LNG: TESLARATI

An executive says that SpaceX’s Seattle-based Starlink factory is building satellites up to four times faster than OneWeb, the company’s closest competitor in the new low Earth orbit (LEO) internet space race.

Speaking at the SATELLITE 2020 Conference on March 9th, Jonathan Hofeller – VP of Starlink and Sales – revealed SpaceX’s extraordinary Starlink production rate just days before the company’s sixth planned 60-satellite launch. Now two days away from liftoff with Falcon 9 and its satellite stack already vertical at the launch pad, SpaceX will likely end the week with some 350 operational satellites in orbit – around twice as many as any other public or private constellation in history.

While SpaceX will have soon attempted five 60-satellite Starlink launches in four months, CEO Elon Musk recently revealed that the company is still building spacecraft faster than it can launch them. At a reported production rate of six satellites per day, that news is now incredibly unsurprising given that it means SpaceX could theoretically build the world’s second-largest satellite constellation (excluding Starlink) in a single month. To be clear, though, the company has created one of the best possible problems the Starlink program could have.

First revealed in late 2019 and reiterated in recent months, SpaceX executives have consistently noted that the company plans to attempt some 20-24 dedicated Starlink launches in 2020 alone. As previously noted on Teslarati, 20-24 launches could put enough Starlink satellites in orbit for SpaceX to realistically begin serving customers almost anywhere on Earth.

“In recent months, SpaceX has indicated that Starlink will need at least 24 dedicated launches – 1440 satellites – to achieve uninterrupted global coverage, while as few as six launches (300 satellites) could enable service for customers in the northern US and southern Canada.

COO and President Gwynne Shotwell believes SpaceX can begin serving customers as early as mid-2020, ultimately maturing into an experienced internet service provider (ISP) in 2021. With almost 120 satellites already in orbit, if SpaceX can manage an average of 1.5 to 2 Starlink launches per month in 2020, the broadband internet constellation should have near-global coverage by the end of the year.”

Teslarati.com — December 20th, 2019

Two and a half months into 2020, it’s entirely possible that SpaceX already has several launches worth of Starlink satellites waiting for their Falcon rockets. Weather and hardware-related delays have impacted each of the three 2020 Starlink launches SpaceX has completed thus far, pushing its internal manifest back by at least several weeks. SpaceX could be strategically slowing work at its factory based on predictions of rocket availability in the next few months, avoiding a massive stockpile of Starlink satellites. Still, it’s just as likely that its Seattle HQ has been churning out several satellites per day for weeks or even months. Even if SpaceX has only averaged four satellites per day over the last three months, it would likely have a backlog of 4+ launches (~240 satellites).

Bigger, cheaper, faster

Compared to OneWeb, SpaceX Starlink satellites thus weigh 75% more, offer at least 50% more bandwidth for internet services, can be manufactured for less than half the cost in a quarter of the time, and likely cost – per satellite – at least three times less to launch. These are the fundamental, unavoidable benefits of SpaceX’s preferred strategy of vertical integration writ large. End-product quality and functionality held equal, it’s numerically impossible for a more traditional company like OneWeb to compete head-to-head with a vertically-integrated competitor like SpaceX.

Thankfully, though, the supply for LEO-based internet services is currently so small – and the demand so large – that OneWeb will almost certainly be able to find a niche and survive. For now, the fact remains that SpaceX is all but guaranteed to continue building and launching far more satellites than OneWeb — all for a dramatically lower cost.

Check out Teslarati’s newsletters for prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket launch and recovery processes.

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Mercedes-Benz has decided to stop its efforts to develop and roll out a full self-driving solution for its passenger cars. Instead, the veteran automaker will be focusing on the creation of advanced driver-assist technology for its fleet of long-haul trucks.

The shift in Mercedes-Benz’s self-driving strategies was related by Daimler chair and head of Mercedes cars Ola Kallenius, who was speaking to the media following the cancellation of the Geneva Motor Show due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“With regard to full autonomy, we switched the priority in terms of deployment of technology and moved trucks ahead of cars. Why do we do that? Because we believe that this is the area, in a hub to hub case, where we think that the business case is most attractive, first,” he said.

Kallenius further explained that the cancellation of Mercedes-Benz’s full self-driving program for passenger cars does not mean that all of the company’s autonomous driving initiatives will be stopped. The German automaker will still be developing advanced driver-assist solutions, but they will be for its lineup of trucks, not its passenger cars.

According to the executive, this will allow Mercedes-Benz to deploy its resources in such a way that it can generate revenue as quickly as possible. Mercedes-Benz’s sister companies like Freightliner will be the perfect partners for such an initiative, especially with the emergence of trucks like the eCascadia.

