National Geographic documentary
the best electric car ever seen
the best electric car ever seen
Category
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TVTranscription
00:00 This man has a vision to create the best electric cars ever seen
00:07 and consign gasoline to history.
00:10 This is something truly revolutionary.
00:13 He wants to build his unprecedented Tesla car in a futuristic new factory
00:19 and trigger an electric transport revolution.
00:26 It's been a long time since something like that happened in the car business, but it's here.
00:32 It's a dream many have had, but none have realized.
00:53 Aluminium bodywork,
00:56 19-inch alloys,
01:00 and a $50,000 price tag.
01:05 At first glance, this car is the latest in a long line of high-end sedans.
01:12 But that is where the similarities end.
01:20 The Model S is a totally different type of car.
01:24 Tesla believe it can lead a revolution and change the face of motoring forever.
01:34 It's the first ever mass-made premium sedan powered purely by electricity.
01:47 Designed to have speed and range, and not a drop of gas.
01:52 Our goal is to create an electric car that is the best car in the world
01:56 and show that that's what an electric car can be.
01:59 Tesla's goal is to kill off the combustion engine
02:05 and prove the electric car has finally come of age.
02:10 Driving a gasoline car is going to feel like yesterday.
02:13 Driving this car is driving the future.
02:17 Elon Musk
02:20 This is Elon Musk, Tesla's co-founder and CEO.
02:27 Elon is an inventor and a maverick entrepreneur,
02:32 one of America's youngest billionaires.
02:35 I like exploring, I like technology,
02:37 I like creating things that have never been seen before or even imagined before.
02:43 He is a genuine Silicon Valley success story.
02:47 In the mid-1990s, Elon set up a small internet company.
02:52 By 2002, he'd sold PayPal for $1.5 billion.
02:57 Next, he founded private rocket company SpaceX.
03:02 It's all part of Elon's life mission.
03:06 When I was in college, I tried to think about
03:09 what are the areas that would most affect the future of humanity.
03:12 So the three things were the internet, making life multi-planetary,
03:16 and the third being sustainable energy.
03:19 So that's what really ties together my companies,
03:22 is that sort of thought from 20 years ago.
03:25 Tesla Motors is Elon's sustainable energy brainchild.
03:30 Named after electric power pioneer Nikola Tesla,
03:35 it's a car company that only makes totally electric vehicles.
03:40 No hybrid and no alternative fuels.
03:43 Absolutely no tailpipe.
03:46 The company estimates their electric cars cause 50% less CO2,
03:52 even if much of the electricity comes from a coal-powered plant.
03:56 It's technology Elon and co-founder JB Straubel believe we need.
04:03 We're solving problems for our children, our grandchildren,
04:07 oil is a finite resource and eventually we have to find alternatives.
04:11 When you take that oil out of the ground and you burn it, it's extremely dangerous.
04:15 We should not play Russian roulette with the atmosphere.
04:18 We only got one.
04:20 Tesla's founders have a vision of a world without gasoline cars.
04:25 They are convinced electric is not only cleaner, but better.
04:30 Now, they want to prove it to the world.
04:36 They believe their cars can trigger a transport revolution
04:41 and bring electric motoring to the masses.
04:44 What we're doing here at Tesla can have an amazing impact
04:48 and revolutionize the auto industry and make every car on the road electric.
04:52 That's our end goal.
04:54 The Model S is to lead their revolution.
04:58 It's to be an electric car unlike any other.
05:02 A family sedan that can go from 0 to 100 in under 6 seconds
05:08 and further on a single charge than any other electric production car.
05:14 Designed to match the top gasoline competitors.
05:24 With the Model S, we're taking things to the next level.
05:26 It's a full-size sedan, so it's competing with the top electric cars.
05:30 It's a full-size sedan, so it's competing with the premium segment
05:33 along with, say, a BMW or an Aston Martin.
05:37 But the car is only the beginning.
05:43 Such a revolutionary vehicle demands a revolutionary factory.
