Blog Report Says Tesla Had to Rework Most Cars in Push to 5,000

About 4,300 of the 5,000 Model 3 units that came off the production line in June needed to be reworked, according to internal Tesla documents obtained by Business Insider.

Tesla has fought production delays since the Model 3 was introduced, continuously missing production goals against high demand.

The company originally intended to produce 5,000 units per week by the end of 2017. Production didn’t actually hit that mark until the last week of June. Manufacturing was not without flaws, however.

Business Insider’s report suggests that just 14% of Model 3 cars coming off the production line were ready to ship immediately, significantly below the industry standard. The report said the cars required an average repair time of 37 minutes.

“In order to ensure the highest quality, we review every vehicle for even the smallest refinement before it leaves the factory,” Tesla told Business Insider in a statment. “Dedicated inspection teams track every car throughout every shop in the assembly line, and every vehicle is then subjected to an additional quality-control process towards the end of the line. And all of this happens before a vehicle leaves the factory and is delivered to a customer.”

Tesla is currently aiming to hit a production rate of 6,000 units per week sometime this quarter.

 

[dhrivnak]

I would love to hear Tesla’s response. I am quite happy with my Model 3 and the 37 min repair time is not much. Is this the major reason they built 20,000 in July but only sold 14,000?

 

[Tam]

...Tesla’s response...

Tesla did formally responded to Business Insider:

"A Tesla representative said customer-satisfaction scores for the Model 3, its newest vehicle, have averaged around 90% since January. The representative also said the company's internal data shows that the Model 3 has improved since the beginning of this year."

As a public company, there's a pressure to make profit so the emphasis might be quantity and not quality controls which might compromise production number.

Thus, going private might be a good move!

 

[SO16]

I would love to hear Tesla’s response. I am quite happy with my Model 3 and the 37 min repair time is not much. Is this the major reason they built 20,000 in July but only sold 14,000?

It was possibly due to paperwork taking longer than it should.

 

[SkagitDoug]

“Dedicated inspection teams track every car throughout every shop in the assembly line, and every vehicle is then subjected to an additional quality-control process towards the end of the line," couldn't be any more vague!

 

[slipnslider]

About 4,300 of the 5,000 Model 3 units that came off the production line in June needed to be reworked,

Make that 4301. I need some stuff fixed on mine too. Loose headlight. Loose side mirror. Warped windshield glass. And for some reason the sound system doesn't sound as good as the early build model 3 i rented a few months back.

 

[cfttester]

Make that 4301. I need some stuff fixed on mine too. Loose headlight. Loose side mirror. Warped windshield glass. And for some reason the sound system doesn't sound as good as the early build model 3 i rented a few months back.

Looks like a good start of a fixing hell.

 

[frank69]

I wonder if there is a VIN range for the ones produced in June

 

[Stevaughnator]

Got mine at the end of June and have not had 1 issue with it yet.

 

[zzf00l]

Most if not all manufacturers rework their cars.. some rework better than others some don't appear to bother. So.. no news here then, move along to the next slight against Tesla.

 

[Xenius]

Got mine at the end of June and have not had 1 issue with it yet.

Enjoy the new car!

 

[zzf00l]

“Dedicated inspection teams track every car throughout every shop in the assembly line, and every vehicle is then subjected to an additional quality-control process towards the end of the line," couldn't be any more vague!

Just like any other vehicle manufacturer.. I've worked in Automotive all my working life and this is nothing new.

 

[SO16]

Just like any other vehicle manufacturer.. I've worked in Automotive all my working life and this is nothing new.

I used to work in manufacturing as well. We certainly had a “rework” area that was always busy. Once again, a nothing burger. Can Tesla improve? Of course and they will. But to expect perfection after only one year of production is absolutely absurd.

 

[theblindtree]

Yeah, I'm really surprised articles like this get reported, as if it's some new phenomenon just because it's Tesla. I guess that's part of the problem when you're on the cutting edge of an industry - everyone is putting magnifying glasses to everything you do.

 

[Sirius Black]

I would love to hear Tesla’s response. I am quite happy with my Model 3 and the 37 min repair time is not much. Is this the major reason they built 20,000 in July but only sold 14,000?

