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> successfully implementing Model 3 mass production For comparison on mass production: "more than 15 million Model Ts were manufactured in all, reaching a rate
by meritt 8y ago
> successfully implementing Model 3 mass production
For comparison on mass production: "more than 15 million Model Ts were manufactured in all, reaching a rate of 9,000 to 10,000 cars a day in 1925, or 2 million annually" [1]. Toyota was producing 13,400 units per day in 2014.
Model3 is currently somewhere around 300 to 500 per day.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T
- robbiep 8y agoWhat’s the point of the comparison? Model T manufacture started in 1908 and by the end of 1910 they had produced 12,000. By that comparison, model 3 is crushing it
- meritt 8y agoFord literally invented the assembly line. Tesla has a century of expertise to learn from. Tesla has also been producing ~2000/wk S&X's for almost two years now; however they just recently (last week of March) exceeded 2,000 3's in a week, 9 months into production.
- TaylorAlexander 8y agoThe Model S came out in what, 2012? So by your own numbers it took 4 years to get to 2000/wk. 9 months is killin it!
- dpark 8y ago> Ford literally invented the assembly line. No, he didn’t. The assembly line existed before Ford applied it to cars.
- heurist 8y agoPoor examples - Ford produced only the Model T for two decades. Toyota has been around for 80 years.
- meritt 8y agoWhy is it a poor example? I'm comparing a car company that, over 100 years ago in 1914, was producing 714 vehicles a day by hand with 13,000 workers [1] to a company in 2018 with 37,000 employees utilizing robots yet manages to only produce half that amount? [1] https://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/business/forbes/ford.html https://www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/business/forbe...
- throwaway5752 8y agoHow many total employees did Ford have, total? How many of Tesla's total employees are in line work/production? How difficult is the relative assembly of a Model T vs a Model 3 (ie, how many parts, welds, fasteners, etc)? I honestly have no idea how to compare them fairly, but I am not impressed by your analysis so far.
- meritt 8y agoI can't speak to the relative complexity of the two machines either (obviously a Tesla is vastly more technologically complex but that doesn't mean it's necessarily more difficult to assemble: assembling computers today is extremely easy compared to 30 years ago) but I can however point to: * Tesla produced ~250k vehicles (cumulative as of Q2 2017) prior to the first production Model 3, so it's not appropriate to compare them to a brand new company: They know how to build cars by the time Model 3 rolled around. This is their 4th vehicle model. * Tesla has stated many times how the Model 3 is a far simpler and trimmed down vehicle compared to the S or X: production should be easier. * Tesla had a goal of 2,500/wk by December 31st (they managed 793 the last week by shutting down S&X production) and a total of 2,425 for that entire quarter. * Tesla had a goal of 5,000/wk and a revised goal of 2,500/wk by March 31st but only managed to hit 2,020 by that point, again which required shutting down the S&X lines. * The new goalpost is 5,000/wk by June 30th. * Elon said that "excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake" and that "Humans are underrated". [1] If Musk himself is suggesting that the Model 3 delays would have not occurred due to human assembly instead, I think it's quite fair to compare against Ford's Model T assembly line a century ago. Not to mention a few advancements in technology since then which should give Tesla the upper hand. [1] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/984882630947753984 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/984882630947753984