05:48 Tesla needs to create an unprecedented, state-of-the-art facility from scratch.
05:57 (Tesla)
05:59 Elon brings in Gilbert Passant as head of manufacturing.
06:09 Gilbert is an expert from one of Toyota's award-winning plants in Canada.
06:15 His description of my job to me was very simple.
06:19 You've got to create the best factory in the world
06:22 with the best people in the world and make the best premium car sedan.
06:25 And I said, "OK, so where's the factory? Well, you have to find one.
06:28 Where's the team? Well, you have to make one."
06:30 The company purchased a former GM and Toyota site in Fremont, California
06:36 on the edge of Silicon Valley.
06:39 The abandoned facility is a traditional car factory.
06:44 Dark, little natural light, bare concrete floors.
06:50 When Tesla Motors move in, it's the birth of a mega-factory like no other.
06:57 It's a totally fresh approach to car manufacture.
07:05 The walls and floors are painted white.
07:12 The machinery a striking red.
07:18 Skylights and windows flood the factory with sunlight.
07:22 If you make the factory pristine and clean, that sets the tone for the vehicle.
07:29 We want that same sense of quality and precision in the car itself.
07:35 As part of the whole company ethos,
07:39 bikes are provided so the workers can get around the factory.
07:45 I think it's important to have an environment where people look forward to coming to work.
07:49 So it's worth putting some effort into making the factory beautiful.
07:53 In true Silicon Valley style, they fill the space with the most advanced technology.
08:00 Creating an automated production line capable of building tens of thousands of cars.
08:12 Super efficient multitasking robots.
08:15 Self-guided smart cards and computerized production schedules.
08:21 The factory is designed to be up there with the very best in the world.
08:28 We love engineering. We love beautiful machines.
08:32 We love new technology. We love to innovate with high technology.
08:36 And also in manufacturing, we love to do that.
08:39 Without training, these sophisticated robots are useless.
08:44 They all need to be taught before they can run tasks automatically.
08:51 Every robot is programmed by hand.
08:58 The Tesla team has meticulously trained 130 sophisticated robots.
09:07 Over a year and a half.
09:09 One of the last robots still to be programmed is a multipoint welding robot.
09:16 It will be used to join the car's underbody.
09:20 These are pretty busy robots, so we've got to make sure their attack time is good.
09:24 A robot's work is only as good as the man who trains it.
09:30 Brad Johnson is a welder with over 25 years experience of welding.
09:36 He's got experience at the highest level.
09:39 Getting this done today, we'll have the teachings all nice and smooth,
09:42 and then we can start running 100% in full automatic.
09:45 That sounds good.
09:47 The space in which the robot operates is treated as a three-dimensional grid.
09:53 The head can be manually guided to any point using a teach pendant.
10:02 There's our start point, and our weld position.
10:06 Brad guides the robot millimetre by millimetre and uploads the coordinates.
10:16 The robot works in a three-dimensional grid.
10:24 The robot's work is done by hand,
10:27 and the robot works out the most efficient route and runs the programme.
10:34 It looks like the teaching is right on mark,
10:46 and we have a really good quality weld right here,
10:49 so we should be able to run full auto with this weld.
10:55 When full production begins,
10:57 Brad's handiwork will be exactly replicated by the robot 100 times a day.
11:02 Since their inception in 2003,
11:09 Tesla Motors have been pursuing their electric car revolution
11:13 with a step-by-step strategy.
11:16 In an unconventional business move,
11:20 Elon decreed that Tesla must invest in their reputation first
11:25 and worry about profit later.
11:28 Stage 1.
11:31 Make a small number of high-value cars that prove electric power can be desirable.
11:37 The Tesla master plan is very simple.
11:39 We start off creating an expensive, low-volume car
11:42 to help break the mould in electric vehicles.
11:45 Plan in place.
11:48 They set to work on their first car,
11:51 basing it around the British build, Lotus Elise.
11:54 Five years later, they release the Tesla Roadster.
