Here’s how I interpret Sandy’s assessment.
1. He likely got an earlier M3, which had some inconsistent panel gaps. Which is a fair criticism if the model he received was an earlier built. We saw these same types of problems in early MS and MX, both cars eventually got passed their earlier built quality issues and Tesla was able to ramp with more consistency. Having own an earlier model S myself, I did not have any issues with panel gaps in my car. I also have several friends who own Tesla’s, no complain from them neither. To me this is an easy issue to iron out and Tesla might have already passed the initial stages of panel gap teething issues. I’m also seeing very satisfied M3 owners and very few panel gap complaints on the M3 forum, YouTube reviews, etc. as time progresses.
2. Tesla’s battery and overall technology is far and ahead everyone else, Sandy thinks they surpassed all competitors including BMW, LG chem, Samsung, etc. hands down no contest. “Ignore Tesla’s batteries and tech. at your own peril.” This is the most important component of the interview to me.
3. Here’s where I would ding Sandy for his assessment. He admits that the suspension is one of the best he’s seen in the industry “F1 prince” was the term he used to describe Tesla’s suspension design. However, although he criticized Tesla for not using standardized components to build the suspension, yet he managed to praise Tesla for having one of the best suspensions in the industry. This sounds to me like someone who hasn’t really understood the overall design/functionality of the M3? Maybe Tesla could build it lighter, who knows, what counts is that he’s super impressed by the suspension.
4. Robotics. He may or may not be correct about robotics being “too dumb” to complete certain tasks. This might be where software can give Tesla an advantage. Although he’s competent, I think he’s the type of guy to throw judgement before learning from others. He reminds me of Bob Lutz, the guy who said “the Falcon wing is unmanufacturable.” Or “They can’t do it like that...” etc. and here’s the kicker, he hasn’t seen the M3 line yet and is guessing along the way.
5. Weight: he criticizes the weight of the M3 body, but neglects the safety rating of what this potential weight can yield in a safety crash test. I would wait until the M3 goes through safety testing before passing judgement on weight. He also admitted he doesn’t know “about crash worthiness” of the M3 build. “It’s different than anything I’ve ever seen, there’s panels and I don’t know why they’re there...” was his exact quote. To be fair, this might be a learning curve for Tesla as well. But I’m betting there’s a reason behind those panels. He thinks “maybe they hired someone who thinks they need to run the car over with a tank.” Well maybe, Elon designed it to be THE safest car, ill wait for NHTSA on this one.
6. He thinks the M3 is a “magnificent sexy” car. He seems to be very impressed with the tech, and think the Detroit boys are in trouble if they ignore the technology. “This is not the let’s get the boys to roll up their sleeves” [to beat Tesla], “this is not that type of rolling up your sleeves, we saw components we’ve never seen before” in the processor. It’s going to take Detroit a lot of time, effort and money to catch up.
In short, I think the panel gap issue is an easy fix. Robotics might not be as easy, but we’re witnessimg the M3 ramp happening now, so Tesla’s doing something right and Sandy should really visit Nummi before passing judgment. He did acknowledge that he can’t figure out how Tesla put their batteries together to perfection. So there’s clearly robotic components/software he hasn’t seen yet. This is likely going to be Tesla’s moat.