“We will focus on trucks first. It doesn’t mean we are giving up the effort on passenger cars; we will continue investing in that. But we will deploy our resources in such a way where we can generate revenue at the earliest possible time,” Kallenius added.

Focusing on autonomous trucks could very well prove to be a smart move for the German automaker, considering that long-haul driving usually involves a lot of highway travel, and thus requires maneuvers that are simpler than those utilized for inner-city driving. This is one of the reasons why Tesla, arguably the leader in consumer-grade driver-assist solutions, allows automatic lane changes in the freeway with its Navigate on Autopilot feature. But in inner-city streets, Tesla’s unassisted lane changes are disabled as of writing.

That being said, Daimler’s announcement shows just how difficult it is to develop and roll out a viable full self-driving program. After all, if Waymo, a company that has been operating an autonomous fleet for years, cannot deploy a consumer-ready system for mainstream customers to this day, it is not surprising to see a company such as Mercedes-Benz throwing in the towel, at least for its passenger cars’ autonomous driving systems.

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From Fremont, California to Shanghai, China, Tesla is establishing a production chain that is poised to grow together with the electric vehicle movement. But with CEO Elon Musk’s announcement that Tesla was scoping out locations for a new Cybertruck Gigafactory central United States, Tesla is now seemingly getting ready to enter the Heartland of the country. That’s a place where the internal combustion engine still reigns supreme, and where Teslas are still stereotyped as vehicles that are not for the mainstream.

A Gigafactory in the center of the United States serves several purposes. Logistically, an electric vehicle facility in the area would cut down on vehicle delivery times, especially for the East Coast. It would also allow for a complete focus on the Cybertruck until Model Y production also begins at the plant. But apart from these efficiencies, Tesla’s upcoming facility also has the potential to break the final stereotypes around Tesla’s vehicles once and for all.

In a way, Tesla’s presence in the middle of America establishes the company’s footing in a section of the country that has been an evident battleground for the electric carmaker. Central United States is widely perceived as an area where Silicon Valley-style solutions such as Teslas are not effective, as places where farming, agriculture, and other hard-nosed industries do not seem compatible with the sleek, streamlined electric vehicles from the company. A big part of this is the impression that Tesla’s vehicles are only for those with money, and not for the working man.

Scouting locations for Cybertruck Gigafactory. Will be central USA.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2020

Interestingly enough, the same people who would benefit the most from a vehicle like the Cybertruck are also stereotyped as a demographic that is far from being able to “afford a Tesla.” While Tesla prices have dropped over the past few years thanks to increased battery production and manufacturing efficiencies, there is still a pervading idea that the company’s electric cars are still out of reach for most car buyers. This is, of course, untrue, with the Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertruck priced aggressively.

It has been speculated that Tesla’s new Cybertruck will need a separate production facility to keep up with demand for the vehicle. The polarizing design of the all-electric pickup with its unmistakeable stainless steel exoskeleton has already amassed an unconfirmed half-a-million reservations. Elon Musk has mentioned in the Q4 2019 earnings call that the Cybertruck is seeing a lot of demand as well.

With Tesla producing the Cybertruck in the heart of the United States, legacy automakers may find themselves surprised once more that a disruptive company has taken hold of their longtime demographic. It could, for one, end up accelerating the efforts of legacy automakers such as Ford and GM with regards to their respective electric vehicle programs. Ford will likely not give up its most loyal customers freely to the Cybertruck, after all, and the best way the veteran carmaker could rival Tesla’s pickup would be to release the Ford F-150 Electric.

There are relatively no tell-tale signs of where the Cyber Gigafactory will be built, though rumors of Nashville being a potential site are abounding. Still, one thing remains certain: the impact of a Tesla production plant in the heart of America would break through the long-lived stereotypes that innovation is confined only in places like California. It would prove that with vehicles like the Cybertruck, the electric transition is reaching all corners of the country.

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Electric car makers like Rivian with a direct-to-consumer sales model like Tesla may soon find themselves doing business in Colorado, after a once-contentious bill that aims to allow new EV companies to bypass dealerships made it through the final legislative committee on March 9.

Senate Bill 20-167 would allow new electric vehicle companies to participate in direct-to-consumer sales. The impact of this legislation would eliminate the need for EV makers to sell their cars through a dealership that acts as a “middle man.”

The compromise between the proponents of the bill and those who opposed it was reached on March 9, according to the Colorado Sun. Mike Feely, a lobbyist for CADA, said dealership owners are “ready for the competition, they are ready to move this issue out into the marketplace as opposed to the legislature, and they look forward to competing vigorously in the marketplace as this market and industry evolves.”

