Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment • Hacker News Board

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#31

Post by robbiep » Sat, May 12, 2018, 1:24 AM UTC

meritt wrote: post #27

ClassyJacket wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, with what information the general public has, this could just as easily be spun as 'Engineering chief takes well deserved break after months of crunch successfully implementing Model 3 mass production.' Even if output production isn't as high as was initially planned, doesn't mean it's a failure.

> successfully implementing Model 3 mass production For comparison on mass production : "more than 15 million Model Ts were manufactured in all, reaching a rate of 9,000 to 10,000 cars a day in 1925, or 2 million annually" [1]. Toyota was producing 13,400 units per day in 2014. Model3 is currently somewhere around 300 to 500 per day. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T

What’s the point of the comparison? Model T manufacture started in 1908 and by the end of 1910 they had produced 12,000. By that comparison, model 3 is crushing it

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#32

Post by meritt » Sat, May 12, 2018, 1:26 AM UTC

robbiep wrote: post #31

meritt wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> successfully implementing Model 3 mass production For comparison on mass production : "more than 15 million Model Ts were manufactured in all, reaching a rate of 9,000 to 10,000 cars a day in 1925, or 2 million annually" [1]. Toyota was producing 13,400 units per day in 2014. Model3 is currently somewhere around 300 to 500 per day. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T

What’s the point of the comparison? Model T manufacture started in 1908 and by the end of 1910 they had produced 12,000. By that comparison, model 3 is crushing it

Ford literally invented the assembly line. Tesla has a century of expertise to learn from. Tesla has also been producing ~2000/wk S&X's for almost two years now; however they just recently (last week of March) exceeded 2,000 3's in a week, 9 months into production.

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#33

Post by heurist » Sat, May 12, 2018, 1:26 AM UTC

meritt wrote: post #27

ClassyJacket wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, with what information the general public has, this could just as easily be spun as 'Engineering chief takes well deserved break after months of crunch successfully implementing Model 3 mass production.' Even if output production isn't as high as was initially planned, doesn't mean it's a failure.

> successfully implementing Model 3 mass production For comparison on mass production : "more than 15 million Model Ts were manufactured in all, reaching a rate of 9,000 to 10,000 cars a day in 1925, or 2 million annually" [1]. Toyota was producing 13,400 units per day in 2014. Model3 is currently somewhere around 300 to 500 per day. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T

Poor examples - Ford produced only the Model T for two decades. Toyota has been around for 80 years.

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#34

Post by olivermarks » Sat, May 12, 2018, 1:27 AM UTC

It may be the looming post accident battery safety realities that has caused this...it's possible a massive recall or worse is in the works for Tesla given the volatility of damaged batteries catching fire repeatedly after accidents. https://electrek.co/2018/05/10/tesla-battery-reignited-days-...

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#35

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 12, 2018, 1:30 AM UTC

master-litty wrote: post #20

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a tragedy - people occasionally need to take breaks to be more productive.

6 weeks is quite the break, personally. Does that increase productivity more than 3 or 4 weeks, for example? Not saying we don't deserve that sort of time off, but it seems somewhat excessive given the circumstances.

[deleted]

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#36

Post by heurist » Sat, May 12, 2018, 1:31 AM UTC

ucaetano wrote: post #14

sunstone wrote: post #2

This timing seems about right to me. Most of the wrinkles appear to be out of the Model 3 production now. Designing the Model Y is about to start. Right now would be the right time to take some well deserved R&R.

Sure, but a 6-week sabbatical in a company struggling to keep up with planned production goals is largely unheard of.

Wasn't Tesla's issue over-automation? Maybe the leave is symbolic of dedication to improving other capabilities - letting the other managers take time to balance things out. I'm sure Field appreciates the break, imposed or not. Startups are hard work and stress causes problems in the rational mind. I've been experiencing that myself, lately...

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#37

Post by [deleted] » Sat, May 12, 2018, 1:54 AM UTC

master-litty wrote: post #20

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a tragedy - people occasionally need to take breaks to be more productive.

6 weeks is quite the break, personally. Does that increase productivity more than 3 or 4 weeks, for example? Not saying we don't deserve that sort of time off, but it seems somewhat excessive given the circumstances.

[deleted]

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#38

Post by wpietri » Sat, May 12, 2018, 2:00 AM UTC

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #18

ucaetano wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but a 6-week sabbatical in a company struggling to keep up with planned production goals is largely unheard of.

Which is a tragedy - people occasionally need to take breaks to be more productive.

Sure, and I think the reason he's taking a 6-week break now is that he failed to take sufficient breaks earlier.

I've burnt out myself, and it's no joke. I wish him only the best. But to me the real risk here isn't "senior leader out for long, possibly indefinite period". It's "Tesla has been running a sprint, not a marathon." If somebody this high up is burnt out, what's it like for everybody else?

Given Tesla's precarious cash position this is the time when they really need for things to go smoothly. But if people are at or near burnout, they'll be making mistakes, cutting corners, etc.

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#39

Post by danso » Sat, May 12, 2018, 2:05 AM UTC

fanzhang wrote: post #5

ggregoire wrote: post #3

Is it normal in America to be in the news when you take some vacations?

I hope not, but I think it's normal for newspapers to maximize revenue by playing up potentially mundane events.

Or maybe Tesla and/or its market position are not mundane.

Re: Tesla’s Engineering Chief Takes Leave of Absence at Pivotal Moment

#40

Post by nikanj » Sat, May 12, 2018, 2:08 AM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #38

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is a tragedy - people occasionally need to take breaks to be more productive.

Sure, and I think the reason he's taking a 6-week break now is that he failed to take sufficient breaks earlier. I've burnt out myself, and it's no joke. I wish him only the best. But to me the real risk here isn't "senior leader out for long, possibly indefinite period". It's "Tesla has been running a sprint, not a marathon." If somebody this high up is burnt out, what's it like for everybody else? Given Tesla's pre…

Silicon valley likes to pretend you can run a marathon in 45 minutes by breaking it into subsequent 100 meter sprints. Dashing without breaks burns people fast.