Making Tesla's Unboxed Process Work // Seven Key Technologies

Welcome back everyone, I'm Jordan Geisigee and this is The Limiting Factor. Tesla's unboxed process is expected to be a revolution in automotive manufacturing. Rather than the vehicle being assembled as a box piece by piece on one production line, it'll be assembled in multiple subassemblies on parallel production lines.

欢迎大家回来，我是Jordan Geisigee，这里是The Limiting Factor。特斯拉的拆解流程有望在汽车制造业引发革命。与传统的整车逐步在一条生产线上组装不同，新流程将通过多条平行生产线进行多个子组件的组装。

However, what I don't think has received enough attention is that several other smaller revolutions were and will be required for the unboxed process to work. Those range from the gigacastings introduced in the Model Y to the Etherloop network introduced in the Cybertruck. Whether that's by design and Tesla's been preparing for the unboxed process for years or the unboxed process has emerged naturally as a happy accident from Tesla's first principles thinking, or both, I don't know, but one thing is for certain it's taken Tesla over a decade to develop the expertise and innovations necessary to make the unboxed process work.

然而，我认为没有得到足够关注的是，为了使这种非盒装的生产工艺能够运作，已经需要并且将来还会需要一些其他较小的革命性变革。这些变革包括Model Y中引入的巨型铸件技术和在Cybertruck中引入的Etherloop网络。我不确定这是Tesla有意为之，准备了多年的结果，还是这种非盒装工艺自然而然地从Tesla的第一性原理思考中诞生的意外之喜，抑或是二者兼而有之。但有一点是确定的，Tesla花了十多年时间才积累了必要的专业知识和创新，才能使这种非盒装工艺得以实现。

So today I'll walk you through those innovations, why they're important as standalone innovations, and why the unboxed process wouldn't be possible without them. Before we begin, a special thanks to my Patreon supporters, YouTube members and Twitter subscribers, as well as Rebellionair.com. They specialize in helping investors manage concentrated positions. Rebellionair can help with covered calls, risk management, and creating a money master plan from your financial first principles.

今天，我将带大家了解这些创新，解释它们作为独立创新的重要性，以及为什么没有它们就无法实现Unboxed的过程。在开始之前，特别感谢我的Patreon支持者、YouTube会员和Twitter订阅者，还有Rebellionair.com。他们专门帮助投资者管理集中的投资组合。Rebellionair可以帮助制定覆盖性期权、风险管理以及根据您的金融基本原则创建一个财务规划。

Let's first start with gigacastings. Tesla introduced underbody castings in their vehicles in 2020. The purpose of gigacasting was to reduce cost, weight, and complexity by replacing hundreds of small steel parts in the front and rear underbodies of their vehicles with two large aluminum parts. That allowed them to eliminate stamping machines and hundreds of robots and replace them with a few massive casting machines, or gigapresses.

我们先从“巨型铸件”说起。特斯拉在2020年将底盘铸件引入他们的车辆。巨型铸件的目的是通过用两个大型铝制零件替换车辆前后底盘的数百个小钢制零件，从而减少成本、重量和复杂性。这让他们能够淘汰冲压机和数百个机器人，转而使用少量的巨型铸造机器，即“超级压铸机”。

However, there's another benefit of casting. With a typical steel part, the metal is as thin as possible to reduce weight, and the parts are welded together to form assemblies, which results in wobbly and imprecise assemblies that are difficult to work with. That's as opposed to cast aluminum, which is lower density and results in thicker parts, which in turn makes the overall part much more rigid. The nature of casting also means that the mounting points will always be exactly where they need to be, which makes for a solid base to build up from on the production line.

然而，铸造还有另一个好处。对于普通的钢制零件，金属尽可能薄以减轻重量，零件是焊接在一起形成组件的，这会导致组件不稳固且不精确，难以操作。而铸铝则不同，铝的密度较低，结果使得零件较厚，从而使整体零件更加坚固。铸造的特点还意味着安装点总是能精确到位，这为在生产线上进一步组装奠定了牢固的基础。

That rigidity also means that the front and rear underbodies, which take most of the structural stresses in the vehicle, can be bolted to other parts like LEGO pieces with fewer concerns about structural stability. That makes gigacastings perfect for the unboxed process. Next, while we're on the topic of vehicle structure, let's talk about the next innovation necessary for the unboxed process, the structural battery pack.

