Tesla observer and drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer appears to be on a roll these days with the inside Tesla news. This comes as no surprise since the seasoned Tesla watcher has had his drone out over the automaker's colossal Giga Texas factory. However, in addition to the helpful footage he provides, he also did his homework and found a related permit for the paint shop at the site.
Operating as a drone photographer who follows an automaker may be a fun job for people like Joe, but if you want to be respected for sharing legitimate news, you have to go further than just snapping images and video footage and then guessing what you're seeing. For this reason, Mr. Tegtmeyer appears to go to lengths to research details about his findings, talk to people with inside information, and follow up on his discoveries as newly related stories unfold.
With that said, Tegtmeyer recently spotted some "new" Tesla Cybertrucks at Giga Texas, which he first called prototypes. However, he looked back into Tesla's past and decided that they're likely Cybertruck bodies, much like those of the Model Y that the company brought to Giga Texas from Fremont to use as examples.
In a similar fashion, Tegtmeyer's drone captured footage of some happenings around the paint shop at Giga Texas. It appeared the company had some new components delivered and was working to assemble them. Tegtmeyer points out that Tesla filed a recent permit for the Giga Texas paint shop related to "connections to new modular paint system," suggesting that a new paint line is being assembled on site.
According to an article by Teslarati, the related application for the paint shop showed up just last week, on October 12, 2022. Currently, the Model Y is the only vehicle in Tesla's lineup that's being produced at the Austin factory, though it's the company's most popular model, and Tesla says the demand for it continues to be strong. Next up is the Tesla Cybertruck, which doesn't require paint, so the upgrades must be solely for the Model Y, at least for now.
Tesla has shared in the past that it will eventually also produce the Model 3 at the new Texas factory, though that's not expected to happen in the near term. Still, upgrades to the paint shop could certainly benefit future projects at the factory.
Why do you think Tesla is already expanding the paint shop at Giga Texas? Is there another possible explanation that others may have missed? Should we consider this another indication that the demand for Tesla's vehicles isn't waning, or is it too soon to tell?
Editor's Note: The image at the top of the page is of a Model Y body at the Giga Shanghai paint shop, not the shop in Texas.
