Change from alcantara to cloth on PUP???

[stayfocus18]

Sure. I'll take some more tomorrow when I get a chance. I had taken some but realized it had my home address on the nav screen. Anything in particular you'd like to see?

pillars and visors.... thanks in advance

 

[dhanson865]

I have not heard ONE non-Latino person, not a one, pronounce “Alcantara” correctly anyway.

If almost no one in the entire Tesla universe has taken the trouble to even learn how to say “Alcantara” properly, then it’s good riddance to bad, Anglo-centric, ear-grating mis-pronunciation.

It’s from the Spanish, Al-CAHN-ta-ruh, and not that blackboard scraping, “Al-can-TA-ra.”

Say it properly or don’t get it at all.

 

[Sportstick]

Every design engineer should work in the MRB at least once in their career. It would make them better design engineers. And on the line. Lots of knowledge to be had there. You would have been one of the people I wanted to see in design transfer meetings - you knew where the dirt was.

(And letting this thread go off topic for a little bit might be for the best. Pretty sure the topic has been beat to death. We all need a breather.)

Completely agree. As Product Planners, we were brought to spend time (although we couldn't work....UAW issue) in the plants to see firsthand what the product complexity we created resulted in on the plant floor, and how it affected quality. There is nothing to substitute for (at least) seeing what goes on at the frontline.

 

[TEG]

Another (small) hammer I expect to see fall is if/when they substitute tire brands... I want Michellins on my 18” wheels... I trust that brand. Will people be upset if their car is the first to get Hankooks ?

 

[Garlan Garner]

Another (small) hammer I expect to see fall is if/when they substitute tire brands... I want Michellins on my 18” wheels... I trust that brand. Will people be upset if their car is the first to get Hankooks ?

I don't think so ..... because its a changeable item.

 

[Az_Rael]

Another (small) hammer I expect to see fall is if/when they substitute tire brands... I want Michellins on my 18” wheels... I trust that brand. Will people be upset if their car is the first to get Hankooks ?

I think more people are less concerned with tires since you can just get your favorite tires at your next change. I currently have the Continentals on my 3, and I am not a Continental fan, as I prefer Michelins. So will be changing those out once they wear down.

 

[TQCLove]

Completely agree. As Product Planners, we were brought to spend time (although we couldn't work....UAW issue) in the plants to see firsthand what the product complexity we created resulted in on the plant floor, and how it affected quality. There is nothing to substitute for (at least) seeing what goes on at the frontline.

I have found my people!
Process Planner here (official title: Industrial Specialist, fancy right? Lol). Love reading comments from people who know about production.
@Sportstick @bonnie

 

[Krugerrand]

There isn’t anyone getting a model 3 for $35,000 as those are not available. There is no comparison between a 3 and an S so they didn’t need to cut features from the production 3’s shown to the public. The one we have coming is over $60,000 out the door and it doesn’t even have a dash display. Anyone who thinks they are in the same class with the S is fooling themselves or haven’t driven one. They sold cars based on those cars shown. We have a S and an X and like those cars but when the premium 3 is close to the price of a base S after discounts you shouldn’t cheapen the quality below what they displayed.

As someone who has driven a Model 3 and as someone who has read a number of posts by people who’ve driven one/own one many of us feel the Model 3 is a better car than the S. There’s some reality for you. And we’d still consider it a better car regardless of the interior cloth choice.

Nobody seems to have considered that maybe the alcantara was meant just for the employees who have worked their butts off to get this car into production and then bought the first couple thousand to make sure the rest of customers didn’t have any major issues to contend with (as happened to some when S and X first came out).

As has been said (not so much in this thread as in the other thread), if this is a dealbreaker for you then you have the choice to cancel your reservation and get your deposit back. It’s all good and it the scheme of life this is a ridiculous thing to get bent out of shape about. Certainly express your displeasure to Tesla via the channels they offer but 36 pages now...I’ve gone back in time to 2013 on TMC.

 

[DarkMatter]

Since we don't know, it's even possible the Alcantara was used because the fabric was not yet ready for production.

 

[Sunshine State]

As someone who has driven a Model 3 and as someone who has read a number of posts by people who’ve driven one/own one many of us feel the Model 3 is a better car than the S. There’s some reality for you. And we’d still consider it a better car regardless of the interior cloth choice.

Nobody seems to have considered that maybe the alcantara was meant just for the employees who have worked their butts off to get this car into production and then bought the first couple thousand to make sure the rest of customers didn’t have any major issues to contend with (as happened to some when S and X first came out).

As has been said (not so much in this thread as in the other thread), if this is a dealbreaker for you then you have the choice to cancel your reservation and get your deposit back. It’s all good and it the scheme of life this is a ridiculous thing to get bent out of shape about. Certainly express your displeasure to Tesla via the channels they offer but 36 pages now...I’ve got back in time to 2013 on TMC.

I would consider that alcantara was only for employees if that was the case but the alcantara cars were given to auto journalists for public reviews that the sole purpose of the reviews were to benefit Tesla by generating sales. I would hope Tesla has the ability to know how many employees they have and could have only sold the alcantara to them. The alcantara equipped cars have also been sold to the general public and those sales have been publicized by Tesla. Tesla clearly knew those cars would have been the most publicized and they helped the public know by pushing PR about the arrivals. Tesla was quite clear in displaying very detailed photos of the premium upgrade interior materials, in fact the pics seem to highlight the alcantara in the Tesla website photos. I wouldn’t be surprised if the photos were actually photoshopped to brighten the alcantara as any good advertisement has details enhanced to showcase the qualities they are looking to push. I can’t believe anyone who is familiar with high end autos really feel this new change is anything but a downgrade from what was advertised and publicized for promotional purposes. Some buyer may not mind but that isn’t the point, it is still a downdrade. Before we configured our first 3 we drove a production 3 (also with the premium package exactly as Tesla had promoted it) and it was a decent car, clearly not up to an S but very decent for a lower lever car.

