The Exclusive First Look Inside Tesla's Giant Semi Factory

Here it is. The world’s first look inside the Tesla Semi factory in Sparks, Nevada.

Tesla has been developing and shaping the Semi for several years. And now it’s time to start making the thing. Last month, we got the exclusive first tour of the factory that will pump these all-electric trucks out by the thousands. We also got to see the new cab and user interface for the truck and to go on a test drive with the Tesla Semi lead Dan Priestley.

The Semi factory is the latest mega-scale facility in Elon Musk’s empire. It’s been designed to produce the trucks in the minimum viable space. There are hundreds of robots and a massive overhead conveyance loop for moving parts from station to station. The Semi plant is also working in lockstep with the nearby Gigafactory.

The Semi comes in two versions. The standard range model hauls a full load about 325 miles on a charge. The long range version stretches to 500 miles using three battery packs nested inside a frame suspended on a carrier system that holds over 10,000 pounds and adjusts to the right height for each worker on the line. The cells are the same ones used in the Cybertruck, just packed differently. A dedicated supercharging network for trucks is being built alongside the factory. All of this was originally supposed to happen by 2019.

This will be the first episode in our series exploring the tech scene in Nevada.

Catch our previous looks at
Detroit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MdUON8VleU&list=PL2kH51V4N1Jd1H6MSvK8aSNxGng2Ga-Uh
And
Tennessee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eeLJXueKW0&list=PL2kH51V4N1Jd1H6MSvK8aSNxGng2Ga-Uh&index=3

OUR HOST

Ashlee Vance is a best-selling author, filmmaker, and the founder of Core Memory. He spent two decades covering science and technology for The Economist, The New York Times, and Bloomberg Businessweek. His biography of Elon Musk became an international bestseller. He has also made an Emmy-nominated tech TV show watched by millions and produced films for HBO and Netflix.

LINKS
Tesla Semi: https://www.tesla.com/semi
Core Memory: https://www.corememory.com

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CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
1:35 The Factory Nobody's Seen
3:59 How Does a Semi Actually Get Built?
7:07 Two Trucks, One Giant Bet
8:09 What It's Like to Ride in One