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I think this hubris is what is going to kill them (unless they , hopefully, wake-up). They couldn't admit that maybe other people made cars pretty well already

by 0xCMP 8y ago

I think this hubris is what is going to kill them (unless they , hopefully, wake-up). They couldn't admit that maybe other people made cars pretty well already and that they'd make that process even better over time. I think they imagined themselves too much like Apple and it's attempts at automating it's production of the Mac. However, they forgot that by this point Apple/SJ had already figured out a lot of how to do assembly of computers quickly and automating a good process is much easier than figuring out a process that'll be automated. Prior to this automation everything was done semi-manually for Model S and Model X, with huge delays, so automating whatever they had was not the next logical step. It was short sighted of them to go to automation first and it's frankly causing unneeded delays to delivering the Model 3s and volatility in the market.

bduerst 8y ago
The problem was they are trying to shift to large-scale car manufacturing, and car manufacturing is hard. They basically have a tent erected in the Nevada desert, next to their stalled plant, where they are hand-assembling cars now, which is causing all kinds of quality issues [1]. Honestly, the buyout from VW would have solved this issue because VW knows how to build cars at scale [2]. The fact they shot this down is exactly that - hubris - and now they're burning through the last of their cash reserves on their way to bankruptcy. [1] https://jalopnik.com/bumper-falls-off-brand-new-tesla-model-3-after-30-minut-1828306917 https://jalopnik.com/bumper-falls-off-brand-new-tesla-model-... [2] https://www.wsj.com/articles/public-bravado-private-doubts-how-elon-musks-tesla-plan-unraveled-1535326249 https://www.wsj.com/articles/public-bravado-private-doubts-h...
- nardi 8y ago
  The tent and plant are in Fremont, in the East Bay of the SF Bay Area. You’re thinking of the Gigafactory plant, which is where they make the batteries.
konschubert 8y ago
If you automate a shit process you get an automated shit-process. :)
- deelowe 8y ago
  Actually, it's worse than that. Humans can hide mistakes, but as soon as you introduce automation, even the smallest of unaccounted for variance can stop everything.

by 0xCMP 8y ago

bduerst 8y ago

The problem was they are trying to shift to large-scale car manufacturing, and car manufacturing is hard. They basically have a tent erected in the Nevada desert, next to their stalled plant, where they are hand-assembling cars now, which is causing all kinds of quality issues [1]. Honestly, the buyout from VW would have solved this issue because VW knows how to build cars at scale [2]. The fact they shot this down is exactly that - hubris - and now they're burning through the last of their cash reserves on their way to bankruptcy. [1] https://jalopnik.com/bumper-falls-off-brand-new-tesla-model-3-after-30-minut-1828306917 https://jalopnik.com/bumper-falls-off-brand-new-tesla-model-... [2] https://www.wsj.com/articles/public-bravado-private-doubts-how-elon-musks-tesla-plan-unraveled-1535326249 https://www.wsj.com/articles/public-bravado-private-doubts-h...

nardi 8y ago
The tent and plant are in Fremont, in the East Bay of the SF Bay Area. You’re thinking of the Gigafactory plant, which is where they make the batteries.

konschubert 8y ago

If you automate a shit process you get an automated shit-process. :)

deelowe 8y ago
Actually, it's worse than that. Humans can hide mistakes, but as soon as you introduce automation, even the smallest of unaccounted for variance can stop everything.