Tesla's RIM process kills the paint shop, shrinking Cybercab factory footprint ~50%
elonmusk · x · 2026-09-05
Joe Tegtmeyer interviewed the head of Tesla's Reaction Injection Molding (RIM) team behind Cybercab's exterior panels.
- RIM injects two liquid chemicals into a mold to produce strong, lightweight plastic parts
- The main goal is eliminating the traditional automotive paint shop — historically the most expensive, space-hungry and environmentally taxing part of car manufacturing
- Combined with Tesla's compact parallel modular "unboxed" assembly, skipping the paint shop can cut factory footprint by roughly 50%
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