The Secret Accessory Team
By far the biggest reveal from the Investor Day floor tour was the existence of a secret Tesla vehicle accessory team. This group of designers are apparently coming up with a series of peripherals for the new Cybertruck - and possibly other new vehicles as well.
On March 10th, Tesla investor Matthew Donegan-Ryan uploaded a video break-down of his time at Tesla’s Investor Day on March 1st - And this reveal of the Accessory Team came while Matthew’s conversation with staff on the floor turned to talk of the 48 volt electrical system architecture that Tesla will be using in the Cybertruck AND any new vehicles going forward.
48 volt setups use higher gauge wiring, which is reportedly cheaper and lighter - but supplies more power. Most legacy companies don’t have the vertical integration that Tesla does, so it’s often too difficult for them to switch to this more efficient setup.
As a result, most aftermarket products - things like winches and off-road lights - are made with standard electrical architecture in mind - which means Tesla had to make a decision: get a company to make them some 48 volt versions of popular peripherals, or just make them in house. We all know Tesla well enough by now to be completely unsurprised that they chose to just make their own.
Right now, we have confirmation that they’re looking into accessories like winches and lights, but also unpowered things like a camper insert for the bed, and bike racks.
And of course, the new bumper - which is now made of tough, black plastic rather than the steel one which was on previous prototypes of the vehicle.
Observers were very correct that the steel bumper would not pass legal requirements, and so it was swapped out for a safer, plastic one - however staff reported that the accessory team is working on an aftermarket steel version that owners can swap to.
But the existence of a whole accessory team is huge news from Tesla - regardless of how much sense it makes. They have been hiring a lot for the Cybertruck team lately - with several new positions opening up for everything from paint engineers to casting and stamping production supervisors - so maybe that’s how they hid the accessory team’s new hires and transfers.
Regardless, this sort of operation will require a whole new manufacturing line - probably several - maybe this will even be a priority in the new GigaMexico facility. But it is a very smart move by the company that will likely end up making them a fair amount of money.