Blog Report: Tesla Employees Pressured to Take Shortcuts to Meet Production Goals

A new report from CNBC talks to Tesla workers who say they were forced to take shortcuts to meet the company’s aggressive production goals.

Those shortcuts included using electrical tape to patch cracks on plastic brackets containing electrical components, and sometimes passing cars through inspection that were missing bolts, nuts, or lugs.

The employees interviewed also said Tesla encouraged them to work in harsh conditions. The bulk of complaints from employees developed from Tesla’s GA4 production tent, a makeshift assembly line constructed to hit an ambitious production target of 6,000 Model 3’s a week. Tesla continues to use the tent a year later.

A Tesla spokesperson told CNBC that the company hasn’t found evidence of electrical tape being used to make quick fixes in GA4, and would never officially condone or encourage it.

Employees interviewed by CNBC also provided photos from the assembly line to back up their accusations.

Tesla called the anecdotes “misleading” and said that they were unrepresentative of what it’s like to work at Tesla.

CNBC spoke to two former employees on the record for its report, and corroborated their account with six other current and former employees who asked to remain anonymous.

 

[gigawatt1010]

CNBC is Tesla's Fake News!

 

[Soff]

Too much FUD.

 

[ACA Man]

I don't doubt the report at all.

 

[75Shappyt]

not real news

 

[CarlK]

Pressured how and by whom? Did he report it to the HR? Fake news when there is no clarification of these.

 

[ShibbyRomes]

Once I read CNBC, I knew it was crap. Garbage stories.

 

[Hkbruin]

It's the same couple that first said they were wrongly terminated for using the cell phone while on the production line, while the spouse was on medical leave.

 

[Darren Donovan]

Considering the many posts we see on TMC about shoddy quality of BRAND NEW vehicles upon delivery, there must be some truth to this story. Coupled with the poor customer service, it's not a good impression of Tesla in the public eye. The honeymoon period with early adopters has been over for some time, now is reality.

 

[Hkbruin]

Considering the many posts we see on TMC about shoddy quality of BRAND NEW vehicles upon delivery, there must be some truth to this story. Coupled with the poor customer service, it's not a good impression of Tesla in the public eye. The honeymoon period with early adopters has been over for some time, now is reality.

I haven't been in a more recently produced Model 3, but mine was during the July '18 batch, VIN# 17XXX, and aside from a glovebox that kept opening, my Model 3 has been perfectly fine. I think many people come to the forums to complain about their issues, whereas for people who have perfectly fine vehicles that are built within their expectations, they don't post their non-existent issues. I would be curious to see a broader / general owner-based survey. Does one exist anywhere that is free to access?

 

[Darren Donovan]

I haven't been in a more recently produced Model 3, but mine was during the July '18 batch, VIN# 17XXX, and aside from a glovebox that kept opening, my Model 3 has been perfectly fine. I think many people come to the forums to complain about their issues, whereas for people who have perfectly fine vehicles that are built within their expectations, they don't post their non-existent issues. I would be curious to see a broader / general owner-based survey. Does one exist anywhere that is free to access?

True. People only post to complain. I drove my friend's 3 early in the year, and loved it, no issues that he's told me about. OTOH, the complaints that ARE posted here seem to be too much relative to the number of cars produced, compared to other car forums that I frequently read.

 

[gaduser]

I picked mine up on May 15th, 2019.
Everything works as expected.
Car has an overall quality feel.
I am known as a tough critic.
- Retired Engineer.
- Maintain, improve, and repair my own cars - too many issues with shops.
- Some would say an expert in Electronics.
- Largest fault, on my T, is that body seams are not as perfect as some cars. That is not to say they are bad.

 

[75Shappyt]

never had a problem with Tesla, with my car, with service, I think a lot of this is not real, maybe even car dealerships get on here just to put down Tesla, maybe trying to scare off people from buying a Tesla.

 

[Darren Donovan]

never had a problem with Tesla, with my car, with service, I think a lot of this is not real, maybe even car dealerships get on here just to put down Tesla, maybe trying to scare off people from buying a Tesla.

Are you related to Uncle Paul? Lol.

 

[scottm]

Taping a crack in a piece of plastic may be a perfectly acceptable fix action.

Thanks for finding the defects and fixing them Tesla!

Our model 3 came with one observable defect w.r.t. fasteners. One plastic snap fastener that holds the kickplate underneath the passenger side dash was missing. Weeks later, found a fastener rolling around under the passenger seat. I knew where that should have gone, SNAP! Problem solved.

 

[mswlogo]

I suspect there has been pressure, and mistakes made and I suspect this is old rehashed news back from 2018 Q3 or Q4.
Not sure if 2019 Q1/2 had as much pressure.

Obviously the production quality still shows issues of things being rushed in some areas.

My guess is it will take another year or two to stream line costs and production quality.

 

[SOULPEDL]

This all you got? What a joke!
Boycott CNBC for their support of dirty money and the planet.

 

[dschase]

Always remember the huge effect that the transition from ICE to EV will have on other companies/people. A huge number of people at legacy auto companies, gas stations, oil producers, etc. will be affected by this change which is coming much faster than most people realize. Tesla is leading the way and therefore is the target for all the people who are and will be being negatively affected so some of them will certainly create fake news and do everything they can to discredit Tesla. Also, when you have 50,000 employees like Tesla has, you will always be able to find a few employees to speak out against the company -- despite the fact that it makes amazing cars. I've had zero problems with my Model 3 (bought in April, 2019).

 

[Hkbruin]

From reading the CNBC article and general findings, I think it has more to do with employee incompetence, effort, lack of ownership/responsibility of their role on the production line, and ultimately Burnout. It sounds like there are some perks and trade-offs from working on the GA4 assembly line, so I'm assuming people are choosing at-will to work in GA4?

I believe if you dig deeper into the original claims from Carlos and Maggie Aranda, they initially were trying to sue Tesla by stating that they were wrongfully terminated for various reasons: Carlos said he "resigned from his job due to injuries sustained while on the job" but Tesla claims they fired him for Tweeting something out while at work. Maggie claims she was fired for using her cell phone on the production line, but it was actually because she was trying to accept another employee's vacation time to use as her extended medical leave. I would think that both of the original offenses warranted their terminations and since it seems that since they won't be getting any form of compensation from Tesla, they took to the news media to smear Tesla.

 

[rpb1234]

Considering the many posts we see on TMC about shoddy quality of BRAND NEW vehicles upon delivery, there must be some truth to this story. Coupled with the poor customer service, it's not a good impression of Tesla in the public eye. The honeymoon period with early adopters has been over for some time, now is reality.

Why do you believe the disparaging reports from disgruntled employees and not hear the same complaints from Model 3 owners from around the world? That's where reality is.