Kirill Klip: Lithium Race: Tesla’s JB Straubel - Most People At Tesla Now Working On Model 3.

Sunday, 18 October 2015

Lithium Race: Tesla’s JB Straubel - Most People At Tesla Now Working On Model 3.

I would like to share today another great presentation from Tesla CTO JB Straubel presented by InsideEVs. In the very beginning of his talk you can see the great video from Tesla Motors about the company and even robots building electric cars in action! The future is here and it is electric. Cheaper lithium batteries change everything for Electric Cars and Solar power. Lithium is the magic metal at the very heart of this rEVolution.

International Lithium’s Search for Green Metals.

"It is time to talk about the people behind the scenes of rEVolution, who are working very hard to make the Green healthy future for your kids possible with the development of Clean Power and Lithium Technology at its foundation. Our CEO Gary Schellenberg has assembled unique and very deep technical team at ILC. I would like to start today with John Harrop - VP of Exploration of International Lithium Corp. He has picked all our projects on the three continents at the very dawn of the Lithium Race in 2008, now two of them have become J/Vs and financed by the giant from China Ganfeng Lithium, which is Strategic Partner of International Lithium and is holding 17.5% stake in ILC.

Apart from ILC John Harrop is VP of Exploration of our Precious and Energy Metals Royalty Holding Company TNR Gold and he has developed Shotgun Gold project in Alaska into almost 1 MOZ of Gold inferred resource project, waiting now for its turn to grow with the new strategic partner.

Now John is running our both exploration programs with Ganfeng Lithium in Ireland and Argentina with our COO Anthony Kovacs and preparing our Mavis Lake Lithium and Tantalum project for the new strategic partnership to take ILC to the next level. You can find his technical articles on the web and today I will present his latest thoughts about Green Metals. Read more."

International Lithium Corp. - A Green-Energy Metals Company.

Tesla CTO: The Biggest Challenge We Facing Today - Energy Coming From Fossil Fuels.

"JB Straubel gives this brilliant presentation and it is resonating even more today with the latest DieselGate and VolkswagenGate headlines. AutoGate is approaching very fast and FrackingGate will be next. Corporate greed fuels all those scandals and it will be unstoppable if not for the people like JB and Elon Musk. There was the challenge: how to survive without the fossil fuels? This is how Tesla Motors was started in 2003 and the rest is the history now … JB tells it all today. Now we have Lithium Technology available to us to hit the last nail for the Fossil Fuels. Will we have now enough rage to do it? Maybe you can do something as well? Watch the video."

International Lithium And Ganfeng In "Top Lithium Producers."

Ganfeng Lithium has enjoyed the exponential growth in the last years and has grown to the ranks of Top Lithium Producers. It supplies BYD, LG Chem and Panasonic, which supplies cells for Tesla Motors. It became the strategic partner of International Lithium and finances our two lithium J/Vs now in Argentina and Ireland. During the last Shareholder Meeting in China on September 21st Ganfeng has presented latest information on its incredible growth, market share and that security of Lithium Supply is its major concern. You can find more details on Ganfeng Lithium website.

International Lithium Corp. Reports on Continuing Work in Argentina and Ireland With Ganfeng Lithium.

Mr. Kirill Klip, President, International Lithium Corp. comments, "Our projects are advancing in tandem with rising lithium prices. The lithium supply chain is being stressed even before the commissioning of the Tesla Gigafactory and other megafactories from BYD, Foxconn, Boston Power and LG Chem. Our joint ventures with Ganfeng Lithium demonstrate that cooperation between companies with varying expertise in the raw materials supply chain can work to secure a supply of strategic commodities. In this case, lithium which is necessary for the clean energy initiatives announced by the U.S. and China. These two countries alone will provide mass markets for electric cars and home energy storage units increasing the demand for lithium batteries."

InsideEVs:

Tesla’s JB Straubel: Most People At Tesla Now Working On Model 3.

With the Tesla

Model X just out the door, all hands are now on deck for Tesla working on the ‘next big thing’ – the Tesla Model 3, according to the company’s Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel, while making a very detailed presentation on Tesla at the University of Nevada, Reno. (watch full video below)

“So this vehicle (the Model 3) is what we are developing today. Most of the people inside of Tesla are no longer working on the S and the X, but they are hard at working designing and inventing all the technologies to go into the Model 3.”

Tesla Product Roadmap (via Tesla Motors)

The Model 3 is billed as the first affordable vehicle for Tesla, and a big piece of the company’s mission to bring a compelling mass market electric car to market quickly. Mr. Straubel re-iterated his company’s position on building cars like the Model 3 during the talk:

“Tesla was not founded to make expensive cars, or to make luxury or high performance cars – this is a misconception that comes up all the time. And it is perhaps understandable based on the cars we built today – but it is not our mission. Our mission is make cars that everyone can afford, and to change the electric mobility equation, so that essentially every vehicle can have the opportunity to be electric.

The CTO also stresses during the presentation that the Model 3 is unlike the Model X which shares a lot of its design with the Model S.

“…it (Model 3) is a completely new platform. Different technology base, and aimed at building hundreds of thousands per year instead of tens of thousands per year.”

During a question period after the seminar, Mr. Straubel is asked to expand further on the Model 3, and details the challenges a little further.

Question: The next generation

Model 3 will be a bit of a new frontier

for Tesla, given its expected market and price. How much of the car in terms of shared or new parts are expected to be new or different from the existing Model S and X?

“For better or worse, most of Model 3 has to be new. (On) X we were able to build on a lot of common components with S, but with Model 3 we can’t do that. So we are inventing a whole new platform for Model 3. It’s a new battery architecture, it’s a new motor technology. Brand new vehicle structure…so it is a lot of work.”

Tesla Illustrated Battery Volume Needed In 2020 For Model 3 If Everything Goes As Planned (via Tesla Motors)

Straubel goes on say that Tesla’s Fremont factory itself is more than capable of building the high volume of Model 3 cars planned by the company, as the ‘how-to’ behind volume automotive production is no mystery, but the problem is in sourcing the batteries to feed the assembly line

for those cars.

A handy chart (above) shown by company aptly shows that Tesla will need more battery production in 2020 than was produced in all the world in 2013. Hence the need for the Gigafactory.

On the Model 3 Rollout:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously said/tweeted the ~$35,000, 200+ mile EV

will be revealed in March ,and the company will begin taking deposits at the time. Production is anticipated to get underway before the end of 2017.