The morning was much cooler than it has been recently, but otherwise, perfect flying conditions! A huge trailer with a part that looks like it is for a Giga Press arrived at the casting machine section this morning and I was able to follow it to where it was entering into Casting to dispel any doubts about where it was going. This may be a replacement part for one of the existing Giga Presses, or possibly the start of another Giga Press arriving. What do you think?
I was also able to capture a large delivery of Mino Automation equipment on the southwest corner, most likely destined for the third floor of that section of the main building.
In the video introduction, we discuss an important upgrade to the Giga Texas Crash Testing Facility which not only expands the types of crash testing they can perform on site, but I think is also a critical new capability for the design and development of the Next Generation Vehicle!
On my 8 December 2023 drone flight, I noticed a new item on the north end of the crash testing facility labelled as a /”Flying Floor/”. I did a little research to find out what it was and what I found gives insight into future operations and plans here at Giga Texas. We discuss the /”Flying Floor/” addition, what it is and how it works, and touch on the additional types of testing this system allows.
Timestamps:
Drone flight overview with discussion & illustrations: 0:06 to 5:15
Drone flight footage & infographics: 5:37 to 31:39
Some other highlights from today’s drone flight include:
Big news verified today on Sandy Munro’s video with Tesla Executives … we now know the Cybertruck’s frons Casting is done via the smaller K ton Giga Press and only the Rear Casting uses the larger 9K Ton Giga Press! This hugely changes the production capabilities already on site and the production rate calculations for Cybertruck! This is a huge news story!
The south end extension continues to progress quickly, with steel erection expanding the structure further to the west, while the second-floor decking has been installed on the first large structural section. We also see the perimeter grade beam trenching nearly across the entire southwest angled corner and about ready to turn back northwards to define the western wall bases! Footing construction, concrete pours and rebar application continues quickly too.
The multi-level parking garage itself continues to grow, both taller and wider, with new wall sections and Double-T panels being installed this morning. Footing construction on the eastern part of the site continues as well, and we see crews working on the north-to-south road on the far east side of the construction site.
The NawKaw concrete staining crews have nearly completed the northeast corner of the casting machine section, leaving just a small section on the east side yet to be completed. They were also finishing up adding stain on the south end above the Cybertruck End-of-Line exit opening near the projected Stamping 2 section.
The west side construction continues, with more work on conduit and electrical connections on both the north and south ends, pipe trenching on the east side, and preparation to install three large self-contained HVAC units, which are currently being stored on the south end material staging yard near the new 96-Supercharger structure.
At the Megapack site, crews were installing a mesh on the bottom half of the perimeter fence and possibly connecting wires that suggests this might be a electrified fence to discourage animals from entering into the Megapack 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.
Sources used in this video:
https://www.messring.de/en/products/passive-safety/flying-floor/
https://www.messring.de/?download_file19703
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Be sure to check out additional Texas Gigafactory footage on these channels:
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@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
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