这种刚性也意味着承受车辆大部分结构应力的前后车身底部，可以像乐高积木一样被扭结到其他部件上，而不用过多担心结构稳定性。这使得巨型铸造件成为无框制造工艺的完美选择。接下来，在谈到车辆结构时，我们来讨论实现无框制造工艺所需的另一项创新——结构电池包。

The reason Tesla and other auto manufacturers are switching to structural battery packs is to reduce weight and complexity. In Tesla's earlier vehicles, the battery packs had several layers of protection and support, like plastic modules around the cells and structural beams that ran through the pack and around the pack to make it rigid. Beyond that, the battery pack, which has a steel lid, was installed in the vehicle below the steel floor pan, which resulted in the vehicle having two layers of steel below the passenger cabin, which was redundant.

特斯拉和其他汽车制造商转向使用结构性电池组的原因是为了减少重量和复杂性。在特斯拉的早期车型中，电池组有多层保护和支撑，比如电池单元周围的塑料模块以及贯穿电池组和围绕电池组的结构梁，使其更加坚固。此外，电池组上有一个钢盖，被安装在车子的钢制底板下面，这导致乘客舱下面有两层钢结构，这种设计是多余的。

With the structural battery pack, Tesla eliminated most of the weight from the structural beams and the modules by entombing the cells in a hard adhesive foam and got rid of the redundant floor pan by mounting the seats directly to the top of the battery pack. That is, much the same way gigacastings allowed for the front and rear underbodies to become their own structurally sound sub-assemblies that could be bolted to other sub-assemblies, the structural battery pack will do the same.

通过使用结构电池组，特斯拉消除了大部分来自结构梁和模块的重量。他们将电池单元用硬质粘附泡沫填充，并通过直接将座椅安装在电池组顶部，去掉了多余的底板。就是说，就像大型铸件让前后底盘成为各自结构稳固的子组件并能够连接到其他子组件一样，结构电池组也将实现同样的功能。

It'll also serve as the core of the vehicle that ties together the front, rear, and sides. After that's in place, all that's left would be to mount the closures, glass, and wheels. The next innovation that's necessary for the unboxed process is steer by wire. Tesla moved to a steer by wire system in the Cybertruck to eliminate parts and improve vehicle handling. How does that work?

它还将作为连接车辆前部、后部和两侧的核心部分。一旦这个核心部分安装好，剩下的工作就是安装车门、车窗和车轮。为了实现“无框架”制造工艺，下一个必须的创新是线控转向。特斯拉在Cybertruck中采用了线控转向系统，以减少零部件数量并改善车辆操控性能。那么，这个系统是如何工作的呢？

In a conventional vehicle, the steering wheel is connected to the steering rack by a steering shaft. In the Cybert truck, the steering shaft was eliminated by putting sensors in the steering wheel that communicate by wire to a fully powered steering rack. As for how steer by wire improved handling, it allowed Tesla to use speed variable steering ratios, allowing for more maneuverability at low speed and a more muted steering response at high speeds.

在传统汽车中，方向盘通过转向轴连接到转向齿条。而在Cybertruck中，取消了转向轴，取而代之的是在方向盘上安装传感器，这些传感器通过电信号与一个全电动转向齿条进行通讯。至于线控转向如何改善操控性，它让特斯拉能够使用速度可变的转向比，在低速时提供更好的机动性，而在高速时则提供更平稳的转向响应。

How does steer by wire help with the unbox process? The first vehicle Tesla is expected to build with the unboxed process is their robo-taxi. That vehicle won't have a steering wheel, which means the steering shaft would be redundant and would have to be removed anyways. Some people might assume that steer by wire could help with the unboxed process by allowing the steering wheel, shaft, and rack to be separated into different subassemblies. And that's true. However, in Tesla's unboxed video, they show that the steering wheel is part of the front end assembly, not a separate subassembly from the steering rack. So it appears they could use a steering shaft in the unboxed process if they wanted to for non-robo-taxi vehicles. Not that that's what I expect. Steer by wire will likely make vehicle assembly easier and could perform better in crashes, but it seems the main purpose of steer by wire is to increase functionality and prepare for the driverless vehicles that'll be built using the unboxed process.

线控转向如何帮助简化生产流程？特斯拉预计第一款采用这种简化生产流程制造的车辆是他们的无人驾驶出租车。这种车辆将没有方向盘，这意味着方向轴将是多余的，最终会被移除。有人可能会认为线控转向能够将方向盘、方向轴和转向机分离成不同的子组件，从而帮助简化生产流程。这确实是对的。然而，在特斯拉的简化生产流程视频中，他们展示了方向盘是前端组件的一部分，并没有与转向机分开。因此，如果特斯拉愿意的话，他们可以在简化生产流程中使用方向轴，而不仅限于无人驾驶出租车。尽管我并不认为他们会这样做。线控转向可能让车辆组装更简单，并且在碰撞中表现更好，但它的主要目的是提高功能性，并为采用简化生产流程制造的无人驾驶车辆做好准备。

