Posted on 06/05/2018 8:54:52 AM PDT by george76
Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s attacks against “sanctimonious journalists” and “divisive” unions have captured the public’s attention in recent weeks, but Musk has bigger problems on his hands: His automaker has struggled to deliver on the promise of a mass-market fully electric car, the Model 3 sedan.
When Musk delivered the first Model 3s last year, he jokingly warned customers and employees that the firm would be entering “production hell.”
But according to several former Tesla insiders, it’s not a joke.
Cars built by hand, fires that turned a paint sprayer into a flamethrower, rampant quality problems, and a bloated workforce plague the factory, the insiders say. That’s on top of an injury rate that Reveal News reports is higher than the industry average, with shocking examples.
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a recently filed lawsuit on behalf of Tesla shareholders accuses the company of securities fraud, alleging management misrepresented Tesla’s ability to begin mass-production of Model 3s in 2017. The lawsuit cites more than 10 former employees to support the allegation that Musk and other top Tesla executives either knew, or were reckless in not knowing, their claims were false. Tesla filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying it spoke about the challenges publicly in “frank and plain language” like “production hell.”
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More than 90 percent of new Model S and X vehicles contained defects requiring rework, Reuters reported in November, citing nine current and former employees. Two sources told The Daily Beast they estimate approximately 90 percent of all vehicles have required repair or rework at Tesla’s “end of line” stations.
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anything greater than 5 percent of vehicles needing rework would be a cause for serious concern.
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shutdowns and snafus regularly cost valuable production time caused by lack of maintenance.
Most dramatically, it has resulted in fires.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
So that's where that out-of-the-blue idea for a flamethrower came from. Lemons and lemonade.
So let me see, people who have been fired or otherwise parted from Tesla, now speak ill of the company.
Be still my heart...
Elon Musk rediscovers GM 1960s build quality.
I saw a great youtube video a while back where a family of four took a skiing trip in their tesla. They were wearing coats in the car because the heater takes a lot of battery power. There were other challenges too.
I see Teslas as great for situations where you do shopping trips, a short commute, or otherwise use your car within an “urban driving distance” and have lots of free recharge stations.
But I don’t see it as a real car. It’s more like a glorified golf cart. I say that as a person that enjoys road trips and has a 150 mile round trip commute.
It’s a great fourth car for a rich guy.
Off Topic; Elon Musk making flamethrowers affordable and available to the general public was a dangerously dumb thing to do. Just wait till all the brush fires start, or private homes get burnt down.
Until then, it’s all a big joke to Elon.
A little boy’s flamethrowing fantasy brought to life.
It’s a great fourth car for a rich guy.
That’s exactly how I see it.
And it is not a particularly large market.
“I see Teslas as great for situations where you do shopping trips, a short commute, or otherwise use your car within an “urban driving distance” and have lots of free recharge stations.”
$35,000-$44,000 is kind of expensive for an urban-only car that’s extremely uncomfortable in hot summers and brutal winters experienced by most of the regions of our country ...
Tesla is a great idea. Mass produce an electric car that is affordable for the masses, however, you don’t think that the current big 3 or 4 car companies can’t do this, and do it better?
I drive a Lexus hybrid RX, leased. Love it. Over the weekend I rented a jeep, (Compass?) that had the same technology. I’ve driven a Tesla. Amazing.
Next car I buy will be all electric.
The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, “You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.”
George Carlin
Yep. That’s why I see it as a fad.
The guy makes cool rockets, though.
He strayed from the Party line so the Beast must punish!
“The guy makes cool rockets, though.”
no doubt about it: best rocket man since Wernher von Braun ...
of course, batteries are WAY harder than rockets ...
Auto plant not working??? Look over here at spaceX. SpaceX not flying? Ooooh then look over here at our boring machines. Those aren’t working? Got back to one
Musk has so many fooled. Investors no longer buying it. 3s production is a joke
And they may well have more information than you. The 3s hasn’t got a production projection yet. Orders for that car have been taken with money in place. Where the hell us the product
Add a propane heater! I remember seeing propane refrigerators too. Wait, why don't we just skip the battery and just use propane or natural gas. Or gasoline.
What a joke battery powered cars are.
What a joke battery powered cars are.
They really are a solution looking for a problem.
That being said, when you get a battery that can cram a lot of BTU’s of power into the same space as gasoline, and transfer the power in a filling station just as fast, give me a call.
There are almost no Teslas in that price range. Any current ones are the up-level models that START at $44k. The one Motor Trend got to test was almost $60k. A $38k Chevy Bolt serves the same purpose.
Ping.
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