Current Colorado laws state that any vehicle manufacturer cannot own, operate, or control any car dealer or used motor vehicle dealer in the State. However, new revisions to this bill have been made that, if approved, would allow companies that make “only electric motor vehicles” to bypass the traditional dealership model.

The existing rule that makes it illegal for car manufacturers to sell directly to consumers dates back to 2010 when General Motors filed for bankruptcy. The practice was intended to protect dealerships who were at risk of losing their franchises. Tesla used the law to bypass dealer franchises altogether and has become the United States’ and Colorado’s best selling electric vehicle maker. However, at other EV companies such as Rivian, which also follow a direct sales model, have been blocked from selling their cars in Colorado.

On February 28, the Colorado Senate passed the bill by a 22-12 vote. With the bill clearing the House Energy and Environment Committee, it is now poised to make its way toward Governor Jared Polis’ desk.

Allowing new EV companies to sell their cars directly to consumers can revolutionize the way cars are purchased in Colorado. Electric vehicles have become appealing to buyers due to multiple reasons, from their performance to their sustainability factor. But Tesla’s ability to bypass the dealership experience has resonated with some car buyers. Now, other EV makers may have a shot in the state, thanks to the bill.

Colorado Senator Chris Hansen states that he supports the new consumer bill and sees it as an opportunity to spike car sales. “Fundamentally, I  see this as a very pro-consumer bill and one that is going to create a lot of new choice and dynamism in the market. And over time, I think that increased choice and competition is going to be really good for the citizens of Colorado,” he said.

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Teslas are known for many things: their quickness in 0-60 mph sprints, their dominance in drag races, their extended range, their Supercharger Network, and lately, even their proficiency on the track. Apart from these, Teslas are also known for their futuristic interiors, which are represented perfectly by the vehicles’ stunning glass roofs.

The glass roofs on the Model S, Model X, and Model 3 today make the vehicles extraordinarily airy and spacious, and for a good reason. While it’s true that the glass roofs provide Tesla’s electric cars a lot of natural light, they also help optimize the space in the cabin, adding precious centimeters’ worth of headroom for passengers. Safety tests have also proven that Tesla’s glass roofs are durable, with the Model 3’s roof withstanding over 20,000 lbs of force during the NHTSA’s evaluation.

Tesla’s penchant for equipping its vehicles with glass roofs started with the Model S, the company’s first EV that it designed from the ground up. The large premium sedan’s glass roof proved popular among buyers, though a good number of Model S owners preferred the convenience of a panoramic sunroof instead. Between the two, the Model S’ sunroof provided more utility, though it also required having a bar across the sedan’s otherwise seamless roof.

(Credit: Tesla)

(Credit: Tesla)

(Credit: Tesla)

The Model X is Tesla’s largest vehicle, and it comes with arguably one of the most massive windshields among SUVs available today. Just like the Model S with sunroofs, however, the Model X’s roof also provides a somewhat obstructed view, thanks to the mechanism of its Falcon Wing Doors. The Model 3 is quite the same, with its glass roof being slightly obstructed by a bar that runs between its B-pillars.

The Model Y, on the other hand, seems to be equipped with Tesla’s best glass roof yet, hands down. Teaser images and videos of the Model Y’s interior show a seamless glass roof that’s quite similar to the Model S, offering passengers a completely unobstructed view from the cabin. But unlike the Model S, the Model Y is designed for the mass-market, which means that it is priced far more aggressively than the flagship sedan.

Both are sickkkkk! Here’s the panoramic glass roof on @Tesla Model Y!! $TSLA #Tesla #ModelY #EV @elonmusk
😍⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xZ3o5rE4RJ

— Tesla New York (@TeslaNY) August 10, 2019

The Tesla Model Y starts at $52,990 for a Long Range Dual Motor AWD variant. For that price, buyers of the vehicle will get a crossover with 66 cu ft of space for cargo, a 315-mile EPA range, basic Autopilot, and a glass roof that spans the vehicle’s entire cabin. Considering the Model Y’s designation as a crossover, its roof alone would make it the best camping vehicle, hands down.

Tesla has rolled out a Camp Mode feature for its vehicles, providing owners with a way to sleep comfortably in their electric car overnight. The feature even comes with an Easter Egg within an Easter Egg in the form of a Cybertruck. With Camp Mode engaged, Tesla enthusiasts can spend the night in their Model Y with a full view of the sky above, all while enjoying a cabin that’s adjusted for the perfect temperature.

