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How is production going?

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Well the problem with car #2 Martins car isn't really a production issue but a customer service issue. A very negative and not well handled customer service issue, but it has passed production. Their original plan in the blog at Teslamotors pages says they should onto Signature series now, but as someone mentioned anything that means they build fewer cars with drivetrain 1.0 is a good thing for them.

Cobos
 
And you wonder why some TM employees consider this a fairly hostile forum? Have all the conspiracy theories you like but it isn't that they "haven't managed". You can blame it on the issues between TM and Martin or you can take them at their word about the accident. I frankly don't care...but it isn't a question of the ability to deliver a car that has prevented Martin from receiving his yet.

We (sig100) owners have been promised a production update soon. I hope it comes this week.

We were also told a bit ago that they were up to 4 cars per week and increasing that rate fairly quickly. As has been pointed out many times, they are not really in a hurry to get TOO many cars out before the 1.5 drive train is ready.

Either way, I am hoping my car gets produced in Sep/Oct and gets to me for an XMas present. :)

-Jon
 
And you wonder why some TM employees consider this a fairly hostile forum?

Because this is independant forum where they cannot just ban people that talk too much. Here they have to play even game but they are not able to do it. When those TM employees stop bullshitting people and start to play fair reasons for hostility will be gone.

Good luck with your car ...
 
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Yes, it is an independent forum and therefore anybody can choose to (or choose not to) be active in it. However, if every time somebody asks a question about something like the production schedule you choose to take it as an opportunity to slam TM and bring up the issue(s) with Martin, then people will just stop frequenting the forum because the signal to noise ratio sucks. These issues have been beat to death in other threads and not EVERY thread needs to revisit all the same questions.

You seem to take TM actions very personally for reasons that I don't understand. A quick perusal of your posts (359!) shows an unhealthy hositility. Other than Martin himself and a few other folks, why would somebody bother with all the angst towards TM? If you don't like what the company does, don't buy their products and certainly don't spend as much time as you do reading forums dedicated to them!

No big deal, I'll drop it now. I (like most of their early customers) have been satisfied with the communications from the company. Sure it was more transparent under Martin and there is more caution in what they say now. Then again, a lot of the current PR questions are due to all of that early communication that made promises that TM was unable to keep.

It's a frigging startup company. Schedules slip, things change, deliveries are hard. :)

-Jon
 
These issues have been beat to death in other threads and not EVERY thread needs to revisit all the same questions.

Sorry, I beg to differ. I'll put aside these issues when and if they finally get resolved. I won't pretend everything is rosy and smile when it's not. Is second round of accountability already due?
 
Yes, it is an independent forum and therefore anybody can choose to (or choose not to) be active in it. However, if every time somebody asks a question about something like the production schedule you choose to take it as an opportunity to slam TM and bring up the issue(s) with Martin, then people will just stop frequenting the forum because the signal to noise ratio sucks. These issues have been beat to death in other threads and not EVERY thread needs to revisit all the same questions.

You seem to take TM actions very personally for reasons that I don't understand. A quick perusal of your posts (359!) shows an unhealthy hositility. Other than Martin himself and a few other folks, why would somebody bother with all the angst towards TM? If you don't like what the company does, don't buy their products and certainly don't spend as much time as you do reading forums dedicated to them!

No big deal, I'll drop it now. I (like most of their early customers) have been satisfied with the communications from the company. Sure it was more transparent under Martin and there is more caution in what they say now. Then again, a lot of the current PR questions are due to all of that early communication that made promises that TM was unable to keep.

It's a frigging startup company. Schedules slip, things change, deliveries are hard. :)

-Jon

I wasn't about to reply to this thread, since I figured someone will cut in, but I guess I should now. I myself wouldn't consider Tesla Motors Club as hostile, it's still an excellent place for non-owners to discuss what is going on with Tesla Motors. If you want real hostility you should see TTAC. Even Jalopnik has been fairly skeptical of TM. TM's reputation on the net hasn't been as postive as it was before, a lot of people assume production has frozen at car #4 because that is pretty much the last update on Roadster production most of the public have heard about. A lot of people on the net also want TM to fail; you won't find those people here, the people here still want Tesla Motors to succeed in the end, no matter how critical or snarky some comments may sound (and usually the criticism is for good reason, I'll just use WarpedOne as an example, sorry WarpedOne, his 359 posts are not all devoted to criticism of, much less hostility towards, Tesla, as you seem to think; a large majority is on other topics). So I'm still puzzled how Tesla employees found this forum to be overall hostile, because besides from some touchy issues (we all know what those are), we have been completely supportive of Tesla Motors, and esp considering they still comment on TTAC, which doubtlessly is hostile towards TM in every way.