11:59 Quicker off the blocks than an Aston Martin Vantage,
12:06 the electric sports car astonishes the motoring world.
12:10 Step 1 complete in the Tesla strategy.
12:16 What we showed was that an electric car could be sexy,
12:19 it could be fast and it could be long range.
12:21 And that if you produce such a car, that people would buy it.
12:24 But as a $100,000 two-seat sports car,
12:29 it's a luxury second vehicle to most of its owners.
12:33 Time for the pivotal Stage 2 in the master plan.
12:40 A car that costs half as much and sells in much bigger numbers.
12:45 A very important step in the Tesla strategy.
12:48 It's really going to show that a mainstream electric car
12:51 can be better than a gasoline car.
12:53 The Model S is the second step in Elon Musk's vision
13:00 of an electric revolution.
13:02 A premium mass-market sedan,
13:05 designed and built from the ground up by Tesla.
13:14 At the studio in Los Angeles, they are working to craft that car.
13:19 The Model S is really the foundation of Tesla.
13:24 It's the first true product designed, engineered, built, manufactured by Tesla.
13:30 And it's really the beginning of what our mission is about.
13:34 Franz von Holzhausen is the chief designer.
13:42 He believes Tesla's design needs to have some conventional appeal.
13:47 It's really easy to have a clean slate and go pretty crazy with that.
13:54 We had to start with something that people could relate to.
13:59 If they even knew or cared that it was an electric vehicle,
14:02 they were attracted to it.
14:10 We've stretched the sedan and made it a little bit more modern,
14:13 but it's still a sedan.
14:14 It still has this somewhat traditional queue,
14:18 and so it's easy to love because of that association.
14:22 Although uniform in appearance, the Model S is a unique car.
14:29 It was conceived as electric.
14:32 Even the shape is designed to maximise the battery's range.
14:37 The body and the waist here is all slim,
14:40 so there's no excess fat or body mass on this car.
14:44 And that's another one of those elements that just translates into great efficiency.
14:50 This car is one of the most aerodynamic sedans on the market.
14:54 In an electric car, conserving the battery power is so important
14:59 that designers put huge efforts into reducing the drag.
15:05 Even the door handles are aerodynamic, receding flush into the body.
15:10 But it's the interior that is most heavily influenced by the electric powertrain.
15:17 The powertrain is incredibly small.
15:21 You get the same performance out of a motor that's the size of a watermelon,
15:27 that fits between the rear wheels.
15:29 And everything else above that is what I call the opportunity space.
15:35 The design team started with the motor and flat battery pack and worked upwards.
15:41 With the motor next to the wheels, there's no need for a driveshaft,
15:47 so there is no rise under the rear middle seat.
15:50 There is no fuel tank or transmission.
15:54 The Model S has free space from the floor upwards.
16:03 What you'll see is a vast amount of space.
16:06 In fact, it's actually so big that we decided that we could actually fit seven people.
16:12 And we do that by putting two rear-facing child seats in the back here.
16:16 And you can see where they fit here, and their legs go right down in there.
16:30 So this is what we call the frunk, and it's really the trunk in the front of the car.
16:35 And arguably, you can put a whole bunch of stuff in here,
16:41 even when the back of the car is totally loaded up with people and kids and stuff.
16:47 And who doesn't need one of these?
16:56 Tesla promote these unique features at every opportunity.
17:00 As a new mark, they're trying to make an impact in a marketplace
17:04 crowded with established big hitters.
17:07 Just looking at the United States, of the three other car companies,
17:10 the youngest is 90 years old.
17:12 So clearly this is not an industry that has been supportive of newcomers.
17:17 The Geneva Motor Show 2012.
17:23 Another leg in the company's relentless promotional campaign.
17:28 We're done selling roadsters in North America, so this is our product.
17:34 It's our product, Tesla product.
17:36 And therefore we need to get it out to start selling.
17:39 Industry experts are judging Tesla on the Model S.
17:44 It's seen as make or break.