Could also be due to limitations in their delivery system. Delivery location in Atlanta is packed with cars waiting to be delivered, but you can't get anyone to answer the phone and return calls take days. Production may have grown beyond delivery logistics.

 

[ebmcs03]

Got mine at the end of June and have not had 1 issue with it yet.

You got it end of June. That means your car was built in May or early June. Outside the range of the mentioned time frame.

 

[alcibiades]

Hey car manufacturer experience people,

That every manufacturer has a rework line is maybe kind of relevant, but mostly a red herring. It's not that Tesla had to rework cars; it's that Tesla had to rework 86% of the cars. This isn't hard to grasp.

And Tesla's repeated fall back onto claims about customer satisfaction in the face of criticisms of quality is a move to talk of owners instead of products. That owners will tolerate massive garbage for the sake of long range EV vehicles and for the smugness of being Tesla owners doesn't entail that the cars are well-built. I've not filled out any owner satisfaction surveys, but not because I'm satisfied, but because I'm smart enough not to care about owner survey results.

 

[SO16]

Hey car manufacturer experience people,

That every manufacturer has a rework line is maybe kind of relevant, but mostly a red herring. It's not that Tesla had to rework cars; it's that Tesla had to rework 86% of the cars. This isn't hard to grasp.

And Tesla's repeated fall back onto claims about customer satisfaction in the face of criticisms of quality is a move to talk of owners instead of products. That owners will tolerate massive garbage for the sake of long range EV vehicles and for the smugness of being Tesla owners doesn't entail that the cars are well-built. I've not filled out any owner satisfaction surveys, but not because I'm satisfied, but because I'm smart enough not to care about owner survey results.

What does seem difficult to grasp is that people often compare a car line that’s been producing for a year to Toyota that’s been producing the same cars for years with minor alterations.

As stated above, Tesla has a lot of room for improvement. And they shouldn’t get a free pass. But If you don’t fill out the customer satisfaction survey showing your dissatisfaction, don’t turn around and complain that companies like Tesla point to positive satisfaction surveys. You say you don’t care....well perhaps you should fill them out because it looks like you do care.

 

[Rotarypower]

Hey car manufacturer experience people,

That every manufacturer has a rework line is maybe kind of relevant, but mostly a red herring. It's not that Tesla had to rework cars; it's that Tesla had to rework 86% of the cars. This isn't hard to grasp

Apparently it is hard for you to grasp. Your logic is flawed...you are cherry picking out a date range....it's not 86% reworked cars, it is a reported 4300/total M3 built (insert number here which I don't have). Granted, I am sure there have been other reworks during the production ramp up...this is normal for a new vehicle going down the assembly line and will improve over time. You can spin that percentage any way you want based on your methodology.

 

[alcibiades]

What does seem difficult to grasp is that people often compare a car line that’s been producing for a year to Toyota that’s been producing the same cars for years with minor alterations.

As stated above, Tesla has a lot of room for improvement. And they shouldn’t get a free pass. But If you don’t fill out the customer satisfaction survey showing your dissatisfaction, don’t turn around and complain that companies like Tesla point to positive satisfaction surveys. You say you don’t care....well perhaps you should fill them out because it looks like you do care.

1. I'm not Captain Defend TSLA. I didn't immediately blather on about "other car manufacturers are not perfect; therefore, TESLAALLALA RULEZ!!!111" Those were introduced by the great supporters of obfuscation and diversion who wanted to say "Hey, no big deal!" I didn't say Tesla was worse. I was suggesting why it was notable. You are offering what is called "an explanation" for why Tesla's rework % is high. That the line is new. I think that's likely an oversimplification, but I also find all of this boring. I mostly like to observe how psychologically and rationally broken posters are. People here are convinced and reason backwards. It's the most amazing petri dish of epistemic investmentalism.

2. I believe in principle that such surveys have no value. I care that people cite them. Caring that they are cited is completely unrelated to how I would fill the survey out. If surveys were overwhelmingly negative, I'd also think citing them was stupid.

I'd proofread this but I'm going to tea.