Saturday, April 10, 2021

How Tesla is innovating


The giga press, commissioned by Tesla, allows larger castings, reducing number of parts and simplifying production. It achieves an incredible 6000 tons of force. (Analogously, WW1 was arguably won by whichever country had the largest die-forging press, simplifying aircraft manufacture - wiki )

0:53 Tesla had to develop a new alloy of aluminum that could withstand this process. The animation of molten aluminum flowing into the press is dramatic. 

A giga press takes molten metal, transports it via  an oxygen-deprived atmosphere, and injects it under extreme pressure into a mold. wiki This allows formation of large and complicated shapes. 

Next, by making the battery pack integral to the body structure (akin to making an aircraft wing into its fuel tank) saves weight and complexity, adds stiffness, and brings battery weight closer to the midline - which not only lowers the chance of battery pack intrusion in a side impact, but reduces lateral forces in cornering (reduced polar moment of inertia) like a figure skater bringing their arms in close to their body. 

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