I think pushing the mainstream launches back would be a wise decision. They've just begun their hard knock education in designing for longevity and reliability

I think pushing the mainstream launches back would be a wise decision. They've just begun their hard knock education in designing for longevity and reliability with the earliest examples of the Model S passing the 2 year mark. Traditional auto manufacturers have decades of experience driving the continual refinement of their designs. These efforts have resulted a general expectation among consumers of unfailing reliability and service life measured in decades. The issues they're experiencing with drive units are troubling but acceptable for most owners who know they bought a bleeding-edge testbed for future technology. My concern is one of time, things move relatively slow in the world of automotive engineering and these issues show Tesla has a lot to learn and a lot to change once they've discovered the points of failure. That kind of time doesn't fit with their expected release schedule and owners won't accept the kinds of failure rates experienced in the Model S in a mass market car.