Model 3 had incredible fast development speed

[tescroft]

Did anyone notice how fast Tesla managed to bring Model 3 to production? The prototype was demonstrated 2016, and 2017 it is in production.

In comparison (Prototype demonstration -> Production)

Model S: 2009 -> 2012 (3 years, 4 months)
Model X: 2012 -> 2015 (3 years, 7 months)
Model 3: 2016 -> 2017 (1 year, 4 months)

This is incredibly fast. I doubt any other car maker is that fast. Usually, 3-4 years are needed from prototype to production level. Chevy Bolt was also fast (1 year, 10 months), but not as fast as model 3. Do you know of any modern car in the industry which has been developed as fast as the model 3?

 

[zenmaster]

GM versus Tesla: Pre-Production Comparison for Meeting Model 3 Deliveries At 2017's End
Tesla Is Going Big With the Model 3
Should Automakers Be Selling "Beta" Cars?

 

[AssortedBread]

Tesla simply showed a more finished product. But it did not go from prototype to demonstration as fast as you make it seem.


Take a look at the model S prototype...
Interior:

vs

Exterior:

vs

At the model 3 unveil they where very clear that the alphas were largely representative of the final product. (aside from small tweaks like the steering wheel)

 

[Sportstick]

Our company (U.S. auto manufacturer) had a standard program time of 180 weeks, but the major variable is when you start the clock. Lots of early shared development/technology work can happen before the date of Program Approval. Much of the science needed to launch the first Model S may have saved program time in the current car along with other carryover components. The part of the program which should still make us a tad nervous is any reduction of final vehicle development from first cars off production tooling through V1 launch.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

In other words, expect problems.

 

[Thomas Edison]

Elon said that they skipped the beta phase and therefore didn't need to make a pre-production assembly line. I think it saved 6 months to a year.

Regular practice in auto industry:
Alpha-Beta-RC-Production

Tesla model 3:
Alpha-RC-Production

Did anyone notice how fast Tesla managed to bring Model 3 to production? The prototype was demonstrated 2016, and 2017 it is in production.

In comparison (Prototype demonstration -> Production)

Model S: 2009 -> 2012 (3 years, 4 months)
Model X: 2012 -> 2015 (3 years, 7 months)
Model 3: 2016 -> 2017 (1 year, 4 months)

This is incredibly fast. I doubt any other car maker is that fast. Usually, 3-4 years are needed from prototype to production level. Chevy Bolt was also fast (1 year, 10 months), but not as fast as model 3. Do you know of any modern car in the industry which has been developed as fast as the model 3?

 

[S'toon]

Wasn't the Bolt awfully quick as well?

IIRC there was a clay model of the Model 3 back in 2010, but nobody realized what it was at the time.

 

[Sportstick]

Elon said that they skipped the beta phase and therefore didn't need to make a pre-production assembly line. I think it saved 6 months to a year.

Regular practice in auto industry:
Alpha-Beta-RC-Production

Tesla model 3:
Alpha-RC-Production

That may be specific to a particular company. At one of the so-called Detroit Big 3 (yes, a historical reference), those terms/phases don't exist as such. Rather, there are more gradations of development, with a series of pilots leading to S0 being off production tools, and S1 being capable of being legally sold and intended to represent final quality, even if from non-volume production, but regular production is V1. When the supply base reaches V1 production day rates, that's also a time when unfortunate surprises show up.

 

[Spidy]

The part of the program which should still make us a tad nervous is any reduction of final vehicle development from first cars off production tooling through V1 launch.

It's not that crazy, Mercedes also skipped the early prototypes with the new E-Class as far as I understand.

@1:25, subtitles (and at 1:50 it should say "parts from production tooling")

But after that they build a few more prototypes

 

[dhanson865]

Did anyone notice how fast Tesla managed to bring Model 3 to production? The prototype was demonstrated 2016, and 2017 it is in production.

In comparison (Prototype demonstration -> Production)

Model S: 2009 -> 2012 (3 years, 4 months)
Model X: 2012 -> 2015 (3 years, 7 months)
Model 3: 2016 -> 2017 (1 year, 4 months)

This is incredibly fast. I doubt any other car maker is that fast. Usually, 3-4 years are needed from prototype to production level. Chevy Bolt was also fast (1 year, 10 months), but not as fast as model 3. Do you know of any modern car in the industry which has been developed as fast as the model 3?

Except the design team switched from X to 3 before X was delivered to the first customer. Make that more like

Model S: 2009 -> 2012 (3 years, 4 months)
Model X: 2012 -> 2015 (3 years, 7 months)
Model 3: 2015 -> 2017 (2 year, 4 months)

and you'd be more accurate.

