Quote:
Originally Posted by roflwaffle
The Shanghai factory is mostly being financed locally, and the Semi and Roadster are likely going to be lower volume, especially initially, so I don't think they'll have trouble there. They'll spend some more at GF1, but I don't think it'll run them dry this year because Panasonic provides the capital for the battery production hardware. They'll need a decent chunk of change for the Model Y, probably more than for GF1, although keeping it close to the 3 should help with that.
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/01/31...gigafactories/ |
The Semi will share almost nothing with any of the Tesla's current vehicles so they are starting from scratch. Even low volume production will be very expensive to tool up.
The Roadster is low volume but that doesn't make the tools any less expensive. A stamping tool is a stamping tool. (Unless we are talking soft tooling that will only run hundreds of parts). Tooling the body in white and interior panels will cost the same as a high-volume car.
The Model Y does share a large percentage of parts with the Model 3 but that includes things like nuts and bolts. The most expensive parts like body panels will be unique.
Tesla will need to kick off long-lead-time tooling at least 1 year before production so for 2020 production those tools need to be kicked off this year. Industry standards is 30% upfront for design / 30% to order materials and start building the tool.