[bro1999]

Reuters - Build fast, fix later: speed hurts quality at Tesla, some workers say

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...ality-at-tesla-some-workers-say-idUSKBN1DT0N3

"The luxury cars regularly require fixes before they can leave the factory, according to the workers. Quality checks have routinely revealed defects in more than 90 percent of Model S and Model X vehicles inspected after assembly, these individuals said, citing figures from Tesla’s internal tracking system as recently as October. Some of these people told Reuters of seeing problems as far back as 2012."

At Tesla “so much goes into rework after the car is done ... that’s where their money is being spent,” a former Tesla supervisor said.

There's Tesla "quality" for you. Those poor saps that receive the cars that don't get inspected before they get shipped to customers.
Explains the dozens of Teslas, including Model 3s, stashed away in that random garage in SoCal, doesn't it?

"Trickier cases head to one of Tesla’s outdoor parking lots to await repair. The backlog in one of those two lots, dubbed the “yard,” has exceeded 2,000 vehicles at times, workers told Reuters. "

 

[Norton]

I'm sure this does not reflect on the Model 3.
Any day now they will be turning the automated production line up to "11", 11,000 cars a month!
It's truly Superlative !!

 

[bro1999]

I'm sure this does not reflect on the Model 3.
Any day now they will be turning the automated production line up to "11", 11,000 cars a month!
It's truly Superlative !!

Yep, they'll flip the switch at the factory to "Maximum Plaid" any day now. Lol

 

[DonC]

Not exactly a news flash. This has been a consistent problem. It was vividly illustrated in the movie about the revenge of the electric car. I fear this won't change until Musk is out of the loop on production, and given his personality which makes him unable to truly delegate, and the financial situation, which makes him critical to the survival of the company, that isn't likely to happen.

The "hurry up and fix it later" approach is quite normal for Silicon Valley but not so suitable for established large companies, and certainly not suitable for large scale manufacturing. That was the lesson the US manufacturers learned from their Japanese competitors.

 

[jcanoe]

Gung Ho

Maybe Tesla has taken a page out of the Gung Ho playbook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om3C1EpHLGs&t=2s

 

[Upper5Percent]

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) said its quality control process is unusually rigorous, designed to flag and correct the tiniest imperfections. It declined to provide post-assembly defect rates to Reuters or comment on those cited by employees.

Tesla fires back at claims that its cars suffer from major quality issues
http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-denies-claims-its-cars-suffer-from-quality-issues-2017-11

 

[Mister Dave]

Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) said its quality control process is unusually rigorous, designed to flag and correct the tiniest imperfections.

Ridiculous.

This one was painted over and delivered to a customer. He was the first to spot it.

 

[Steverino]

If GM pumped out $18k cars with defect rates like this, they would be pilloried. But if you have spent upwards of $120k, maybe you'll live with defects that an econo-box buyer would reject.

The current very slow, boutique production line (if you can call making tens of cars "production") is resulting in defective, misaligned Model 3s. When the Model 3 production is cranked up to a Plaid rate of 5,000/week, if quality stays where it is (poor), what will the market say?