply of Tesla cars continues to fall short of demand, and in some areas, the delivery time of the Model Yamp 3 has been delayed for several months. Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush, points out that the key solution lies in the Texas and Berlin plants. Musk also revealed a few days ago that Tesla plans to increase production by 50% a year, which is expected to be "very easy" to achieve this year.
Behind the large-scale production, Tesla's three key technologies-- 4680 battery, CTC technology and integrated die-casting technology-- will also be put into production in the Texas plant. After landing, Tesla's car-building cost is expected to be significantly reduced, and the production efficiency will rise sharply. With regard to the Model Y model alone, the annual production capacity will reach 500000 vehicles.
In terms of the 4680 battery, the Texas plant will produce the first Model Y model with a 4680 structured battery. Musk said the new plant is also expected to become one of the largest power battery factories in the world.
The data show that the long-range version of Model Y on sale requires 4416 2170 batteries, and if replaced with an integrated body structure with 4680 batteries, it will require about 800,840 batteries-which means that one 4680 battery is worth five 2170 batteries.
Under the obvious advantages, Societe Generale Securities gives the view that although the current industrialization cycle in the middle and upper reaches is long, the capacity release is slow, and has not yet formed a large-scale effect, it is expected that 4680 batteries will become the mainstream choice of batteries for middle and high-end models after 2025.
In terms of CTC technology, the above-mentioned "structured battery" is the product of this technology.
Tesla CTC technology belongs to the technical route of load-bearing car body. That is, the battery frame is integrated with the lower body of the car body, and after the assembly of the whole body above, the structured battery is connected to the car body.
Through the combination of CTC technology and integrated die casting technology, 370 parts can be saved, body weight can be reduced by 10%, and battery cost can be reduced by 7% per kilowatt hour. Tesla also said that compared with the company's previous factories, structured batteries can reduce the size of the battery pack production line by as much as half.
Tianfeng Securities pointed out that CTC technology is in the stage from concept to mass production. When the technology is still in the conceptual stage, it usually seems distant, but when the technology begins to land, the progress tends to exceed expectations. With the entry of Tesla, Ningde era, BYD, Zero run and other enterprises, CTC technology is expected to accelerate the realization of large-scale mass production applications.
The integrated die casting technology is also closely related to the CTC technology.
It is the basic core technology for the development of higher integration of body and chassis. Prior to this, Tesla rear floor has achieved mass production, the front cabin assembly test line, CTC rear cover integration in the car body is also constantly promoted.
Nowadays, integrated die casting technology has become an inevitable trend driven by lightweight, cost reduction and efficiency improvement. Guangfa Securities believes that the technology shows an obvious inflection point in 2022, and the scale of the integrated die-casting market is expected to reach 40 billion yuan in 2025.
