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Editorial: Tesla Factory Fremont, CA | Lufthansa Magazine
Below is a gallery of automotive images from a photo shoot at the Tesla Motors factory in Fremont, CA. They were shot for the German published Lufthansa Magazine for a story about the innovative robots used at the factory to assemble the Model X luxury SUV car. There are 580 robots – the Wolverine, Cyclops, and Colossus that are used to weld and assemble cars together at the Tesla factory in Fremont, CA. The place definitely has a Star Wars element to it, so I tried to shoot as many parts of the assembly line as possible. However there were major restrictions due to safety, tight factory production schedules, and things under wraps which couldn’t be photographed. Coincidentally, the next day Tesla was scheduled to unveil the new Model 3 car to the world, so the entire shoot was a fast pace rush against the clock.
At the end of the factory tour a Tesla rep gave us a lesson on how to get buck wild in the Model X. He put the car in “Ludicrous mode” which allows the Model X to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.3 seconds (comparable to many supercars). Ironically the mode can only be activated with the brake fully engaged, making it impractical for real driving purposes and most likely only used for goofing off or staking claims. I guess it justifies Tesla’s name choice for the feature.
Dirk Kunde had the toughest job of the day. The poor guy had to drive the Model X all the way to the airport before heading back to Germany for the magazine’s test drive and review. Sure beats Uber.