17:47 Maybe Tesla has a problem with the car.
17:51 Maybe Tesla has a bright future.
17:54 I think the Model S is very decisive to see if there will be a great future
17:59 or if there won't be a future at all.
18:02 The company have taken the risk of collecting prepaid orders on the car.
18:08 They've amassed nearly 10,000 advance sales.
18:13 The financial boost also creates real pressure.
18:18 I get harassed quite a bit actually by some people who are reservation.
18:22 And you know it's a lot of expectations, very high expectations
18:25 that we're going to have to meet and exceed really.
18:28 Some prepaid customers have been waiting up to three years for their car.
18:34 In return, they've been promised a delivery deadline.
18:39 I do feel an incredibly strong obligation to those that have placed their faith in Tesla
18:44 and put down deposits.
18:45 I'll do anything to make sure that their faith is not misplaced.
18:49 The delivery deadline for the first cars is now only two months away.
18:57 But the brand new factory hasn't built a production car yet.
19:02 If the customers are to get their Model S on time,
19:07 the facility urgently needs to start manufacturing.
19:11 The speed at which we have to work here is extremely important to the company's bottom line.
19:16 This is the kind of timing that is really, really challenging on many, many different accounts.
19:22 Tesla need to build 20,000 cars a year.
19:27 But before mass production can begin, Gilbert and his team must prove the factory is ready.
19:34 The company is relying on them to get it right.
19:39 We have to make sure that car after car, the quality is there, everything is perfect along the way.
19:44 So we are really gearing up towards a production ramp up.
19:48 Over the next few weeks, the factory will test manufacture a limited number of Model S.
19:55 If the line doesn't perform with these cars, the company will be forced to miss their deadline.
20:04 Tesla's electric revolution would be over before it started.
20:09 A very, very important moment is the birth of Model S in our Tesla factory.
20:15 And it's where, you know, the rubber is going to meet the road, so to speak.
20:18 The process begins in stamping.
20:23 To increase the battery's range, the company have decided to build 97% of the Model S with lightweight aluminium.
20:34 It's an extremely rare feature in a mass production car due to the cost.
20:39 Every Model S starts as one of these.
20:46 The roll is loaded into the mechanical cutting machine.
20:59 Once cut, the panels are passed to the stamping press.
21:03 We need to translate flat pieces of aluminium into 3D forms.
21:08 And how to do this with aluminium stamping with the level of quality that we expect is really, really challenging.
21:16 To meet the challenge, they buy the largest available stamping press in North America.
21:26 It's one of the first pieces of equipment they install.
21:29 Over three stories high, it has to be transported from Detroit on 70 trains and then entirely rebuilt.
21:38 The immense pressure from the stamp allows them to press the complex body shapes needed for the Model S.
21:51 It can be mounted with different heads, known as dies, that mould the panels into a wide variety of shapes.
21:58 Robotic arms feed the four stamps.
22:10 Each stage forces a more detailed 3D shape.
22:20 Producing stacks of floor plates.
22:23 These lightweight aluminium parts improve the Model S's power to weight ratio, which helps increase the performance and range.
22:36 The two things that obsess co-founder and technical chief, J.B. Straubel.
22:42 Any ideas on how we can make it better?
22:46 Performance and range were the two big issues that needed to be improved and that's where we put most of our focus on the technology in powertrain.
22:53 Powertrain manufacture, second floor.
22:57 This is where they build the heart of the Model S, the motors and battery packs.
23:03 Tesla know the electric powertrain will define their cars, so they push to advance the technology themselves.
23:13 This is an extremely exciting field where inventions continue to happen even faster than they did in the years previous.
23:19 Tesla's solution to improving battery life appears startlingly simple.
23:25 They use thousands of small lithium ion cells, similar to laptop batteries.
23:36 Thanks to these regular batteries, the company say the Model S has achieved a top range of 480 kilometers.
23:44 Once you have 250 to 300 miles of range, then you're in a different usage mode. You're in a range that is equivalent to most gasoline cars.
