Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has just confirmed that the brand will unveil new multilayer paint for the Model Y when it begins production at Gigafactory 4 in Berlin, the company’s first European plant. This will be possible thanks to the fact that the factory will have “the most advanced paint shop” in the world among its facilities.
Today Tesla offers a reduced range of colors for its vehicles, something due to the need to simplify the production line as much as possible. For example, the Model 3 currently only has five colors available (some of the initial shades were removed over time), something that also happens with the Model Y produced in Fremont.
On the other hand, the quality of the painting of some units has been sharply criticized by users. Last year the Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland concluded after an inspection that the paint of Model 3 is inferior in aspects such as thickness or hardness, something that could lead to premature wear of it.
The lawyers requested this inspection of Joni Savolainen, owner of a Model 3 whose paint was badly damaged despite having only 2,200 km. Because the thickness of the paint was less than that announced by Tesla itself, some parts of the bodywork were exposed to premature oxidation. At the same time, the lower hardness than is usually used in the automotive industry made it vulnerable to all classes of flaws.
At the moment not many details have been given about the new paint shop at Gigafactory 4 in Berlin. Yes, it has been announced that the new multilayer paints will “subtly change” their hue “with the curvature,” which leads us to think that they will be iridescent-type paints, a solution that in recent times is gaining much popularity in the finishes of smartphones.
Hopefully, the paint shop at Gigafactory 4 in Berlin, which will start operating in late 2021, will also be able to fix the quality issues exhibited by units manufactured in Fremont. Thus allowing Tesla to meet the high-quality standards that European consumers expect from a premium cut product.
On the other hand, Tesla has confirmed that the Fremont and Shanghai factories will also be updated later and will have a paint shop similar to that of Berlin’s Gigafactory 4. However, for the moment, its application schedule is unknown.