In 2013, design chief Franz von Holzhausen said that the Model 3 will "be an Audi A4, BMW 3-series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class type of vehicle that will offer everything: range, affordability, and performance" that is targeted toward the mass-market. While technology from Tesla's Model S will be used in the Model 3, it will be 20% smaller than the Model S and have its own unique design. According to Tesla's CTO, JB Straubel, in October 2015 most Tesla engineers were working on the 3 rather than S or X

In addition prior to 2015 designers were split between S, X, and 3 so it wasn't a hard cut over but a reassignment of labor. You could arguably say design began in 2013 even though the work done in 2013 and 2014 was by a smaller group of people it laid the foundation for the following work, nothing was scrapped, they didn't have to start over.

 

[JoaoD]

IIRC there was a clay model of the Model 3 back in 2010, but nobody realized what it was at the time.

Is there any footage of that?

 

[mmd]

Besides, the definition of 'production' used by Tesla is a bit murky. Delivering 30 cars to selected company insiders and investors doesn't instill too much confidence in the production quality or completeness.
it also doesn't look like those 30 cars were produced on the final assembly line. GM's Bolt line was up and running by mid 2016.

Has anyone seen the monroney sticker for Model 3 yet? More than 2 weeks have passed since July 28th event. We should have seen 30-40 more cars delivered by now. GM delivered 579 Bolts in the first month of Dec 2016.

Edit: @tescroft , See Bolt timeline in first link in reply #2. GM delivered 579 Bolts in the first month.

 

[erthquake]

From experience in the investors forum, please don't feed the troll.

 

[Thomas Edison]

Wasn't the Bolt awfully quick as well?

IIRC there was a clay model of the Model 3 back in 2010, but nobody realized what it was at the time.

The clay model from 2010 clearly was a model x imo. The clay model from 2015 looked like the model 3 though.

 

[tescroft]

GM's Bolt line was up and running by mid 2016.

First registered Bolt Sales were december 2016 so I don't think the line "was up and running mid 2016"

 

[voip-ninja]

First registered Bolt Sales were december 2016 so I don't think the line "was up and running mid 2016"

Major manufacturers have a different approach to mass production than Tesla.

It's not uncommon for thousands of cars to be produced and stockpiled along with spare parts before volume deliveries to dealers begin.

Tesla is more of a boutique manufacturer so it will be interesting to see how they handle their delivery process once they are dealing with tens of thousands of cars a month.

 

[S'toon]

The clay model from 2010 clearly was a model x imo. The clay model from 2015 looked like the model 3 though.

I didn't recall correctly. The image was actually from 2012, though another thread was from 2015.
Mysterious Clay Model?

 

[Sportstick]

Major manufacturers have a different approach to mass production than Tesla.

It's not uncommon for thousands of cars to be produced and stockpiled along with spare parts before volume deliveries to dealers begin.

Tesla is more of a boutique manufacturer so it will be interesting to see how they handle their delivery process once they are dealing with tens of thousands of cars a month.

That first hold period is more usual than not, and is called "containment". It allows for keeping vehicles corralled at/near the plant while audits are conducted in case fixes need to be implemented before shipping. Sometimes, vehicles are held if it's the end of the calendar year and the vehicle carries a model year one year later. (Example...build December 2017, hold from shipping into interstate commerce until January 1st, 2018, may be sold as 2019 model year, under NHTSA regulations).

 

[Thomas Edison]

I didn't recall correctly. The image was actually from 2012, though another thread was from 2015.
Clay version of Model 3

Though the picture was actually older at that time.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is the 2010 clay model. (Model x)

 

[Uncle Paul]

Tesla has silicone powered logistics that allow them to supercharge product development.

They have a very efficient and flexible production line. They will constantly adjust their robots and people to weed out any quality issues with the first, very slow, vehicles to roll off the assembly line.

As quality permits they will begin to run the line faster and faster, as the quality and technology improves.

As usual, there will be more quality issues for the first cars. That is one of the reasons they decided to sell the first cars to their employees that live near the plant. This was they can fix and learn about the initial quality issues. They they will feel more confident to ship their cars further from the plant.

Tesla has learned tons from their first roadsters, Model S and Model X. They will use that experience and latest technology to make each generation vehicle better than the last.

They also have the unique ability to upgrade the firmware that controls the car wirelessly and with no need to take your car into the service facility. As new technology is developed they can simple down load it to the cars as their owners sleep. This can mitigate many early teething issues that might come up.

Tesla...it drives like no other.