In the factory of Tesla, where the energy will take its revolution

At the San Francisco factory, once Toyota, there is no longer the production line and the mission goes beyond the automotive industry: accelerating the transition to sustainable energy. A revolution that will have many implications, even on insurance

Published on 06 Jun 2017

The red and iconic logo, representing the section of an electric engine. And the ambitious mission, written black and white at the entrance of the Fremont plant: “to accelerate world’s transition to sustainable energy”. Welcome at the plant Tesla, a few km from San Francisco, where the idea of future exudes from everywhere, even before approaching the heart of the factory where products are the S and X car. Where once there was a Toyota old economy factory. Things do change, quickly.

Every year about 35,000 people are given the opportunity to take a guided tour – with zero tolerance to cameras and smartphones – to share the vision of Elon Musk, 45, the entrepreneur / inventor who, after being among the founders of PayPal, “stayed so foolish” to bring disruptive innovation even in a “heavy” industry that at first glance seems the opposite of everything digital, lightweight, apps and software. Apparently, a sector far from GAFA (Google-Amazon-Facebook-Apple), web giants that are working to expand their influence even in real life, into factories.

The tour of the plant starts in front of the bodywork of a Tesla. It is admired as a masterpiece: under the lightweight aluminum components it’s almost impossible to imagine the electric accumulators that allow these stylish and sporty cars to give prove of an unbelievable performance (from 0 to 100km/h in less than 2,7 sec). Great pleasure to find out the brakes are actually Italian …

Within the most operating departments, the old product chain, born in the automotive industry, no longer exists: only tons of modules where human presence is limited, in a space where – unlike a traditional factory – dominates the hush. So much to have a lunchroom with no walls, a space where workers can take a break and get relaxed. Inevitable the merchandising area and the test drive… standing of course, even to take the photo-op. It will take time before getting used to the amount of digital technologies that “garnish” the driver seat and the noiseless movement of this car. The road to “sustainable mobility” is well on the way.

Uber, an innovative platform that is loudly revolutionizing public transport, was born in San Francisco. Google, which for years now is on-and-off testing the driverless car that will bring in another dimension the private transport but also the infrastructure and the mobility services (Roads, traffic lights, and even insurance!) , is in San Franisco. Tesla is already on the road, in Bay Area motorways are like in no other part of the world. It is so chatty since it will spread its effects far beyond the car industry and transportation. There’s much more at stake.

Electricity for mobility as an alternative to hydrocarbons is only the first tile of a much larger project that affects the same model of energy production and distribution. The batteries that drive cars are always produced by Tesla at a plant in Nevada, called “Gigafactory1”. The reduction of the production costs of the energy, the increasing battery autonomy and the high density of charging points are all factors that have far better effect than those of a simple electric car.

The car is only a vehicle that carries energy produced in an increasingly distributed way. For example, the launch of the Tesla battery, a beautiful object to hang on the garage wall, that gathers the energy captured by solar panels: one night is enough to travel 400 kilometers. And the best is yet to come… Elon Musk is the same person who has also founded SpaceX, the company working on to arrange and sell the next Martian trips, right?

Valuta la qualità di questo articolo

La tua opinione è importante per noi!

Related news