Build quality: alignment of trunk

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Both the Mitsubishi Evo and Acura NSX came with aluminum body panels and neither of them were known to have any sort of body panel fitment problems at all. Not sure about the prowler, but I wouldn't expect any Chrysler product to rate very well in the build quality dept.

Both the Evo and the previous NSX are relatively boxy, aren't they? Lots of straight lines, atleast where panels meet. Might be easier than the super curvy S?!

 

[Denis Vinnie]

Audi A8 are built of aluminum...fit and finish is outstanding!

 

[Johann Koeber]

Yes, and Audi has plenty years experience with aluminium (please excuse my british accent)

 

[WhiteKnight]

Shows off the gray, black and brown. I assume it's from the LA event

This is the wrong thread (sorry I don't know how to cross-post) but those cars "appeared" to have the same panel gap issues as the other cars. I say "appeared" because it's hard to tell anything without seeing it in person.

 

[spatterso911]

I don't see the famed rear-hatch fit issue though...

 

[jerry33]

The video doesn't really show the hatch panel lines all that much. The longest section at about 35-40 seconds doesn't show the gap at all. The one at 13 seconds might show it a bit but it's very quick and after watching it repeatedly I can see it a bit--but it might be the camera angle/illusion. Someone needs to do a video covering just that aspect.

 

[Robert.Boston]

Yes, and Audi has plenty years experience with aluminium (please excuse my british accent)

{OT aside: a contestant on Jeopardy once lost a pile of money when she gave as her question, "Aluminium Company of America". ALCOA was indeed correct, but she lost because it's a company name and not the name of the metal (which they would have accepted in either the British or American variant).}

 

[FlasherZ]

When I looked at the back ends of the cars at Seattle, I can say there were no obvious alignment issues that I could see. I was looking for them but didn't see anything. Maybe I'm not as much of a perfectionist, or they've tightened them up a bit...

 

[EarlyAdopter]

When I looked at the back ends of the cars at Seattle, I can say there were no obvious alignment issues that I could see. I was looking for them but didn't see anything. Maybe I'm not as much of a perfectionist, or they've tightened them up a bit...

I noticed it a bit on the blue car today, but only because I was explicitly looking for it. Even with it a bit off, it really wasn't a big deal. I don't think you'd notice it unless someone pointed it out, and even then it wasn't like "oh, that looks terrible."

Once I saw it and thought no big deal, I didn't even bother to look for it on the other cars.

This is really much ado about nothing, in my book, as they will no doubt get this dialed in and taken care of in short order (if not already as we speak).

 

[MikeK]

Two conflicting comments from me on this issue.

1) I was at the Palo Alto event this weekend, and the panel fit on the cars that were there (which I think were a subset of the cars we saw in Fremont) were pretty good. I noticed some fit issues with the rear passenger door of the Catalina White car, and a slight trunk misalignment on the blue car, but they were "okay".

Here are two photos of the Catalina White door to illustrate my point. In the first photo, notice how the gap appears uneven. In the second photo, you can see that the gap is much wider at the top of the door, as the door curves back towards the window. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that the door is slightly lower than it should be, which makes the top gap wider while squeezing the gap too close on the lower part of the door.

2) On my drive to work today, I passed a Porsche Panamera. I noticed that it has a rear lift very similar to the Model S, including having a visible seam with a complex curve in it. The fit was outstanding, with no "optical illusion" weird gapping depending upon your viewing angle. It's clearly possible to do this really well. I hope Tesla is continuing to work on it. Here's a photo I found on Autoblogcar.com:

 

[VolkerP]

Yes but it has 4 gaping holes below the rear bumper - I find these really offending.

 

[MikeK]

Yes but it has 4 gaping holes below the rear bumper - I find these really offending.

Indeed!

 

[brianman]

In the Panamera picture, what's the purpose of the seam coming out of the tail lights?

 

[MikeK]

If you mean the one going towards the wheel well, I think that's the separation between sheet metal and the plastic bumper cover.

 

[medved]

Tesla Motors' CEO Discusses Q2 2012 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

Elon Musk

We’re able to stamp everything in house at this point. We’re still tweaking some of the gaps and how well things shut. We really want to set a new industry benchmark for the accuracy of body fit. We don’t want to be second to anyone in this regard. And actually we’re going to keep iterating on that to the limit of what is physically possible. And most people won’t even notice these changes unless they have a very discerning eye. So stamping’s not a problem.

Maybe this is a flaw in my character, but I tend to be pretty perfectionist about these things, and the goal is that we want the car to be so accurate you could use it as a yardstick. You can use it as a calibration device. That’s how I want the car to be.

Now I am more at ease.

 

[AustinPowers]

I see I have something in common with Elon after all. I'm a perfectionist too, and if Tesla really manages to build the Model S to the standards that Elon has specified here (and I'm sure, in his mind he has compared the Model S to the Audi in his garage in terms of fit and finish), then I am VERY at ease.

Especially if after eliminating the exterior fit and finish issues Tesla also manages to achieve a similar level of quality on the interior (missing options / strange mandatory combinations are a different issue though).

 

[malcolm]

Thanks for this quote Medved. Glad to know that Tenacious E is focussed on it.

 

[tray loader]

Elon seems on track:

2012/07/25 Q2 2012 QA Conf Call notes

 

[MikeK]

Well, that quote is just excellent. The only thing that I worry about in that quote is that Elon said that "most people won't even notice" the changes. Maybe I'm not most people, but I've sure noticed things that need fixing with body fit. Anyway, what matters here is that Elon has set industry-leading fit as the bar for success, and that's great news. I will certainly look forward to seeing how the cars look as the Signatures begin to be delivered.

 

[MikeK]

Just stumbled across something interesting completely by accident. Have a look at this video and skip to 3:46. This is a beta car at Santana Row back in October, apparently. Look how much tighter the tolerances are on the trunk of this car, compared to all the cars we're seeing today! This is how the trunk should look, I think, and I hope this is what Elon is talking about when he says that they're working to improve the fit. Hopefully by the time we see Signatures rolling off the line, this is what we'll be seeing.

This video is also fascinating if you ever wondered how in the heck they get the cars into the tight spaces in a showroom.