Tesla posts big loss, cuts production of Models X and S to catch up on Model 3

Post by vkou » Thu, Nov 02, 2017, 5:48 PM UTC

prostoalex wrote: post #217

rootusrootus wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how valuable that charging network will end up being long-term. With the Bolt delivering 238 miles of range, and that number likely to go up some more in the next few years, it seems like a fairly small niche of people that actually benefit from superchargers. Especially as the number of end-point chargers increases. Which isn't to say that it won't be a valuable marketing tool, however -- range anxiety is d…

For one, Tesla superchargers in NorCal and SoCal are insanely busy, with lines and valets during busy hours, so the usage is definitely there. Head over to TeslaMotorsClub forums or Facebook group for owners to witness the mini-dramas playing out regarding hogged supercharger spots. For two, if someone is considering buying a new car, and their daily commute is 3 miles each way, but once a year they take a 200-mile r…

Post by coolspot » Thu, Nov 02, 2017, 6:24 PM UTC

Someone wrote: post #226

mcbrit wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If you can do burst runs of 15 km/hour, that doesn’t mean you can run a three hour marathon." Once you're in 3 hour marathon territory, what you can do for 1 mile is a lot more relevant to what you can do for 26.2 miles than you might think. One of the tent poles of effective marathon/half marathon training is to make your race pace into a drumbeat. You want to feel your race pace in your bones. Very effective worko…

”In Q3, we delivered […] 222 Model 3 vehicles” Assuming they didn’t produce a lot more than they delivered, if they had even one week in which they produced 500 Model 3s, they also must have had weeks in which they destroyed them.

Post by Animats » Thu, Nov 02, 2017, 6:44 PM UTC

semi-extrinsic wrote: post #232

Animats wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most auto production lines produce nearly 500 cars per shift . Normal cycle times in an auto plant are about one minute. Here's a Mercedes production line.[1] That's a vehicle on a par with Tesla's products. Something is terribly wrong in Fremont. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbfTlwm248k

That E-class production line video is interesting, it's basically the same assembly strategy Tesla uses: all bits of the engine, drivetrain, suspension etc. is assembled into a "skateboard" in one line, while the body gets fitted with all the trim, interior, doors etc. on another line and then dropped onto the skateboard (which you see from 6:30 and out in the video). If Tesla is stuck on a battery bottleneck it's ju…

Post by rasz » Thu, Nov 02, 2017, 7:29 PM UTC

williamscales wrote: post #10

chollida1 wrote: post #3

Since this came out as part of the Tesla earnings, here's my recap from their earnings release and call.... - Tesla will be late getting up to 5,000 units a week of Model 3. It will happen at the end of Q1 instead of the end of this year. The bottleneck is batteries. - Some lines are at only 500 cars a week. Namely the battery pack assembly, body shop welding and final vehicle assembly. - The $2.92 a share loss was m…

"key elements" of the battery module assembly had to be taken over and redesigned, Musk says. Tesla seems to be taking the opposite approach to Apple here. In my observation, Apple drives its suppliers extremely hard to achieve the quality it requires. Tesla, on the other hand, is too eager to bring any sundry part in house (e.g. car seats). Apple's approach appears to work in that it pushes suppliers to do what's ne…

Post by marvin » Thu, Nov 02, 2017, 8:16 PM UTC

avs733 wrote: post #287

pwinnski wrote: post #2

The first two zones of a four-zone process to produce battery packs are being completely reworked, and this is something they only found out about after they were already failing to deliver on promised production goals? I've mis-estimated a lot of things in my career, so I'm trying to be sympathetic, but it seems like someone with production line experience should have been able to test individual parts of the produc…

So I apologize that this is basically assertion based and vague but I need to protect friends a little bit. I went to undergrad for mechanical engineering at a university generally known for turning out good auto industry engineers. A few years out of school (maybe 2010-11?) I noticed a lot of my alumni friends were starting to move from places like Honda, Toyota, GM, etc. to Tesla. These were the friends I would gen…