Tesla is installing more production robots at its Fremont factory in order to increase capacity, according to new construction permits.
Due to the shelter-in-place order in the Bay Area, Tesla had to shut down its Fremont factory for about a month and a half before restarting production last week.
The factory had been in operation for almost a decade since Tesla bought it from Toyota, and it has only been shut down on a few occasions for upgrades.
As we reported at the time, we learned that Tesla was planning to use the forced factory shutdown to do upgrades and improve production at the plant.
Last month, we reported on Tesla installing new production equipment to ramp up Model Y production once they restart the factory.
Now we’ve learned that Tesla is applying for permits to install more production robots at the Fremont factory.
Electrek found new building permit applications for “MINO Equipment and fixture anchorage” and “MINO robot riser anchorage structural package”:
The equipment is coming from MINO Automation, a company that specializes in automation production systems.
According to their website, they mainly focus on Body In White (BIW) Production Systems:
- Resistance Welding Systems
- Body Framing Systems
- Laser Application Systems
- Sealing Systems
- Hemming Systems
- Automated Transfer Systems
MINO’s automation solutions work with Fanuc robots, which Tesla has been using for years.
Tesla has been using a variety of robots at its production facilities, including hundreds of robots at the Fremont factory.
We previously profiled Tesla’s robots at Gigafactory Nevada.
The automaker currently claims a production capacity at Fremont factory of 490,000 vehicles per year:
Tesla says that its effort to increase production is going to ramp up Model 3/Model Y capacity to 500,000 vehicles by the end of the year.
It would mean that Tesla’s overall production capacity in Fremont will reach close to 600,000 cars per year or over 11,000 cars per week by the end of 2020.
Electrek’s Take
We recently reported that Tesla wants to have Model Y general assembly at a new factory in Austin by the end of the year.
It would make sense for Tesla to have greater Model Y BIW production capacity than what it can produce by the end of the year in order to have bodies to send to Austin for the new factory to assemble.
What I am really curious about is Tesla’s annual production capacity by the end of next year with Fremont, Berlin, Shanghai, and Austin.
It will be such a different landscape for Tesla’s production than the current situation.
My own guess is Tesla will have an overall annualized production capacity of 1 million cars by the end of 2021.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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