Gigafactory Texas! This is where Model Y’s, and Cyber Truck production happens and soon, the Next Generation Car!
A beautiful, if cold morning and a short respite from the windy conditions that have been present the past 48 hours. We are supposed to get much colder and windy weather in the last part of the week and into next week, so I will have to see if and how much drone flying I’ll be able to do for the next several days.
Despite all the talk about the weather, there are a lot of interesting developments at Giga Texas today, starting with what may be the initial and preparatory excavation work for the expected Boring Company tunnel on the west side of the highway. A deep pit is being created in the exact location where the Boring Company has set up some equipment and made initial markings so it is possible this is getting ready for the Prufrock machine to arrive. It is still a little early to say for sure, but is definitely worth keeping an eye on!
In the video introduction, we discuss an interesting change on the southwest corner of the main factory, specifically the cutting off of the ends of the existing concrete wall panels to allow the new extension wall panels to be slotted into this cap and the steel beams to be connected to the existing steel structure, making the building one contiguous new and longer structure. This will retain most of the existing concrete wall panels as a kind of firewall and internal wall between the old and new structures.
I also show emerging observations that suggest the Boring Company tunnel that will be constructed under the main highway and connecting the west and east sides will be aligned with the end of the original main building and with a gap being constructed in the new perimeter grade beam. The speculation is this new tunnel will emerge inside the factory, but it is also possible it will emerge just past the berm of the highway.
Timestamps:
Drone flight overview with discussion & illustration: 0:06 to 5:19
Drone flight footage & infographics: 5:41 to 31:02
A few other highlights and areas of interest from today include:
The steel assembly on the south extension has resumed today and there are now two cranes … the large yellow Liebherr crane that has been working here for several weeks and a smaller crane being used to sort and stack steel parts. More trucks were arriving today with steel items, while on the southwest corner, crews were installing rebar and forms for the last section of the perimeter grade beam.
Electrical utility crews were busy today on the east side of the casting machine section, running electrical wires through the conduits and widening the berm.
We can see crews working in the north parking lot and at the old and temporary electrical switchyard, most likely preparing for dismantling and removal of this temporary structure now that it is no longer needed. Crews were working on the four temporary wooden power poles that were used to support the high-tension wires that powered the temporary switchyard.
At the far northeast, I get some great views of the earthwork and dirt removal of the “islands” that were left over among the excavation due to power poles and wires. These have now been removed, and the “islands” are now being removed as well. Farther north, we see a new area that has had recent earthwork and tree removal.
The final observation from today has to do with production of both Model Y and Cybertruck. Although hard to quantify, it appears that both have increased this week, and many more transport trucks are now in service. As soon as Model Y’s and Cybertrucks arrive at the outbound lot, they are being loaded onto trucks and moved off site.
Thank you for watching and I hope this has been informative, educational, and entertaining for you. If you would like, please consider supporting me via Patreon (link is in the description of this video and in the video itself) so I can continue to make and share these incredible videos.
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Be sure to check out additional Texas Gigafactory footage on these channels:
@Jeff Roberts
@Brad Sloan
Video, photos, illustrations, and commentary on this video is by me, Joe Tegtmeyer unless otherwise annotated.
Music in this video is obtained from the YouTube free and unrestricted and royalty-free use library. Ending song is Mr. Sunny Face – Wayne Jones
Drones used are DJI Mini 2, Mavic Air 2 & Air 3.
Drone flight over Giga Texas is with permission of Tesla and CEO Elon Musk
