Spy shots inside Tesla’s giant tent suggest assembly line buildout in progress

Spy shots taken of Tesla’s giant tent at Fremont show that the buildout of the company’s new Model 3 assembly line is still ongoing. As could be seen in images showcasing the new structure, the giant tent still has a lot of open room despite machinery already in place.

The spy shots were uploaded and shared on Twitter by @skabooshka, who noted that the assembly line did not appear to be moving when he took photographs of the structure’s interior. He did note, however, that there was work still being done on the tent itself, as evidenced by a crane and employees in safety gear working at the roof of the structure.

Apart from spy shots, a number of videos featuring the giant tent and Tesla’s new Model 3 assembly line were also uploaded on Twitter, courtesy of @IspyTsla, who was able to capture more than 2 minutes of activity inside and around the structure. As could be seen in the video, it appeared like Model 3 body-in-whites are still being transported to the assembly line by forklifts. The footage taken of Tesla’s workers inside the giant tent could be viewed below.

pic.twitter.com/EMdJgL0vJS

— IspyTSLA (@IspyTsla) June 19, 2018

Overall, the new spy shots and spy video of Tesla’s new Fremont structure suggests that Tesla is still working on completing its new assembly line. Considering the open space still available inside the tent, it appears that Tesla will be adopting Elon Musk’s idea of constructing an assembly line that is not overly-automated.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has shown a particularly high level of optimism about the potential of the new tent-based Model 3 line. In a series of tweets this weekend, Musk stated that Tesla built a giant tent to accommodate its new Model 3 assembly line because building another building to house the machinery within the company’s target timeline be impossible. According to Musk, the Tesla team was able to set up the massive structure in just two weeks, which is practically “miraculous.” Musk further noted that the new line was “way better” than the company’s other assembly lines, especially considering that the other lines cost millions of dollars.

As noted in an Ars Technica report, a January 2018 geotechnical investigation report on file with the city building permit office states that Tesla has plans to construct a 500,000 square-foot “multi-story building north of the existing North Paint Building.” With this, Tesla’s massive tent in Fremont might very well be a temporary solution that is designed to boost the company’s production capabilities of the Model 3 as the company aims to achieve profitability by Q3 and Q4 2018. As for the giant tent itself, journalist Edward Niedermeyer has shared images of Tesla’s permits for the structure, which currently has a permit for “up to six months.”

Looks like Tesla’s new tent-based assembly line is currently only temporarily permitted for “up to six months.” pic.twitter.com/THOAkNf7sR

— Problem Magnet (@Tweetermeyer) June 18, 2018

With the end of Q2 2018 only a little more than a week away, Tesla is on a rush to attain its target of producing 5,000 Model 3 per week before the end of the quarter. The goal, which has eluded Tesla since the compact electric car started production, has gotten closer than before. Considering that Elon Musk revealed that the company was producing the Model 3 at a rate of 500 vehicles per day during the 2018 Annual Shareholder Meeting, the addition of a new Model 3 assembly line could very well be the deciding factor whether Tesla could finally achieve its production targets or come up short once more.

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