23:54 The car can be charged by 100 kilometers every hour from a regular power outlet.
24:03 Ultimately, Tesla are hoping to install superchargers along major highways that can charge the car to capacity in 45 minutes.
24:12 You can charge the car up every night, but you don't need to. You can actually charge it once a week.
24:17 The high-performance battery pack is formed with over 7,000 small cells.
24:24 They're organized into a flat layer with specific groupings of positive and negative.
24:30 The final layout is the key to the pack's power and range, and Tesla considers it absolutely top secret.
24:40 The motor unit is also a part of the pack.
24:48 The motor unit is also developed in-house.
24:54 It's essentially an AC induction motor, a concept invented by 19th century scientist and Tesla Motors namesake Nikola Tesla.
25:04 He harnessed an electromagnetic field to turn a basic motor.
25:12 Modern day Tesla has developed their motor with a highly conductive copper cylinder.
25:18 When the electromagnetic casing is fed with current, the copper cylinder inside starts to spin.
25:26 It's nearly three times more efficient than a combustion engine.
25:31 In fact, there are only three moving parts.
25:35 It connects directly to the rear wheels and doesn't need a transmission.
25:41 These are the three moving parts in the whole Model S powertrain.
25:45 One of the cool things also with this very simple gearbox is that when we want to go in reverse in the car and back up,
25:52 all we have to do is spin the motor in the other direction and the car backs up.
25:56 We don't need a clutch, we don't need a separate gear for reverse.
26:00 The entire drive unit is under a meter long, smaller than a golf bag.
26:07 But it propels the Model S, a family-sized sedan, into the class of performance cars.
26:13 In fact, this powertrain creates a totally different driving experience.
26:35 Program director Jérôme Guillem works constantly to refine it.
26:40 As with a light switch, electric power can be fully applied instantly.
26:47 The first thing that's going to surprise people is how much torque you get so quickly.
26:56 That response, instant response, you cannot really mess with the throttle too much because if you push on it, then the car will go.
27:04 Even from a stop, you have a very quick take-off because basically the torque is instant.
27:10 So if I stop here and then I start, you will see that we have an acceleration right from the beginning.
27:22 Any speed, you have that same torque available, so it's very easy to pass a car or to get out of harm's way if needed.
27:31 Unlike gasoline cars, which have to change gears, the Model S can accelerate to top speed totally uninterrupted.
27:37 When you go to electric, because you can regulate the torque that goes into a vehicle very smoothly and instantly, we don't need any transmission.
27:49 This is a single gear powertrain.
27:55 The Model S battery-packed floor means the majority of the weight is close to the road, making it more stable in the corners and improving the handling.
28:05 We have a very low center of gravity, something similar to a Ferrari.
28:10 But the real evolution in the way you drive is down to one of the central innovations in electric cars, regenerative braking.
28:20 Although the Model S has traditional brakes, you don't have to use them.
28:25 Regen braking can be engaged by simply easing off on the accelerator.
28:30 When you want to brake, you just take your foot off the pedal, like I'm doing now, and the car brakes itself.
28:37 So you don't need to use the mechanical brakes.
28:41 When active, the regen system magnetically resists the motor's force, which is the same as the brake pedal.
28:49 It resists the motor's rotation, slowing the car and harvesting electric current.
28:54 The energy recovered recharges the battery and extends the range of the car.
29:00 When you put your foot down again, the electric power returns.
29:05 Tesla call it "one-pedal driving".
29:12 It's a little bit different approach of driving, but once you realize that if you take your foot off the pedal, the car slows down.
29:19 And it's like, "Wow, this is great. I can drive using only one pedal."
29:23 In the factory, the delivery deadline is now fast approaching.
29:37 The Model S test production cycle reaches the main assembly area.
29:42 The car is based around a partially steel underbody.
29:48 To make it, engineers weld struts and casts into a framework.
29:53 Brad's newly trained welding robot is about to be tested in full automation.
30:00 They have trained the robots with prototype parts.