Don't want to hijack this thread further, so back on topic, as Cobos mentions, the main consensus here on production is that it is going along fine and any slowdown is probably because TM doesn't want too many drivetrain 1.0s out needing replacement.

To answer the original question:
Founder Series produced? Signature 100 in progress? Or still at car Nr. 4? :biggrin:
The probably the only non-owner accessible link avaliable now on recent production status is this link from June 19, 2008 which says #5 is about to be delivered and #15 is in production:
Tesla Update: Former CEO’s Crashed Car, IPO Plans & WhiteStar « Earth2Tech
If the production is 4 cars or more per week as mittelhauser mentions then Tesla should be able to hit the signature cars this month as promised, unless of course Tesla wants to give more time for the drivetrain 1.5 to catch up. Hopefully they'll have another update on production avaliable to the public soon.
 
Jon,

It's not a car, it's the rebirth of a movement.

How many "Clubs" are there for makers of chairs or toothbrushes even solar panels?

We may not be customers now but there are future cars that need to come out to help change the paradigm.

There is a passion at the core of the challenges poised on a site like this and often in relationships people don't always do the right things or say the right things in the heat of the moment. That does not mean that the love is not there.
Most of the hurtful comments found here start as constructive criticism of the people or the (in)actions of the company (unlike at TTAC).

Even constructive criticism can hurt one side to lash out or ignore the other.
 
Jon,

It's not a car, it's the rebirth of a movement.

...We may not be customers now but there are future cars that need to come out to help change the paradigm.

...

Even constructive criticism can hurt one side to lash out or ignore the other.

I'd consider myself a potential buyer of a Tesla vehicle, Roadster or otherwise. I'm also looking at other vendors. Trouble with the EV market, is there isn't much to choose from. But if it's to succeed, I and many others can't go plunking down $100K for a crappy car. I'm going to be careful, and help it succeed whether it's Tesla or someone else.
 
How many "Clubs" are there for makers of chairs or toothbrushes...

Sports cars tend to attract a fan base of passionate loyalists. All of the different make/models of sports cars I have owned had their own crowd of faithful. None were one voice happy gatherings. People would criticize certain options packages, years, colors or whatever as being sub-standard. Sports car fans tend to be a rather opinionated passionate bunch. Now take EV enthusiasts. Another variation of fanaticism. Mix them together and you have a real recipe for heated debate.

Here are a few random examples illustrating the point:

(click twice on the video above and check out the 300+ comments)


99 Cobra VS 2001 Cobra [Archive] - Mustang Forums at StangNet
Lotus Elise vs. Ford Mustang Cobra - Car Forums and Automotive Chat
Porsche Panamera. - GM Inside News Forum
New Porsche Cayenne Turbo S Unveiled In Beijing
(check the comments)

Tesla made a point of launching with a web presence and opportunity for the masses to provide direct feedback. I hope they find value when people try to give honest assessments be they glowing or dim.
 
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I would expand TEG's sports car obsevation to many more types of cars.

There are your manufacturer sites some have customer input. Then there are the truck sites. micro cars, and the midsized cars that the street racers frequent, and don't froget SUVs and muscle cars. Each make has a site and they all have fanboys and blogs.

And here is the message for Tesla. !!THEY ARE NOT ALWAYS NICE!!

Feedback makes for better product and service. Communicating with your customers and future customers is what PR is for.
 
Tesla, and Tesla fans, are stuck being "underdogs" though.
  • New, unproven car company. (history is littered with attempts)
  • Bucking the status quo (to heck with gas, right?)
  • Based in Silicon Valley, not Detroit.
  • Divided climate with regards to global warming politics.
  • US economic downturn in progress. (quick, sell in Europe!)
  • Staff turnover and angst related to delays.
  • Chairman is trying to juggle two massive undertakings at once.
  • Business model has them holding a lot of people's cash in advance.
I don't suppose it is too surprising that you find naysayers and troublemakers surfacing here and there.

Personally, I have come very close a few times to just abandoning this site and spending my time elsewhere, but then some little bit of interesting signal pops up again amongst the noise.

Unfortunately, Martin's blog seems to have "jumped the shark", and I have given up on trying to contribute anything over there.

I suppose if Martin shut his site, and this one shut down the same people would just resurface over at autobloggreen or some such.

(I like this site because I can post images and video links)
 
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Fortunately for Tesla, none of their problems are unfixable.

If most of these things (especially the big ones like Martin's car and the delivery backlog) are resolved, I think the hostility toward the company will fade away.

-Ryan

I don't think hostility is the right word per se. Most people here constructively criticize, short of Chris H--hate to call you out, but...