That’s a combination that’s pretty hard to beat in terms of comfort and cool factor. It does, in a way, transform the Model Y into a spacious, reasonably priced, mobile hotel room of sorts, providing car campers with protection from the elements and a killer view of the outside.

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On March 9th, SpaceX’s CRS-20 Cargo Dragon completed an uneventful journey to the International Space Station (ISS), where the spacecraft was successfully captured giant robotic arm for the last time.

Barring several major surprises, Dragon’s March 9th capture was the last time a SpaceX spacecraft berthed with a space station for the foreseeable future – possibly forever. Referring to the process of astronauts manually catching visiting vehicles and installing them on an airlock with a giant, robotic arm, berthing is a much younger technology than docking and was developed as an alternative for a few particular reasons. Perhaps most importantly, the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) ports used by Cargo Dragon, Cygnus, and HTV spacecraft are more than 60% wider than standard docking ports. In other words, spacecraft that berth can transport substantially larger pieces of cargo to and from the space station.

More significantly, however, the CBM standard came about in large part due to the decision to assemble the ISS out of 16 pressurized segments, each separately launched into orbit. Measuring about 1.25m (4.2 ft) wide, the CBM ports that connect most of the space station’s 16 livable segments make the ISS far more practical for the astronauts that crew it, while also allowing for larger hardware to be moved between each module. With Crew Dragon, design requirements meant that SpaceX had to move from berthing to docking, a trait SpaceX thus carried over when it chose to base its Cargo Dragon replacement on a lightly-modified Crew Dragon design.

Now verging on routine, Cargo Dragon capsule C112 began its final approach to the International Space Station on March 9th, pausing at set keep-out zones while SpaceX operators waited for NASA and ISS approval to continue. After several stops, Dragon arrived at the last hold point – some 10m (33 ft) away from the station – and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir manually steered Canadarm2 to a successful capture, quite literally grabbing Dragon with a sort of mechanical hand.

At that point, Dragon – like a large ship arriving in port with the help of tugboats – is in the hands of external operators. At the ISS, Canadarm2 essentially flips itself around with Dragon still attached, carefully and slowly mating the spacecraft with one of the station’s free berthing ports. Unlike docking ports, the active part of a berthing port is located on the station’s receiving end, where electromechanical latches and bolts permanently secure the spacecraft to the station and ensure a vacuum seal.

Finally, once berthing is fully complete, ISS astronauts can manually open Dragon’s hatch, giving them access to the two or so metric tons (~4000 lb) of cargo typically contained within. All told, the process of berthing is relatively intensive and expensive in terms of the amount of time station astronauts and NASA ground control must spend to complete a single resupply mission. From start to finish, excluding training, berthing takes a crew of two station astronauts some 9-12 hours of near-continuous work from spacecraft approach to hatch open.

One definite benefit of the docking approach Crew Dragon and Cargo Dragon 2 will use is just how fast it is compared to berthing. Because docking is fundamentally autonomous and controlled by the spacecraft instead of the station, it significantly reduces the workload placed on ISS astronauts. Crew members must, of course, remain vigilant and pay close attention during the critical approach period, particularly with uncrewed Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft. However, the assumption is always that the spacecraft will independently perform almost all tasks related to docking, short of actually offloading cargo and crew.

For now, CRS-20 will likely be SpaceX’s last uncrewed NASA cargo mission for at six months. CRS-21 – Cargo Dragon 2’s launch debut – is currently scheduled no earlier than (NET) Q4 2020. Nevertheless, Crew Dragon’s next launch – also its astronaut launch debut – could lift off as early as May 2020, just two months from now. With both SpaceX’s crew and cargo missions soon to consolidate around a single spacecraft, the odds are good that Dragon 2 will wind up flying far more than Dragon 1, and the start of its increasingly common launches is just around the corner.

Check out Teslarati’s newsletters for prompt updates, on-the-ground perspectives, and unique glimpses of SpaceX’s rocket launch and recovery processes.

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Tesla Model Y production will be expanding to a new Central US-based “Cybertruck” Gigafactory, according to a recent update from CEO Elon Musk. The plans for a second Model Y factory in the US bodes well for the electric carmaker, which is estimating an annual demand of up to 1 million units per year for the all-electric crossover.

The Tesla CEO initially stated that the yet-to-be-named Gigafactory would be allotted for the production of the Cybertruck next year. However, Musk clarified just moments later that the same production facility would also be utilized for building the Model Y for customers on the East Coast.

