Viewers of Tesla’s 2023 Investor Day broadcast hope to get more details on the matter Coming Cybertruck Or a glimpse of the rumored Model 2 left disappointed. However, the electric automaker has been working out the details on how it will use its next-generation vehicle platform and electric motor, which promises to be more efficient and affordable.
The company’s powertrain designers used in-house developed software to simulate the interaction of magnetic fields between the stator and rotor, optimizing the cost, weight, size and sound of the electric motor through rapid iterative design. They also worked closely with Tesla’s manufacturing engineers to make similar improvements to the manufacturing process and materials.
The new drive unit will feature a permanent magnet design, but will not require any rare earth metals.
Tesla
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Tesla says its next-generation powertrain will require 75% less silicon carbide to produce, with no compromise on performance or efficiency. Although the new drive unit is a permanent magnet design, Tesla also says it won’t require any rare earth materials. It will be more efficient in production, and will require 50% less floor space than a factory Y’s model engine, and about $1,000 less per unit cost, which is significant given that vehicles built on this platform are expected to be Tesla’s most affordable EVs yet.
The new platform will be compatible with any battery chemistries and will use new production methods to simplify manufacturing. Tesla says the lessons it learned the hard way during its development Cybertruck is frequently delayed She inspired him to rethink the traditional chain assembly line. Instead of the unibody bodywork moving down the line as a whole, parts of the new model (sides, doors, floors, front and rear subframes) will be assembled on parallel lines, and will only come together at the end of the line.
Tesla says this “unpackaged process” is more efficient, cost-effective, and less prone to manufacturing bottlenecks. This last part is especially important if Tesla is to meet its goal of making 20 million electric vehicles annually by 2030.
Instead of assembling the car on a single line, the component sub-assemblies would be assembled in parallel before being put together at a later time.
Tesla
In addition to the higher-voltage powertrain, the automaker is also rethinking the lower-voltage power system, redesigning and reducing the wiring harness that serves as the vehicle’s nervous system. It goes from 12V to 48V architecture which (thanks to Ohm’s Law) will enable lower amperage, smaller wires and components with smaller heat sinks, all of which help save weight. Then, rather than an intricate network of analog harnesses, Tesla moves to a network of smaller controllers — also designed and built in-house — connected via Ethernet to the vehicle’s powerful central brain. This will significantly reduce the number of wires running around the body and, thanks to two-way communication, simplify diagnostics and troubleshooting.
Neither Musk nor any of the other Tesla leaders who presented at Investor Day commented on a timeline for the expected deployment of the next-generation platform, powertrain, or vehicle that will eventually host it.