It feels to me like there is a symmetry of arrogance here.
Traditional car companies are finding that making an electric car is hard (emphasis on electric)
Tesla is finding that making an electric car is hard (emphasis on car)
Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW
131–140 of 460 posts
Re: Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW
#132Article praises Tesla's custom AI chip. It is something many criticize as a waste of development resources, while they could have used off-the-shelf components for the same task. Tesla's real advantage is their battery production. No one else can compete with them on battery price or production volume at a similar quality: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/10/teslas-competitors-play-catc...
> they could have used off-the-shelf components for the same task. They did use off-the-shelf components. They performed poorly and they resulted to developing a custom die with the right components to handle the task of computer vision. They explicitly stated this in multiple interviews. The off-the-shelf solution was crap.
What was wrong with using FPGAs?
Re: Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW
#133Realistically though, Tesla will got bought out by one of these larger companies, so they can integrate (while undoubtedly making worse) the underlying tech. Tesla hasn’t show any capacity to deliver quality cars at scale, nor provide service to them, whatever their ambitions. Combined with all their SEC problems, it’s reminiscent of Preston Tucker’s car company: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_Tucker
Tesla sold 367,500 cars in 2019
(as of mid-January) Tesla's market capitalization is $93 billion, compared to $50 billion for General Motors and $37 billion for Ford
No other car company is going to be buying them out unless they crash very very badly
Re: Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
When was the last time you went and looked? Build quality has improved substantially since first Model 3 deliveries.
Just saw a 2020 top spec model 3 that still has a few misaligned gaps and bunching seals in the doors. The leather around the back where it was punched out is creased. It's a great car, but the for and finish sadly still has a ways to go.
Yea, Tesla is selling cars sight unseen which makes minor cosmetic issues a very low priority for them. It says less about build quality than their sales model.
Personally I doubt most customers notice or care, but it’s an obvious thing to criticize.
Re: Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW
#135Article praises Tesla's custom AI chip. It is something many criticize as a waste of development resources, while they could have used off-the-shelf components for the same task. Tesla's real advantage is their battery production. No one else can compete with them on battery price or production volume at a similar quality: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/10/teslas-competitors-play-catc...
Battery production seems like a problem that can be solved right now with money. VW and Toyota could partner with a 3rd party (like Tesla and Panasonic) and build factories. Custom silicon seems like a much harder problem for VM/Toyota. Unless a supplier can build something for them I don’t see either company innovating like Tesla. Basically Tesla’s secret sauce is the Tech not the EV components.
> Custom silicon seems like a much harder problem for VM/Toyota
Nvidia built a custom chip for Nintendo, I'm sure they would build one for Toyota or VW.
Re: Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW
#136Everyone is good at something. Tesla is good at electronics, Toyota is good at manufacturing and quality control. A collaboration would be beneficial for both.
A Toyota-Tesla collaboration would never happen, except that it did. We live in a truly strange world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4_EV#Second_generati...
Re: Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW
#137Article praises Tesla's custom AI chip. It is something many criticize as a waste of development resources, while they could have used off-the-shelf components for the same task. Tesla's real advantage is their battery production. No one else can compete with them on battery price or production volume at a similar quality: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/10/teslas-competitors-play-catc...
> they could have used off-the-shelf components for the same task. They did use off-the-shelf components. They performed poorly and they resulted to developing a custom die with the right components to handle the task of computer vision. They explicitly stated this in multiple interviews. The off-the-shelf solution was crap.
AI/ML components change rapidly. What happens if they decide to use an entirely different approach. They develop a new chip? Still seems excessive to develop custom chips for unfinished/experimental tech like self-driving: https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/24/18514308/tesla-full-self-...
Re: Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW
#138I fail to see how a custom AI computer will "invalidate the supply chain".
It's not like Tesla manufactured the chips and components in house unless I'm not aware that Tesla now has its own PCBA and component factory.
Re: Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW
#139This is grand, apart from the build quality of the mechanics is ~10 years behind. Go to a tesla showroom, Look at the doors of the model three. Note that they don't line up. Look at the paint job, notice that there are bumps and chips, especailly on the edges of the doors. This is on a _demo_ car, stuck in a showroom. these should be perfect. Even a budget Kia has better build quality than this. Its not the isolated…
I think you’re missing the point of what consumers find valuable about Tesla cars. It’s not the body or fancy interiors. The tech is what people want and because of that, cosmetic issues is an ok tradeoff. Of course, as other companies catch up on the Tech side, they’ll need to fix those issues, but they’ve got time.
Re: Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW
#140This is grand, apart from the build quality of the mechanics is ~10 years behind. Go to a tesla showroom, Look at the doors of the model three. Note that they don't line up. Look at the paint job, notice that there are bumps and chips, especailly on the edges of the doors. This is on a _demo_ car, stuck in a showroom. these should be perfect. Even a budget Kia has better build quality than this. Its not the isolated…
The power of marketing is incredible. No one else could get away with Tesla quality at luxury pricing, but they sell vehicles.
Oh yeah, they are at VW level regarding marketing!