Currently, the Model Y is being built at Tesla’s main production facility in Fremont, California. The plans to produce the Model Y there were decided by the Tesla team as a whole. Initially, Musk stated he was skeptical if Fremont was the logical choice for production. “I was skeptical about whether this made sense at first, but my team convinced me the fastest way to get to volume production is to do the Y at Fremont,” he said on the Ride the Lightning podcast with Ryan McCaffrey.

Model Y production for east coast too

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 11, 2020

The Model Y is already expected to be one of Tesla’s biggest sellers because of the growing crossover market, especially in the United States, where deliveries of the vehicle are expected to begin as soon as March 11.

Production is one of the company’s main focuses for 2020, and Tesla stated one of the most significant improvements it made during Q4 2019 was its ability to build cars efficiently.

The company utilized a vast amount of learnings it acquired from Model 3 production to create a more efficient building process for the Model Y. This breakthrough in production efficiency led to the announcement of the Model Y’s first deliveries being moved up to March 2020, instead of its planned initially initial deliveries being in the Summer.

Tesla plans to produce around 400,000 Model 3 and Model Y units a year, according to estimates found in the 2019 Q4 earnings report.

The ramping of Model Y production will be a gradual process. Tesla is looking to begin adding additional machinery to some of the production shops where the Model Y will be built. The presence of a more refined production process could eventually lead to an annual build volume of 500,000 Model 3 and Model Y units alone in production plants that already exist.

The addition of a new Central U.S. Gigafactory will lead to an even higher production volume for the company as a whole. With the Model Y expected to break Tesla into the widely popular crossover market, preparations for increased production are already underway with the planning of a new Central U.S. Gigafactory.

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One of the most memorable moments in the documentary Revenge of the Electric Car involved then-Jalopnik Editor-in-Chief Ray Wert bluntly dismissing the Tesla Model S as “vaporware.” During the sequence, it was very evident that the idea of Tesla pulling off a vehicle like the Model S seemed to be so farfetched for Wert, that refused to consider the possibility of the car being real. 

That scene, in a lot of ways, is symbolic of Tesla’s journey as a whole. For every step that the company took over the years, Tesla has faced countless criticisms and doubt. Yet today, with the company producing its one-millionth electric vehicle, it is becoming more and more evident that critics and naysayers, both to Elon Musk and Tesla as a whole, are steadily losing the narrative. There are now 1 million reasons proving that Tesla is a thriving company, after all, and the number grows by the day. 

Elon Musk has stated that starting an electric car company is idiocy squared, mainly due to the sheer amount of work required to thrive in the automotive industry. Couple that with the fact that Musk took over as Tesla’s CEO right in the midst of the US financial crisis, and one could see just how dire the situation was for the electric car maker during its early days. It was dire enough, for one, that its circumstances inspired an actual Tesla Death Watch series from The Truth About Cars, which eventually abandoned the initiative after it became evident that the electric car maker wasn’t going anywhere. 

In a way, Tesla attracts a lot of critics because the company and its CEO dreams big without hesitation. With the Model S, Tesla wanted to prove that electric cars could be better than petrol-powered vehicles, period. With the Model 3, the company wanted to show that EVs can be mainstream. These are lofty goals, and they are very difficult to accomplish. It is then no surprise to see why there is so much opposition to the electric car maker. Some of these opposition comes in the form of short-sellers, who are financially incentivized to push TSLA stock down. A look at social media shows a glimpse of just how cruel and tasteless the company’s critics could become. 

Yet despite the unwavering ad hominem attacks against Elon Musk, the physical intimidation of company employees testing Autopilot software, and the downright disturbing practice of doxxing Tesla supporters online, the electric car maker has stubbornly refused to stay down. It has fought every day since the days of the original Roadster, and it continues to do so until today, with the production ramp and impending deliveries of the Model Y. And based on the company’s perception, it will likely continue fighting every day for decades to come. 

This is one of the reasons why the Tesla story is so compelling. It is difficult to not root for a company that took years to produce its first electric car and is now on track to manufacture about 500,000 vehicles in one year. Tesla, after all, dug deep to produce 20,000 vehicles in 2013, and just last year, the company closed 2019 with just over 410,000 vehicles manufactured. That’s a remarkable growth story, and it doesn’t even include the massive arm that is Tesla Energy, which is now seeing a ramp of its own. 

It is not difficult to see why Tesla attracts such passionate support and anger at the same time. The company is different, its mission is ambitious, its CEO is a brazen dreamer, and it does not function like a traditional carmaker. But for Tesla supporters, the company is something that symbolizes something far more. The company represents some degree of optimism, and that is something that is pretty rare these days. Elon Musk and Tesla will likely be polarizing for years to come, but the company has 1 million reasons and counting that prove its naysayers wrong. 

Here’s to the next million, and many more to come.

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