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I have no views on Tesla, I know a bit about the cars and the company, but not much. I honestly can't understand how anyone can see this as anything but a lazy

I have no views on Tesla, I know a bit about the cars and the company, but not much. I honestly can't understand how anyone can see this as anything but a lazy and dangerous design process that shows the company's unprofessionalism. MAYBE it's not dangerous, but if they're doing this, what else have they done that no one has found yet? It's crazy that a car that costs this much would have something like that in place from the factory.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
ocdtrekkie 6y ago
I recall reading that basically, unlike most other cars, where a 2018 Toyota Camry XLE can be reasonably expected to have X configuration, every Tesla is pretty much serial-number-specific from a service standpoint, because of the ridiculous number of mid-model iterations Tesla is doing on their fleet. A big part of their hesitation to allow outside service is probably the fact that any given Tesla may have any number of slight adjustments that require slightly different parts or repair tactics, and they don't really want to publicly admit how many different variations of everything there is. You can see in these pictures that in addition to them using some stock wood trim pieces... those wood trim pieces differ a bit from car to car. One would hope if the materials used between these cars differ, that their system knows this, in case one approach proves to be defective or dangerous, and they need to track down every car that they employed this hack in.
- taylodl 6y ago
  OMG! This isn't a joke? Part of the reason you want uniformity is so you can learn what kinds of problems your customers are going to run into and your service personnel understand how to resolve them. If every Tesla is essentially unique then they've gone straight back to the 18th century! Wow!
  - dariusj18 6y ago
    But what if they can iterate and fix the problems on the next car on the line. That's an advancement, as long as all the differences are well documented, it should be a step forward in car manufacturing and repair.
    - xienze 6y ago
      > as long as all the differences are well documented Yeah, I’m gonna stop you right there. I have serious doubts a company that sees no problem with making a quick Home Depot run for some faux wood trim in order to get a car out the door is meticulously documenting all their little hacks.
      - dariusj18 6y ago
        I would be surprised if they didn't. Especially if they already have processes for documenting per serial number.
    - dragonwriter 6y ago
      > But what if they can iterate and fix the problems on the next car on the line. Cars aren't software; to do that with cars without large identical (by intent) production runs (to control for process noise) it would seem like you would need extraordinary process control (and every indication I've seen has that Tesla varies from incumbents in the opposite direction), otherwise you are chasing process noise.
slg 6y ago
The purpose of these pieces of fake wood appears to be to spread out the stress from the strap. I have no idea whether this method is any more likely to fail than a purposely designed part or what the dangers are if this does fail, but that isn't a particularly complicated or demanding task. It is possible that a purposely designed part would provide no real benefit over this seemingly hacky solution. If that is the case, why not go this route if it makes assembling things easier? I have no idea the risk/reward equation here. I am guessing most people voting and commenting here have no idea the risk/reward equation. My comment was only pointing at that lots of people are going to have an opinion on this that is mostly dictated by their previous assumptions about Tesla as a company.
craftinator 6y ago
I see it from both sides, and I think a person's view of this type of hack all comes down to trust. Do you trust that some engineers at Tesla needed a solution to a problem, modelled it out, did some materials testing and discovered that this plastic panelling was the right material for this job? It does look bad because it's obviously not produced by Tesla, but so many parts are outsourced already in car manufacturing, this could be a solid engineering choice that's getting some bad publicity. Of course, it could also be because some intern was tasked at solving a design problem and slapped this together overnight, and no one ever checked his work, and it went into production. Alllll about trust.
- rsynnott 6y ago
  > Do you trust that some engineers at Tesla needed a solution to a problem, modelled it out, did some materials testing and discovered that this plastic panelling was the right material for this job? That would be more credible if it was the same in all cars; it is not (see the source).
  - themaninthedark 6y ago
    It not just not the same in each car but the pieces have rough cut edges and each piece is a different length. I would hope a production fix would at least buy a saw with a stop so that it looks standard.
- hcknwscommenter 6y ago
  "slapped this together overnight" IMHO, I doubt they spent even that much time on it, and that is what worries me.
timerol 6y ago
>> This is a Rorschach test that shows preconceived views depending on whether you interpret it as A or B. > I have no preconceived notions, but this is clearly A. I honestly can't understand how anyone can see this as anything but A. Congrats, you've failed the test. Earlier today I didn't realize it was possible to fail a Rorschach test
- function_seven 6y ago
  This is too funny. Reminds me of that time the psychologist kept showing me pictures of my parents fighting. She insisted that they were just blots of ink. I'm not sure what she was playing at.
- hcknwscommenter 6y ago
  But that's not failing the test. The point is that you are supposed to see it as A or B, and that will give the test administrator insight into your viewpoint.
- tedunangst 6y ago
  Here's another test: A Maybe it's A, maybe it's B. Oh, you only see an A? Fail.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

