[msandford]

Lots of humans in the build process. They might have robots making battery packs but all the engineering on those is done and dusted, probably a decade ago.

Generally people don't start building/buying robots to do this stuff until the economics forces it. That probably doesn't happen until they sell a million or more cars per year.

EDIT: This is factually incorrect as Tesla does employ a lot of automation. But there are still plenty of people in the loop as well.

[fnordfnordfnord]

Tesla's factory is fully automated, as automated as any other automobile factory. It is practically impossible to get the necessary level of repeatable precision without it. http://www.teslamotors.com/gallery#

[msandford]

I'm not arguing there is NO automation. But it's definitely not FULLY automated.

My dad did design work for division of Tyco that made syringes. That was fully automated. 100,000sqft of production and a single janitor automated.

Tesla? Definitely a lot of people visible. http://www.flickr.com/photos/77735091@N08/7398173016

[fnordfnordfnord]

I reckon Tesla's automation compares well with any other automaker in the same stage of the product life-cycle. I don't see a complex product such as an automobile ever being automated to the point of needing only a janitor to mind the factory. There is no lack of robots, which is the statement that prompted my response. Robot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/77735091@N08/7395856658/ Robots: http://www.flickr.com/photos/77735091@N08/7351817696/ Robot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/77735091@N08/7338398440/