5 ms·

I mean, there are a lot of good reasons to question Tesla's valuation, but the panel gaps is a weird one. Tesla has accomplished putting together the best mass

I mean, there are a lot of good reasons to question Tesla's valuation, but the panel gaps is a weird one. Tesla has accomplished putting together the best mass market electric vehicle and selling it for a profit (with government incentives, albeit). There are a LOT of people who can figure out panel gaps. There are not a lot of people who can figure out how to make the economics and supply chain for electric cars work. The fact that they haven't made that a priority speaks to Tesla's priorities, not their abilities.

falcolas 6y ago
It seems like a perfectly fine one to me. It's a signal that alerts us to a lack of attention to detail in assembly. For doors, it's not a deal breaker, but for the electronics installation or windows or brakes, a lack of attention to detail can be catastrophic.
- HotVector 6y ago
  I just realized, now that you said this, that the doors may not be the only parts with gaps
- Hamuko 6y ago
  They definitely had issues with the central screens bricking because of the eMMC failing due to excessive writes.
  - milesvp 6y ago
    This is my current nightmare. I’m writing firmware for a flash chip for a consumer product and I’m totally paranoid about getting into some situation that triggers enough writes to brick the item :(
- jsight 6y ago
  From interacting with other owners, I'd say there's little chance of that. I see a few anecdotal reports of major issues, but no more frequently than I've seen with some other major brands. Although there are way more horror stories in dealing with service than there should be. They are really hard to contact and communicate with.
  - falcolas 6y ago
    That's quite an extrapolation from what is likely to be a statistically insignificant number of data points. If you interacted with a vast majority (including the majority that doesn't post on internet forums) of Tesla owners, this extrapolation might be valid. But I really feel like it's safe to assume that you don't.
omgwtfbyobbq 6y ago
I agree. If it was impairing their ability to sell cars, I imagine they would address it.
SV_BubbleTime 6y ago
> There are a LOT of people who can figure out panel gaps. I work in the industry. There are less people to do this than you think. Talk to anyone at GM and there is a good chance they at some point in their career worked for Ford or Chrysler or Toyota or Diamler or Tada or Fiat etc. There is a lot of employee and information exchange that goes one. Tesla is very small and outside of MI/IL/OH and miss a bit of this. Plus I suspect that Tesla wants their own way of doing things and “the guy that handled fog lights” from Ford Trucks for 15 years only knows TeamCenter and CATIA and that might not fit well at Tesla (I have no idea really, just assuming Tesla doesn’t use the same systems as legacy mfgs). I think the biggest issue most people overlook is that “it’s hard to build cars”. That there is a ridiculous amount of “boring” engineering in boring cars to make sure they wont be service costs until the warranty is up. Tesla came in building an electrical system that had seats and a steering wheel, so they are just getting around to doing those little mundane things like fundamentals of modern vehicle body assembly.

falcolas 6y ago

It seems like a perfectly fine one to me. It's a signal that alerts us to a lack of attention to detail in assembly. For doors, it's not a deal breaker, but for the electronics installation or windows or brakes, a lack of attention to detail can be catastrophic.

HotVector 6y ago
I just realized, now that you said this, that the doors may not be the only parts with gaps
Hamuko 6y ago
They definitely had issues with the central screens bricking because of the eMMC failing due to excessive writes.
- milesvp 6y ago
  This is my current nightmare. I’m writing firmware for a flash chip for a consumer product and I’m totally paranoid about getting into some situation that triggers enough writes to brick the item :(
jsight 6y ago
From interacting with other owners, I'd say there's little chance of that. I see a few anecdotal reports of major issues, but no more frequently than I've seen with some other major brands. Although there are way more horror stories in dealing with service than there should be. They are really hard to contact and communicate with.
- falcolas 6y ago
  That's quite an extrapolation from what is likely to be a statistically insignificant number of data points. If you interacted with a vast majority (including the majority that doesn't post on internet forums) of Tesla owners, this extrapolation might be valid. But I really feel like it's safe to assume that you don't.

omgwtfbyobbq 6y ago

I agree. If it was impairing their ability to sell cars, I imagine they would address it.

SV_BubbleTime 6y ago

> There are a LOT of people who can figure out panel gaps. I work in the industry. There are less people to do this than you think. Talk to anyone at GM and there is a good chance they at some point in their career worked for Ford or Chrysler or Toyota or Diamler or Tada or Fiat etc. There is a lot of employee and information exchange that goes one. Tesla is very small and outside of MI/IL/OH and miss a bit of this. Plus I suspect that Tesla wants their own way of doing things and “the guy that handled fog lights” from Ford Trucks for 15 years only knows TeamCenter and CATIA and that might not fit well at Tesla (I have no idea really, just assuming Tesla doesn’t use the same systems as legacy mfgs). I think the biggest issue most people overlook is that “it’s hard to build cars”. That there is a ridiculous amount of “boring” engineering in boring cars to make sure they wont be service costs until the warranty is up. Tesla came in building an electrical system that had seats and a steering wheel, so they are just getting around to doing those little mundane things like fundamentals of modern vehicle body assembly.