 

[insaneoctane]

• Lot of replies in this thread because it irked a LOT of people
• Principley, this is about lack of communication /transparency about something people cared about far more than Tesla assumed
• Even if you didn't care about the headliner material yourself, it opens the door for Tesla to change something else that you DO care about (glass roof coating, door trim, steering wheel diameter, 15" panel quality, etc) without consequence. Don't discount the grievance just because it does not impact you this time
• Tesla does not seem to care. They really should address this regardless of whether or not they are going to try and fix it. To think calling this just part of the plan all along ignores your customers reactions. If this were 1% of their customers, fine, but it's closer to 30%. If they are willing to fix it, say that. If they are not, say that and justify it ("early feedback on first run production cars highlighted a need to improve the (durability) (color consistency) (feel) of the headliner to meet our quality expectations" .... OR, "after exhausting our limited supply of ultrasuede, our engineers specified an alternative, equally high quality textile alternative that we incorrectly thought all our customers would consider an acceptable substitution" . Communication

 

[bonnie]

I would consider that alcantara was only for employees if that was the case but the alcantara cars were given to auto journalists for public reviews that the sole purpose of which was to benefit Tesla by generating sales. I would hope Tesla has the ability to know how many employees they have and could have only sold the alcantara to them. The alcantara equipped cars have also been sold to the general public and those sales have been publicized by Tesla. Tesla clearly knew those cars would have been the most publicized and they helped the public know by pushing PR about the arrivals. Tesla was quite clear in displaying very detailed photos of the premium upgrade interior materials, in fact they almost highlighted the alcantara in the photos. I wouldn’t be surprised if the photos were actually photoshopped to brighten the alcantara as any good advertisement has details enhanced to showcase the qualities they are looking to push.

Very few journalists received a car from Tesla for public reviews. Most reviewed a privately-owned Model 3. I really don't think Tesla sat in meetings and strategized to hoodwink people. It's far more likely that a certain amount of Alcantara was purchased, knowing that textile would be the long term choice. (And Alcantara could be because of employees, because of different lead time, whatever.) And the group responsible for customer comms was totally unaware.

I'd say the most likely scenario is there was a breakdown between the folks who specify for the supply chain and the customer comms folks. Not deliberate, but a mistake just the same. And I'm sure one that is surely being rectified.

 

[Sunshine State]

Since we don't know, it's even possible the Alcantara was used because the fabric was not yet ready for production.

You may be right, so by the same standard we can surmise that they may be using electric propulsion now until the diesel engine is ready.

 

[Sunshine State]

Very few journalists received a car from Tesla for public reviews. Most reviewed a privately-owned Model 3. I really don't think Tesla sat in meetings and strategized to hoodwink people. It's far more likely that a certain amount of Alcantara was purchased, knowing that textile would be the long term choice. (And Alcantara could be because of employees, because of different lead time, whatever.) And the group responsible for customer comms was totally unaware.

I'd say the most likely scenario is there was a breakdown between the folks who specify for the supply chain and the customer comms folks. Not deliberate, but a mistake just the same. And I'm sure one that is surely being rectified.

You are not being realistic about the product for public review. Tesla had a huge public unveiling with invitations going out to whatever journalist that blogs or writes about Tesla products favorably. There were a huge number of journalists there to review.

 

[DarkMatter]

You may be right, so by the same standard we can surmise that they may be using electric propulsion now until the diesel engine is ready.

I don't see how this adds to the discussion.

 

[bonnie]

You are not being realistic about the product for public review. Tesla had a huge public unveiling with invitations going out to whatever journalist that blogs or writes about Tesla products favorably. There were a huge number of journalists there to review.

I should have been more clear. As far as I know, very few journalists received a production Model 3 for review. Perhaps you're referring to the Model 3 reveal a couple years back? Those were preproduction vehicles. It's common for things to change between a reveal and the launch. (Just ask me about Model X .

If I missed a recent event for journalists, I apologize. It's entirely possible. I just saw so many complaining they couldn't get a car to review.

 

[metier]

Very few journalists received a car from Tesla for public reviews. Most reviewed a privately-owned Model 3. I really don't think Tesla sat in meetings and strategized to hoodwink people. It's far more likely that a certain amount of Alcantara was purchased, knowing that textile would be the long term choice. (And Alcantara could be because of employees, because of different lead time, whatever.) And the group responsible for customer comms was totally unaware.

I'd say the most likely scenario is there was a breakdown between the folks who specify for the supply chain and the customer comms folks. Not deliberate, but a mistake just the same. And I'm sure one that is surely being rectified.

If textile was the long term plan then why are/were all photos of the interior on the web site Alcantara. And what company in their right mind would build 1500 cars or so with one material then switch to another material

 

[phil0909]

If a tolerance can be +- .1 and the engineer, in order to complete a stackup analysis quickly, specifies +-.01, that tolerance is too tight and drives up manufacturing costs.

What tolerance level allows acceptance of "premium textile" as alcantara?

 

[bonnie]

What tolerance level allows acceptance of "premium textile" as alcantara?

It was an example in reply to another post - we weren't talking about Alcantara. Context.

 

[bonnie]

If textile was the long term plan then why are/were all photos of the interior on the web site Alcantara. And what company in their right mind would build 1500 cars or so with one material then switch to another material

One that probably failed to communicate properly internally between groups.