30:06 Now, with final components coming through successfully from stamping, it's automated production for real.
30:13 Under observation, it's a tense time for the team.
30:35 The robots work in a tightly coordinated chain.
30:39 The second phase hits an issue.
30:47 It shuts the whole process down.
31:00 With the deadline looming, Elon Musk is determined to keep Tesla's waiting customers happy.
31:07 He's organized a Model S test drive event for the people who've placed deposits.
31:14 The test drive will go out onto Jack Wilson Boulevard, so you'll get a chance to see that this isn't some, you know,
31:21 show-off car that doesn't actually do what it says.
31:23 It will go fast and with a lot of people, I think, quietly.
31:28 Many have prepaid years ago, and it's their first time inside a drivable Model S.
31:37 Customer and board member Steve Jervetson captures his experience on his mobile phone.
31:43 Wow, this is insanely cool.
31:48 It's a surreal scene.
31:53 It's way cooler than I can imagine. You really did this.
31:59 Yeah, it's nice.
32:01 The first ride has to be documented here.
32:05 Sure.
32:06 The event seems a success.
32:21 Now the company need to make sure the customers get their Model S's as promised.
32:27 With only weeks to go, welding has hit a glitch in automation.
32:34 One of the robotic clamps is millimeters out of line.
32:38 It's a tiny difference, but enough to disrupt the process.
32:44 With the way the robots work and how we have such a tight tolerance of one millimeter to stay on,
32:51 sometimes the new parts won't reach a prox, or the clamp won't close all the way.
32:58 A major delay will disrupt the whole production schedule and threaten the deadline.
33:03 They adjust the settings and set the robots in motion again.
33:10 This time, it goes off without a hitch.
33:21 [MOTOR NOISE]
33:23 To the team's relief, the process can be approved for mass production.
33:35 The run through the automated line reaches the Model S exterior.
33:49 The Model S body is made up of 14 different sections.
33:52 To speed the workflow, Tesla construct each section at separate sub-assemblies.
34:00 Door sub-assembly.
34:06 The internal frame is joined to the exterior panel.
34:16 As the robot pincers come together, they fire a rivet and join the aluminum sheets.
34:21 Over to the right, side body sub-assembly.
34:32 One of the most advanced aspects of Tesla's robots is that each arm can perform a variety of different tasks.
34:41 We have to use all the gamut of technology to make the aluminum join between stamping and welding and riveting and bonding
34:51 and all these things using robots that are multi-tasking.
34:55 This flexibility is essential for a compact and efficient workflow.
35:08 The robot can spot weld using a pincer tool and then automatically detach the pincer and pick up a clamp tool.
35:16 The same arm that joined the panels can now move it to the next station.
35:22 It's clever, but tricky and needs constant refining.
35:26 When you draw something yourself, you take a pencil, you take a razor with the same hand, right?
35:33 And then you change the tool, so to speak. Same thing here.
35:38 Once assembled, the sections are brought together at body assembly.
35:44 Here, they're riveted around the welded underbody to form the basic shell of the car.
36:02 All the sections are lined up alongside the central framing line.
36:07 Gradually, the automated line builds up the side sections, ready to house the doors.
36:14 A test batch of three cars is complete.
36:22 Body assembly has demonstrated it can run successfully in full automation.
36:31 It's a vital milestone in the countdown to mass production.
36:35 Completely assembled, the aluminium body is now known as body in white.
36:43 It's ready for some colour.
36:48 The body in white is loaded onto an overhead train that carries it to the paint area.
36:57 At this vast facility, the paint centre is in a totally separate building.
37:02 The Fremont site covers nearly 95 football fields of space.
37:08 It's so big, the Model S production line only fills 20% of it.
37:26 For Gilbert Passant, the extra space is the cornerstone of Tesla's grand strategy for an electric revolution.
37:34 The Tesla factory is huge. It's about 5 million square feet on two levels.
