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Tesla owners are a talkative bunch. Rumour has it that the first thing a Tesla owner does when they collect their new car is tell someone about it. Then the second thing they do is tell someone else. Put simply, Tesla owners are keen to spread the gospel of electric car ownership and Teslas in particular - and encourage others to do the same. They talk to each other lots, too, and hang off the every word of Tesla CEO Elon Musk via his social media feeds. So when he made the offer to let people see around Tesla鈥檚 famed factory in Fremont, California an orderly and silent queue of Teslas formed at the gates. Not everyone can go, though; it鈥檚 restricted to owners, friends and family, plus other selected guests, which today includes Auto Express. Fremont is like many suburban cities on the edge of Silicon Valley - clean, busy and, but for the hills on one side and the San Francisco bay on the other, not especially picturesque. The factory was built back in 1962 for GM and churned out such notables as the Chevrolet El Camino and Pontiac GTO.
In spite of so many people being on the payroll, Adam seems to know many of them. And he certainly knows more about Tesla than just about anyone else. Adam鈥檚 wearing gloves and sleeves that are reinforced with Kevlar to protect himself and any parts he might pick up. And he starts with an interesting demonstration alongside a giant Schuler stamping press; he picks up an aluminium door panel with just his finger to prove how light it is. Tesla has the largest stamping press in North America, weighing one sixth of the weight of the Eiffel Tower. Yet, but for the gentle rumble of machinery, you鈥檇 be hard pressed (ahem) to know what power is used to form the various body parts. Tesla鈥檚 factory is pretty rare in making so much of its cars under one roof; many others bring in body panels, engines and the like, being more like an assembly plant.
But all Teslas are built and painted in Fremont, with the paint factory under special scrutiny. According to Adam, Teslas are made to be so beautiful people will cross parking lots to see them. Our Bringo then takes us past one of the workers鈥?refreshment zones, or beach cafes - named after local beaches. They offer free snacks and sodas, as well as Tesla鈥檚 own blend of coffee. There are quality reminders around the factory, reminding workers that 鈥榪uality is everyone鈥檚 business鈥? and we pass some workers who are fixated on their job of hand-sanding some of the body panels. Of course, there are robots doing their dances, too, including Wolverine and Iceman - two robots so strong they can lift entire cars with one robotic arm. There are other laser-guided robots around the final assembly line, too, all with a hint of Autopilot like the cars they鈥檙e helping to put together. Every car is meticulously inspected before being tested and then on to more enthusiastic customers like the guy sitting next to me - a recent Model 3 owner who couldn鈥檛 be happier with his new car. Our tour finishes where it started, alongside some ironically placed old-style fuel pumps that sit next to a Tesla Supercharger, before we鈥檙e given another opportunity to spend some cash in the gift shop. Tesla is a company that has always done things differently and even the factory is different from other car plants, with a real Californian vibe - not least in the refreshing warm air that circulates the place. In some ways it seems less ordered and with less of a production line flow than other factories - the result of starting small and growing fast. But as with every factory around the world, it has an atmosphere all of its own. It鈥檚 a place that you can鈥檛 fail to leave with a smile on your face and a better understanding of the Tesla goal: 鈥榯o accelerate the world鈥檚 transition to sustainable energy鈥?
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