[Sysko]

Porsche has released some staggering statistics of their new production facility that will be base of operations for the Taycan. They will be further investing around 700 million EUR to create the new assembly lines for the EV.

twenty-eight thousand truckloads of earth have been excavated, 112,000 cubic meters of concrete and tens of thousands of metric tons of steel have been delivered.

Three hundred planners and as many as three thousand plant and construction experts are involved in drawing up and executing the work which in the end will turn into a new body shop, paint shop, conveyor bridge, and the halls for assembly and logistics, electric drive, and axle production.

 

[Brennen07]

The massive EV production push that we are seeing from all automakers is going to require huge investments into their production facilities. I've just seen something similar from MB, that is opting to use a whole fleet of driverless vehicles to help streamline the process.

 

[Highvoltage]

We've also seen that too much automation can actually hurt the process, as what's what ended up happening at Tesla. Production lines still require a good amount of human involvement, especially when it comes to maintaining quality control.

 

[Sysko]

I don't think there is any stopping the streamlining of production processes, but I agree that a certain amount of human involvement needs to remain. Not only because they provide hundreds of thousands of jobs, but where would accountability be if everything was produced by machines.

 

[Brennen07]

There would probably be less room for error if more process were automated. The only issue that arises is when something breaks down, that puts a huge halt in the production line. GM is currently looking to close down 5 different plants, since they are going to be following suit with Ford and ending a bunch of their sedan models.

 

[Highvoltage]

It also looks like the POTUS is looking to pull some of their subsidies over all these plant closings, and some are suggesting that it goes against their union agreements. Cut backs on sedans were inevitable as they have been losing money for years.

 

[TEV31]

Too bad a lot of the smaller companies that support car makers are located all over the world, so it can be easy for America to lose out while the industry moves on and flourishes.

 

[Sysko]

There should be some sort of implications for what GM is doing and I think they might find it more difficult than they expected, to just flat out close all these plants. Odd that they are discontinuing the Volt as we move towards EV's.

 

[TEV31]

Even if it happens, the fact more car makers are creating global products, lessens the impact to the point it would be short term, thus no effect.

 

[Brennen07]

The hard truth is that sedans just aren't selling anymore and we saw Ford make similar cuts to their lineup months ago. If two different automakers have come up with the same solution then you can bet we will continue to see this across other brands.

 

[TEV31]

The hard truth is that sedans just aren't selling anymore and we saw Ford make similar cuts to their lineup months ago. If two different automakers have come up with the same solution then you can bet we will continue to see this across other brands.

The entire industry really.

Never realized it initially but when unibody vehicles started showing up replacing body on frame, that was the first sign and ever since then car makers have been conservative.

 

[James8955!]

Automotive news put together this very interesting article that goes in-depth on how Porsche put together the new Zuffenhausen facility.

Porsche building Taycans in a tight spot

To build one of the most game-changing models of its lineup, Porsche first had to figure out how to fit a factory into a cramped old German neighborhood.

www.autonews.com