37:41 Right now, we are only utilising a small fraction of the space,
37:45 but most of it, as you can see behind me, is what we call the dark side.
37:49 It's sort of dark and not utilised yet.
37:52 Even though we have a lot of plans for the future on how to fully utilise this entire building.
37:57 These expanses are an integral part of the company's stage-by-stage building plan.
38:05 They want to fill the space with a production line for a further range of Tesla vehicles.
38:12 A very high-volume, economy-priced model, the Stage 3 car.
38:20 In the future, we intend to expand our range of vehicles,
38:24 maybe of a smaller size and also more affordable for the market.
38:29 And this factory is ideal, and we are going to make this a super mega factory.
38:34 Long term, Fremont is meant to produce the low-cost Stage 3 electric car in the millions.
38:44 It's the final step in Elon Musk's Tesla master plan.
38:50 To really have widespread adoption of electric cars, we have our third generation vehicle,
38:54 which will be a low-price, high-volume vehicle.
38:57 And that's really what's going to fill out the rest of this humongous factory.
39:00 I'd love to bring this to half a million vehicles a year as soon as we can.
39:04 The future of Elon's strategy first depends on the success of the Model S.
39:11 In production, the time to the delivery deadline is now running low.
39:19 The aluminium body arrives on the overhead train from body centre.
39:23 Paint centre.
39:26 This is where they make the car look like a premium sedan.
39:30 It's a state-of-the-art process.
39:34 There's a lot of technology that goes into the Tesla car,
39:37 but the very first thing they'll tell you is what colour of Tesla car they bought.
39:41 That's how important the paint is.
39:45 First, a rollercoaster ride of treatment baths.
39:49 Detergent to clean the surface.
39:55 And then electrocoating.
39:58 The electrocoat helps attract the paint to the aluminium.
40:03 The primed car is ready for colour.
40:08 This vehicle will be sprayed with their trademark tint,
40:14 what Tesla calls signature red.
40:17 It's a colour that we developed that's different than anybody else's red.
40:22 It's been developed with last flake to get the specific type of sparkle.
40:28 This man has a vision to create the best electric cars ever seen
40:36 and consign gasoline to history.
40:39 This is something truly revolutionary.
40:42 He wants to build his unprecedented Tesla car in a futuristic new factory
40:48 and trigger an electric transport revolution.
40:54 It's been a long time since something like that happened in the car business,
40:58 but it's here.
41:00 It's a dream many have had, but none have realised.
41:07 [Tesla]
41:09 Aluminium bodywork.
41:24 19-inch alloys.
41:29 And a $50,000 price tag.
41:35 At first glance, this car is the latest in a long line of high-end sedans.
41:41 But that is where the similarities end.
41:45 The Model S is a totally different type of car.
41:53 Tesla believe it can lead a revolution and change the face of motoring forever.
42:03 [Model S]
42:05 It's the first ever mass-made premium sedan powered purely by electricity.
42:14 Designed to have speed and range and not a drop of gas.
42:21 Our goal is to create an electric car that is the best car in the world
42:26 and show that that's what an electric car can be.
42:30 Tesla's goal is to kill off the combustion engine
42:34 and prove the electric car has finally come of age.
42:39 Driving a gasoline car is going to feel like yesterday.
42:42 Driving this car is driving the future.
42:44 This is Elon Musk, Tesla's co-founder and CEO.
42:57 Elon is an inventor and a maverick entrepreneur.
43:01 One of America's youngest billionaires.
43:04 I like exploring, I like technology.
43:06 I like creating things that have never been seen before or even imagined before.
43:10 Proof the car is a product of the tech-savvy US West Coast.
43:15 The Model S carries a touchscreen tablet
43:23 inspired by Tesla's Silicon Valley neighbors.
43:27 Tesla is very much a Silicon Valley company
43:30 that has a Silicon Valley operating system
43:32 which is similar to a Google or a Facebook or an Apple
43:35 joined together with a tremendous amount of great automotive expertise.
