Factory Tour Take Aways: Stamping; Gravity; NACS; Motor/Battery mfg.

[Alex]

After the AZ rally and factory tour, I learned a few interesting things:

• New stamping facility: Opening "soon," bringing Air stamping in-house for better tolerances. Currently, Air stamping happens offsite in the Midwest and gets shipped to AZ.
• Gravity preproduction/beta stamping: Currently done on temporary dies in CA, moving to AZ after April.
• Body in White (BIW) Gravitys: Currently built in CA and finished in AZ. A rough beta BIW Gravity was on display.
• Gravity production line: Opens in April for prototypes/pre-release vehicles.
• NACS port: Gravity and 2025 Air models will have the NACS port.
• Motor/Battery Manufacturing building: Currently offsite, but will move into the new manufacturing facility.
• Saudi Arabia Airs: Fully assembled in AZ before being knocked down and shipped for reassembly in Saudi Arabia.

 

[borski]

Currently built in CA and finished in AZ. A rough beta BIW Gravity was on display.

This is only for the initial prototypes, iirc.

 

[Alex]

This is only for the initial prototypes, iirc.

Right. That's where the new stamping facility will come in. The final shipping version will be stamped in AZ.

 

[andrew61]

stupid question: What is stamping?

 

[Alex]

stupid question: What is stamping?

It's actually Metal Stamping and it's when they press the metal (aluminum) and produce body panels.

 

[joec]

It's actually Metal Stamping and it's when they press the metal (aluminum) and produce body panels.

Yes. Basically, take a flat sheet of aluminum and “stamp” it into a hood. Or a side. Or whatever piece of the car you need. Previously, that was done at another facility and then trucked to the factory. Doing it in-house saves a ton of time and money.

 

[Adnillien]

Yes. Basically, take a flat sheet of aluminum and “stamp” it into a hood. Or a side. Or whatever piece of the car you need. Previously, that was done at another facility and then trucked to the factory. Doing it in-house saves a ton of time and money.

It is much easier and cheaper to ship rolls of sheet metals than shipping stamped parts. It is a smart move .

 

[Sid432]

I am still mind boggled with assembly Air in US and then striping apart and then re-assembling it

 

[Alex]

I am still mind boggled with assembly Air in US and then striping apart and then re-assembling it

They told me that it was a common practice in the auto industry because many countries have favorable treatment of cars that are assembled in their territory.

 

[idiot900]

They told me that it was a common practice in the auto industry because many countries have favorable treatment of cars that are assembled in their territory.

Why go to the trouble of assembling the car and then disassembling it? Why not just pull the parts into CKD kits and assemble them for the first time in Saudi Arabia?

This is not a rhetorical question - I'm sure there is a good reason but I don't know what it is.

 

[joec]

Why go to the trouble of assembling the car and then disassembling it? Why not just pull the parts into CKD kits and assemble them for the first time in Saudi Arabia?

This is not a rhetorical question - I'm sure there is a good reason but I don't know what it is.

There are only certain bits that need to be taken apart in order to qualify. So you don't need to completely disassemble. Plus, you get to verify and have QA check everything before sending it overseas. So you avoid learning over there that the car has some sort of flaw that you now need other parts to correct.

 

[xponents]

There are only certain bits that need to be taken apart in order to qualify. So you don't need to completely disassemble. Plus, you get to verify and have QA check everything before sending it overseas. So you avoid learning over there that the car has some sort of flaw that you now need other parts to correct.

Wait, qualify for what though?

 

[idiot900]

Also: Since PIF owns a majority share in Lucid, why wouldn't the Saudis just exempt their own company from whatever tariffs they are avoiding using CKD kits and ship the fully assembled cars there instead? Is it just to keep up the appearance of a factory on Saudi soil?

 

[DBV]

Nice that Gravity and Air are getting the NACS port in 2025!

 

[joec]

Wait, qualify for what though?

Whatever rules specify that the car was "assembled" in the country where it will be sold. I assume there are marketing and financial benefits to this.

 

[Bobby]

I am still mind boggled with assembly Air in US and then striping apart and then re-assembling it

Apparently they only remove a couple of parts to comply with laws.

 

[thecodingart]

Given that charge ports between CCS and NACS are fairly interchangeable connection (fastening wise and connection wise), I'm very very curious if they'll give an option for a retro-active upgrade to remove any sort of legacy port depreciation value or just make customers happy on not having to carry an adapter around down the line.

 

[borski]

Why go to the trouble of assembling the car and then disassembling it? Why not just pull the parts into CKD kits and assemble them for the first time in Saudi Arabia?

This is not a rhetorical question - I'm sure there is a good reason but I don't know what it is.

Quality control. You can ensure that the parts all assemble and fit correctly, within tolerances, and then remove only the parts necessary to comply with the rules, which may not include parts that involve alignment and so on.

Wait, qualify for what though?

Imported vehicles may be taxed different from vehicles built in-country, for one thing.

Also: Since PIF owns a majority share in Lucid, why wouldn't the Saudis just exempt their own company from whatever tariffs they are avoiding using CKD kits and ship the fully assembled cars there instead? Is it just to keep up the appearance of a factory on Saudi soil?

You would think, lol. But I guess they really are trying to keep up the appearance of “fairness,” which makes sense since they are also trying to attract other auto manufacturers in the future, most likely - a sweetheart deal with Lucid sets a precedent they may not want.

I’m guessing at all of this, obviously, but just thinking out loud.

 

[idiot900]

Quality control. You can ensure that the parts all assemble and fit correctly, within tolerances, and then remove only the parts necessary to comply with the rules, which may not include parts that involve alignment and so on.

I guess they can't be pulling off all that much given the existence of single-use clips in the car...

 

[borski]

I guess they can't be pulling off all that much given the existence of single-use clips in the car...

And plenty of non-removable rivets, scrivets, structural adhesive, and so on.

They remove a few parts, and then they’re relatively trivial to rebuild. Nothing major.