The next innovation to discuss is Tesla's new 48 volt architecture. Although Tesla probably could have done the unboxed process without a 48 volt architecture, it certainly makes it easier. Why? Tesla switched from a 12 volt to a 48 volt wiring architecture and the cyber truck because high voltage reduces the amps that need to be pushed through the electronics, motors, and wiring system. That in turn means smaller electronics, motors, and wires. That's especially helpful for a steer by wire system because without the redundancy of a steering shaft, which is needed if the power steering goes out, steer by wire needs an extra steering motor or actuator for redundancy and safety. So with a 48 volt system, Tesla was able to make the two motor steering rack assembly more compact and with thinner wiring.

下一项需要讨论的创新是特斯拉的新48伏架构。尽管特斯拉可能在没有48伏架构的情况下也能进行无箱化过程，但新的架构无疑让这一过程更加轻松。为什么呢？特斯拉将电路架构从12伏改为48伏，因为高电压可以减少电子设备、电机和布线系统中需要传输的电流量。这样一来，电子设备、电机和电线可以做得更小巧。这在线控转向系统中尤为有用，因为没有方向盘轴作为冗余，如果动力转向失效，线控转向系统需要额外的转向电机或执行器来确保冗余和安全。因此，采用48伏系统后，特斯拉能够让双电机转向齿条组件更为紧凑，并使用更细的电线。

Another system that would benefit from 48 volt wiring is the braking system. Unlike steer by wire, in my view, rather than being a nice to have, electric brakes would be a necessity for the unboxed process. Typically brakes are hydraulic, meaning thin metal pipes are used to carry high pressure brake fluid to the brake calipers on each wheel. That's not compatible with the unboxed process because the hydraulic lines would span the four corners of the vehicle, which would prevent it from being broken down into separate subassemblies. Yes, the hydraulic lines could potentially be installed after assembly, but that would be a clumsy and time-consuming process. It's better to have all the assembly snap together as fully functioning units. With electric brakes, small, powerful 48 volt actuators would power each set of brake calipers. All they would need is a 48 volt wiring connection for power and communications. So far, Tesla hasn't announced they'll be using electric brakes, but it seems like the most common sense and obvious choice for an electric vehicle built with an unboxed process.

另一个能从48伏电线系统中受益的系统是刹车系统。在我看来，与线控转向不同，电动刹车不仅是一个“有就更好”的东西，而是对于无框生产流程的必需品。通常刹车系统是液压的，这意味着需要用细金属管道将高压刹车液输送到每个车轮上的刹车卡钳。这并不适用于无框生产流程，因为液压管线会贯穿车辆的四个角落，使其无法分解成独立的子组件。当然，液压管线可以在组装后安装，但这是一个笨拙且耗时的过程。最好是将所有组件作为完全功能化的单元拼接在一起。使用电动刹车的话，每组刹车卡钳都会由小型、强大的48伏驱动器来驱动。他们只需要一个48伏的电线连接来供电和通讯。到目前为止，特斯拉还没有宣布他们会使用电动刹车，但对于用无框工艺制造的电动车来说，这似乎是最符合常理和最明显的选择。

What about redundancy? First, each brake could have two brake actuators or motors. And second, as Brian of Futuraza has pointed out, the electric motors serve as redundancy through regenerative braking. Yes, typically, regenerative braking doesn't provide a huge amount of stopping power. However, in the event of a brake failure, the region could be increased by increasing the power sent to the battery pack. That might cause some additional degradation, but safety is always the top priority. But wouldn't the wires also need to span the vehicle to connect each brake to a central control system? In a sense, yes, but that's where Tesla's ethernet ring or ether loop comes in. As I showed my last video of the series, vehicles currently use what's called a CAN bus network, where specialized controllers for each vehicle system have to be connected to the same main bus wire in order to access the network. With Tesla's ether loop network, they're using a point to point ethernet network, where general purpose controllers are connected to each other and manage a range of systems in their local area.