43:39 It's about bringing the things that we're used to,
43:48 our phones, our computers,
43:50 and the interaction that we have with them into the car.
43:55 The car has a mobile 3G internet connection.
43:59 The driver can download software upgrades and customize the display.
44:06 The car is always connected to the internet
44:09 so we can understand your day book
44:12 and we can know that you're going to work at 8am on Monday
44:15 and the car can be warmed up for that experience.
44:21 The entire command center is housed on the 17-inch tablet.
44:26 The interior is virtually buttonless.
44:30 It does some really amazing things.
44:33 Not only does it make the rest of the interior super clean and really uncluttered,
44:38 it allows you to have just amazing control of the car
44:43 and it's just a push of a button.
44:46 You know, a push of a button.
44:48 Like magic.
44:55 At the factory, the start date for mass production is now only two weeks away.
45:11 The first batch of test vehicles reaches the vital final stages,
45:16 powertrain and body marriage.
45:19 In gasoline cars, installing the drivetrain is a lengthy process.
45:27 With electric, it can happen in just two steps.
45:32 Step one.
45:34 The motor unit, complete with suspension and brakes,
45:37 is bolted into the rear wheel berths.
45:40 There is no driveshaft or transmission to be attached.
45:44 In one motion, it's fitted.
45:47 For final assembly, the work is mainly manual.
45:51 Like the robots, the line worker's performance is being monitored.
45:55 509, guys.
45:57 With every vehicle, they're ramping up to the full production cycle time, or "tack time".
46:04 Every station here in the factory has to achieve a certain operation in that tack time
46:09 in order to get it to our customer on time.
46:11 Here, the target is four minutes and 40 seconds.
46:15 Throughout the build, every single time you may hear me in the background saying,
46:19 "We're at two minutes, we're at five minutes," right?
46:22 So they can know exactly where they are when we're shooting to get to that four minutes and 42 seconds.
46:26 Step two.
46:28 Battery pack installation.
46:31 The packed steel case acts as the car's chassis.
46:36 Bolted into place, it gives the Model S its rigidity.
46:40 A stage along, the first complete cars arrive at final inspection.
46:54 At Elon's insistence, inspection happens on a bamboo platform.
47:01 He believes you can only judge a car's beauty if it's framed by beautiful surroundings.
47:07 The last check is the test drive.
47:14 At Tesla, the track is very different.
47:18 Because electric cars produce no exhaust fumes, they can be driven indoors.
47:26 Our people have done so well at putting this car together.
47:30 You can see the remarkable quality of the paint,
47:33 and the entire vehicle, the body fit and everything.
47:36 I'm so proud today.
47:38 This is the first Model S to pass through the production test run.
47:47 And its quality proves the new megafactory is a true masterpiece.
47:53 It's a big moment for the company.
47:55 Just to see this car going around the test track here,
48:00 it really demonstrates the fact that the Tesla factory is ready to go.
48:04 I just have to make 20,000 per year more of this guy,
48:08 and it's sort of a done deal.
48:10 We just have to get it done.
48:12 The factory can now push to a new level.
48:19 The factory can now push towards the delivery deadline,
48:24 allowing Tesla to pursue their strategy for an electric car revolution.
48:30 Can you imagine if all the cars in the world were able to have zero emission,
48:35 zero noise, and we could do that in a perfectly clean environment?
48:39 That would be so cool.
48:41 This is Tesla's vision of an all-electric future.
48:48 No fumes or heat.
48:50 No noise or dirt.
48:53 No expensive gasoline.
48:56 Just clean and quiet streets.
49:00 It's truly impressive to see how we are really, day by day and person by person,
49:07 changing people's thinking about what electric vehicles are
49:12 versus what we've all grown up and taken for granted.
49:16 If we can do that through one product, that's unbelievable.
49:20 Ten years from now, Tesla will change the perception of what mainstream cars can be.
49:35 And it will become clear that electric cars truly are the future.
49:40 The Tesla Megafactory may have just built its place in history.
49:46 [Music]
50:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]