Laurie Ramroth

Just thought I would take some time to reflect on my experience working at Tesla and thoughts for it going forward. I joined Tesla back in early 2010 following 9 years contracting in the BIW Engineering Department at Honda in Marysville Ohio. The downside of contracting for so long is that there is little room for growth, as a “Catia Jockey” the work you are doing on day 3000 is pretty similar to what you were doing on day one. It never bothered me until it did. I was attracted to the job at Tesla due to the mission, the ambition and the CA location (at that time in Hawthorne, LA). The electric performance vehicle concept was exciting compared to the quite dreadful seemingly unserious efforts that had come before. The Roadster showed what was possible, but I considered taking that to a mainstream Executive Sedan level was a big step up in expectations. I honestly thought that the project would last 2 years or so, then the company would just fold, like so many others did, due to simple cash starvation. Meanwhile it would be a great learning experience and a chance to explore the West Coast. I actually thought my interview went dreadfully and I came away from it incredibly disappointed with myself. Anyways, perhaps due to pre-Christmas generosity, I did get the job. After driving across country (a Roadtrip I heartily people do at least once..) I started at Tesla in February. When I arrived, the Model S was scheduled to launch late that year or early the next, so I was expecting to be mainly part of the finish up and launch crew. I was quite shocked to discover how little of the actual design was in place and the incredible amount to be done. Clearly a launch 12 months out was not going to happen… One other thing I soon realized was how much the electric drivetrain could influence and liberate the overall architecture of a vehicle when it is designed from scratch. As a Body Engineer I was somewhat of the opinion that I didn’t care if the vehicle was powered by gas, electric or potatoes.. it would make little difference. That was quite wrong.. The Body Team then was very small (still is really…), but the other teams were even smaller. I was working on the Dash/Cowl and Front End Structure (with Alexi handling the related Castings and Extrusions at the time), but you can’t develop a structure without a package to go around. Since there was an extreme lack of Engineers to cover the work from other teams, I along with a few others (mainly some great contractors..) developed the entire early front end content. All the Frunk and underhood trim / Leafscreen content, early (but not final) Wiper and Front End Module packages. Plus, randomly the Rear Fascia (can’t remember why..). There is more of my personal design content in the the original Model S vehicle than any other vehicle I have ever worked on. It was not perfect, for sure, but I remain incredibly proud of what we all achieved. (Time for a break, to be continued…)

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Interesting chart showing repair costs of *major components* in EVs. The big question: If the average person owns a vehicle for 8-years, how will these costs compare to an ICE vehicle? Check out the full EV report here: https://lnkd.in/gMkJpAHp (Data via CDG Partner: CNA National #cnanationalpartner)

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Been saying this for a while now...if we want domestic automakers to survive and thrive in the EV era, we should allow Chinese automakers to partner with American companies to build battery and drivetrain factories in the US - and make sure the expertise comes along for the ride! Exhibit A: China did this decades ago with Western automakers (and other industries), and the resulting knowledge transfer has made them a emerging technology powerhouse. And a few years ago, they allowed Tesla into their market to force their homegrown companies to get fitter. Why not use the same playbook in reverse? Exhibit B: After similar fear about Japanese brands threatening Detroit, a combination of tariffs and incentives resulted in Japanese automakers building US factories that now employ about a third of all American auto workers. https://lnkd.in/gTwXFQWi

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Half of all vehicles sold in China in July were either pure electric vehicles (EV) or plug-in hybrids (PHEV) industry data showed, a milestone that underscores how far the world’s biggest auto market has leapt ahead of Western counterparts in EV adoption. https://lnkd.in/ekksZgvS #Newenergyvehicles #NEV #BEV #PHEV #china #unstoppable #thefutureiselectric #EV #electricvehicle #electriccar #EVadoption #marketinsight

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Simple formula for greening the medium duty electric truck sector —> price so it’s economical today and deliver a high quality proprietary design built from ground up.

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I love that the Midwest is growing our manufacturing base and economy around clean energy and electric vehicles. Energy sources, industries and technologies that are growing rapidly and will dominate this century: https://lnkd.in/e-MCNdaY

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🔋 Last Week's Battery Manufacturing News 🔋 General Motors and Samsung SDI partner for a $3.5 billion gigafactory venture in Indiana. Production of cylindrical and prismatic cells is expected to commence in 2027. https://lnkd.in/eFxxNV-S Dragonfly Energy Corporation has been hailed for their patented dry electrode battery manufacturing process as easily scalable, more cost-effective, and more sustainable than the state-of-the-art technology currently available in the market. https://lnkd.in/eM-eX5nN LG Energy Solution is on track to complete its $5.5 billion Arizona facility within two years. Average annual production capacity is expected to reach 53GWh (cylindrical batteries 36GWh, LFP ESS batteries 17GWh). https://lnkd.in/e9MQi4Wc American Battery Technology Company has been awarded $40.5 million to support the design and construction of a new, next-generation, commercial battery recycling facility. https://lnkd.in/ekytQ3BM NIO has begun mass production of its 150-kWh battery pack, a semi-solid state battery capable of providing a range of up to 1,000 kilometers on a single charge in several models. https://lnkd.in/eJCaERmV StoreDot reached another milestone with 2,000 charge cycles maintaining 80% of initial capacity. That’s insane for a battery with 5-10 minute charge time. https://lnkd.in/eCreDg_a The DoE is investing $62 million across 17 battery recycling projects. This is crucial for enabling a circular economy as EV sales continue to grow. https://lnkd.in/ebj2NJ3n TESVOLT AG has started phase one for the construction of one of the largest stationary battery storage system production facilities in Europe. Annual production capacity is planned at 4GWh (80,000 storage systems). https://lnkd.in/eukUYCqy BYD are close to launching their new blade battery which boasts an expected energy density of 190 Wh/kg. https://lnkd.in/e8y8rvpZ #battery #manufacturing #gigafactory #electricvehicles

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https://lnkd.in/ghvWrENd How did I miss this... So if your range anxiety is not high enough, buckle up ! Instead of expanding charging infrastructure and fixing broken stalls to eliminate deficit, let's better start penalizing our customers ! This is what happens when you eliminate a feedback from the business process. Starting from basics, public EV charging is cheaper than gas only if you have a promo offer. But when a promo contract is being signed between EA and EV vendor, nether side cares if the infrastructure actually works. In fact, it's beneficial for the EA that it doesn't, thus cutting operational expenses, while the contract premium is paid regardless. And EV vendor uses free charging offering for promotion, no matter the details. But if in this faulty situation, two out of three parties benefit, then who's losing 🤔

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