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Tesla's factory in Fremont, California was largely unaffected by the fire that broke out on Thursday night, but key equipment suffered some damage in the incident.
According to the Fremont Fire Department, the smoky fire was caused by hydraulic oil and molten aluminum used in the die-casting machine installed at the plant.
This machine is one of the largest machines of its kind in the world and the second machine put into operation at the factory. Due to its huge size, Idra and Tesla called it "Giga Press".
Tesla currently uses it to produce the rear body of the Y-SUV as a whole, replacing the 70 parts previously used in the more traditional process. CEO Elon Musk has said that its long-term goal is to cast cars like toy cars in order to speed up production and reduce costs. Tesla has also adopted the technology at its plant in Shanghai, China, and plans to use it at the upcoming Berlin and Texas plants.
Idra provides Giga Press suitable for various applications. (Idra Group)
It is not clear whether the media is involved in the production of Model Y, but it is needed to speed up the assembly of popular vehicles.
Sandy Munro, an automobile manufacturing consultant who disassembled a Model Y, recently sat down with Musk to discuss the car. He told FOX Business, “Without that printing machine, there would be no production.”
Munro has seen this type of fire on a smaller scale before and said that they can get things back to normal within a day, but it may take longer.
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"If the maintenance personnel do not replace the hoses and cables, the situation will become very critical."
Munroe said the press works under tremendous pressure and can fill the mold with aluminum in a few milliseconds.
"When I buy such a machine, I will have two sets of backups of these key spare parts."
Neither Musk nor Tesla commented on the incident, which is the third fire in the factory since 2018.
Quotes are displayed in real time or delayed for at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Supported and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Notices. Mutual fund and ETF data is provided by Refinitiv Lipper.
Do not publish, disseminate, adapt or redistribute this material. ©2021 FOX News Network Co., Ltd. all rights reserved. Frequently Asked Questions-New Privacy Policy