ocdtrekkie 6y ago

I recall reading that basically, unlike most other cars, where a 2018 Toyota Camry XLE can be reasonably expected to have X configuration, every Tesla is pretty much serial-number-specific from a service standpoint, because of the ridiculous number of mid-model iterations Tesla is doing on their fleet. A big part of their hesitation to allow outside service is probably the fact that any given Tesla may have any number of slight adjustments that require slightly different parts or repair tactics, and they don't really want to publicly admit how many different variations of everything there is. You can see in these pictures that in addition to them using some stock wood trim pieces... those wood trim pieces differ a bit from car to car. One would hope if the materials used between these cars differ, that their system knows this, in case one approach proves to be defective or dangerous, and they need to track down every car that they employed this hack in.

taylodl 6y ago
OMG! This isn't a joke? Part of the reason you want uniformity is so you can learn what kinds of problems your customers are going to run into and your service personnel understand how to resolve them. If every Tesla is essentially unique then they've gone straight back to the 18th century! Wow!
- dariusj18 6y ago
  But what if they can iterate and fix the problems on the next car on the line. That's an advancement, as long as all the differences are well documented, it should be a step forward in car manufacturing and repair.
  - xienze 6y ago
    > as long as all the differences are well documented Yeah, I’m gonna stop you right there. I have serious doubts a company that sees no problem with making a quick Home Depot run for some faux wood trim in order to get a car out the door is meticulously documenting all their little hacks.
    - dariusj18 6y ago
      I would be surprised if they didn't. Especially if they already have processes for documenting per serial number.
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > But what if they can iterate and fix the problems on the next car on the line. Cars aren't software; to do that with cars without large identical (by intent) production runs (to control for process noise) it would seem like you would need extraordinary process control (and every indication I've seen has that Tesla varies from incumbents in the opposite direction), otherwise you are chasing process noise.

slg 6y ago

The purpose of these pieces of fake wood appears to be to spread out the stress from the strap. I have no idea whether this method is any more likely to fail than a purposely designed part or what the dangers are if this does fail, but that isn't a particularly complicated or demanding task. It is possible that a purposely designed part would provide no real benefit over this seemingly hacky solution. If that is the case, why not go this route if it makes assembling things easier? I have no idea the risk/reward equation here. I am guessing most people voting and commenting here have no idea the risk/reward equation. My comment was only pointing at that lots of people are going to have an opinion on this that is mostly dictated by their previous assumptions about Tesla as a company.

craftinator 6y ago

I see it from both sides, and I think a person's view of this type of hack all comes down to trust. Do you trust that some engineers at Tesla needed a solution to a problem, modelled it out, did some materials testing and discovered that this plastic panelling was the right material for this job? It does look bad because it's obviously not produced by Tesla, but so many parts are outsourced already in car manufacturing, this could be a solid engineering choice that's getting some bad publicity. Of course, it could also be because some intern was tasked at solving a design problem and slapped this together overnight, and no one ever checked his work, and it went into production. Alllll about trust.

rsynnott 6y ago
> Do you trust that some engineers at Tesla needed a solution to a problem, modelled it out, did some materials testing and discovered that this plastic panelling was the right material for this job? That would be more credible if it was the same in all cars; it is not (see the source).
- themaninthedark 6y ago
  It not just not the same in each car but the pieces have rough cut edges and each piece is a different length. I would hope a production fix would at least buy a saw with a stop so that it looks standard.
hcknwscommenter 6y ago
"slapped this together overnight" IMHO, I doubt they spent even that much time on it, and that is what worries me.

timerol 6y ago

>> This is a Rorschach test that shows preconceived views depending on whether you interpret it as A or B. > I have no preconceived notions, but this is clearly A. I honestly can't understand how anyone can see this as anything but A. Congrats, you've failed the test. Earlier today I didn't realize it was possible to fail a Rorschach test

function_seven 6y ago
This is too funny. Reminds me of that time the psychologist kept showing me pictures of my parents fighting. She insisted that they were just blots of ink. I'm not sure what she was playing at.
hcknwscommenter 6y ago
But that's not failing the test. The point is that you are supposed to see it as A or B, and that will give the test administrator insight into your viewpoint.
tedunangst 6y ago
Here's another test: A Maybe it's A, maybe it's B. Oh, you only see an A? Fail.