Tesla's 'World's Most Advanced Paint Shop' Is Geico Taikisha's Work

Billboard outside the Giga Berlin construction hints at a “smart paint shop.”

By: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo

Sep 22, 2020 at 9:04am ET

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When Elon Musk bragged about the “world’s most advanced paint shop” for Giga Berlin, we thought Tesla was taking the matter in its own hands. That would allow a new paint shop where it is needed the most: Fremont. Unfortunately, we were wrong. Anyway, the Twitter user @gigafactory_4 – or Giga Berlin / Gigafactory 4 – photographed a billboard outside Giga Berlin that reveals Geico Taikisha is the company behind that.

Geico Taikisha is the union of two big companies in the paint job business: Geico, founded in Italy in 1963, and Taikisha, established in Japan in 1949. They joined forces in 2011, and the company now defines itself as “a world leader in the design and construction of turnkey automated auto body paint shops for over fifty years.”

The billboard itself gives us more information on what Tesla and Geico Taikisha are preparing in Germany. According to it, Tesla will get a Smart Paint Shop, a concept that the company presents in multiple videos. The one above is just an overview of the idea, even if an important one.

The Smart Paint Shop involves some main aspects presented at the Geico Taikisha page: J-Rover, J-Detect, Energy Management System, Audit for Green, and Life Cycle Cost. The video below demonstrates the J-Rover.

Doesn’t it remind you of the “alien dreadnought” Elon Musk wishes he could achieve with manufacturing? The J-Rover presents a “new concept of body handling within the paint shop on independent shuttles.” In other words, it has robots that move in any direction taking car bodies wherever they have to be.

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The most relevant part for Tesla customers is the J-Detect. It is a robotic paint quality inspection that takes 79 seconds, according to the video below:

If you check the main video closely, quality control is what the Smart Paint Shop seems to be stronger at, but not only that. It can also help decrease costs, facilitate its management, and save energy, according to Geico Taikisha. All significant advantages for a company willing to adopt such a paint shop.

Considering Giga Berlin is still some months away from starting production, we expect to see a Geico Taikisha billboard at Fremont, Giga Shanghai, and Giga Austin whenever possible. That would help Sandy Munro change his mind about what Fremont currently offers. Hopefully, it may also make the paint problems that affect the and the Model Y something to forget. The sooner, the better.

Source: Giga Berlin / Gigafactory 4 via Teslarati