那冗余性呢？首先，每个刹车装置可以配备两个刹车执行器或电动机。其次，正如Futuraza的Brian指出的，电动机通过再生制动来提供冗余保护。是的，通常情况下，再生制动提供的制动力并不大。然而，在刹车失灵的情况下，可以通过增加电池组的输入功率来增加再生制动的效果。虽然这可能会导致一些额外的电池损耗，但安全性始终是最重要的。 但是，连接每个刹车装置到中央控制系统的电线也需要覆盖整个车辆，不是吗？从某种意义上说是的，但这就是特斯拉的以太网环或以太环进场的地方了。在我系列的上一期视频中，我展示了目前车辆使用的是一种被称为CAN总线网络的系统，其中每个车辆系统的专用控制器必须连接到同一根主总线上才能访问网络。而在特斯拉的以太环网络中，他们使用的是点对点的以太网网络，各种通用控制器彼此连接，并管理它们本地范围内的一系列系统。

With this architecture, the network can be accessed through any of the controllers in the vehicle. The primary reasons for shifting to an ether loop network are that it allows a huge amount of redundant wiring to be eliminated from the vehicle. It increases bandwidth by 100 to 1000 times, and it potentially allows for more standardized controller design, because the controllers are general purpose rather than specialized. But of course, as a side benefit, because the network can be accessed by plugging into any of the general purpose controllers, rather than hardwiring into a main bus wire, it allows the vehicle to be manufactured using an unboxed process as separate sub-assemblies, and then bolted together at the end of the manufacturing line. It's plug and play. One last innovation that'll be helpful for the unboxed manufacturing process is the new wiring that became possible with 48 volts and ethernet. As this image from Monroe shows, the thick and complicated CAN bus bundle is replaced with two ribbons that provide communications, power, and redundancy.

采用这种架构后，网络可以通过车辆中的任意一个控制器访问。切换到以太环网的主要原因是它能够消除车辆中大量冗余的布线。它使带宽增加了100到1000倍，并可能使控制器设计更加标准化，因为控制器是通用的，而不是专用的。当然，作为一个附带的好处，由于网络可以通过连接到任意一个通用控制器而不是硬接到主总线来访问，它允许车辆在生产过程中分成若干子组件分别制造，然后在装配线上最后组装起来。这就像即插即用一样。对于无盒制造过程，另一个有用的创新是利用48伏和以太网的新型布线。正如Monroe的图片所示，厚重复杂的CAN总线束被两条同时提供通信、电力和冗余的扁平带状线所替代。

That ribbon will make assembling the vehicle easier because it's thinner and more flexible than a CAN bus bundle, which will make it easier to route the wire through the sub-assemblies and easier to hide behind trim and paneling. Additionally, as you can see, the ether loop wire has fewer connectors, which means faster production rates. The reason it has fewer connectors is because, as I said earlier, rather than using many specialized controllers to serve each vehicle system, each ether loop wiring connection will serve a controller that handles multiple vehicle systems. In summary, all the technologies I covered today are big innovations in an industry that's seen relatively slow and incremental improvements over the last 100 years. They're all jewels in Tesla's manufacturing crown, but the crown itself will be the unboxed process.

那条线带将使车辆组装更加容易，因为它比CAN总线束更薄、更灵活，更容易通过子组件布线并隐藏在装饰和面板后面。此外，你们可以看到，以太环线的连接器更少，这意味着更快的生产速度。连接器更少的原因是，因为我之前提到的，我们不再使用许多专用控制器来服务每个车辆系统，而是使用每个以太环线连接来服务一个可以处理多个车辆系统的控制器。总的来说，我今天介绍的所有技术都是在一个过去100年里改进相对缓慢且渐进的行业里的重大创新。这些技术都是特斯拉制造皇冠上的明珠，但皇冠本身将是全新的拆箱过程。

That's because, in my view, with the unboxed process, Tesla will, for the most part, have maximally simplified and accelerated the vehicle manufacturing process, while at the same time offering vehicles with the greatest efficiency at relatively low cost and are the most well adapted to a future where the vehicle becomes an entertainment and productivity platform. Now that I've covered the major requirements for Tesla's unboxed process, in the next video of the series, I'll walk you through the unboxed process itself. If you enjoyed this video, please consider supporting the channel by using the links in the description. Also, consider following me on X. I often use X as a test bed for sharing ideas, and X subscribers like my Patreon supporters generally get access to my videos a week early. On that note, a special thanks to my YouTube members, X subscribers, and all the other patrons listed in the credits. I appreciate all of your support, and thanks for tuning in.

这是因为，在我看来，通过无盒化工艺，特斯拉将在很大程度上实现车辆制造过程的最大简化和加速，同时提供高效且成本相对较低的车辆，并且这些车辆能很好地适应未来作为娱乐和生产力平台的需求。现在我已经介绍了特斯拉无盒化工艺的主要要求，在系列视频的下一个部分，我将带你深入了解无盒化工艺本身。如果你喜欢这个视频，请考虑使用描述中的链接支持频道。此外，也可以考虑在X平台上关注我。我经常使用X平台作为分享想法的试验场，X订阅者和我的Patreon支持者通常可以提前一周观看我的视频。在这点上，特别感谢我的YouTube会员、X订阅者以及片尾列出的所有其他赞助者。我非常感激你们的支持，感谢收看。