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.

 

[fajitamondays]

My Dec 31, 2018 build Model 3 would seem to support the general sentiment in that article. Either that, or the factory workers started NYE celebrations a bit early on the production line that day.

I haven't found any electrical tape hacks yet, but my local service center has had to patch up some glaring issues with my car (defective MCU 1 week after delivery, stress fracture in rear roof glass, a gear fell off the driver door handle mechanism, defective charge port).

Knock on wood, the car has been trouble free recently. I hope it stays that way.

 

[EnterpriseT]

Got my vehicle in June 2019 (last month) and it does have a few surface-signs it was rushed out a bit.

1. The gasket in the frame above the rear passenger window was not inserted correctly. this pushed the window outward opening up a gap. It was easily fixed by re-inserting the gasket and pushing in on the window while rolling it up to make sure it rolled up flush. That last step was needed because by being rolled up in the factory with the seal incorrectly installed, it had formed a groove in the wrong spot and rolling the window up caused the glass to fall into that groove and re-open the gap. It had formed a proper seal after just a day or so of being rolled up while correctly installed.
2. The glove box is not installed correctly.

 

[WarpedOne]

While one DS was congratulating me on my delivery scheduled for tomorrow, the other DS was writting me email how it has to be postopned for technical safety issue and I need to wait on the parts to arrive.

I''m sure this has nothing to do with superb producton quality...

 

[rpb1234]

While one DS was congratulating me on my delivery scheduled for tomorrow, the other DS was writting me email how it has to be postopned for technical safety issue and I need to wait on the parts to arrive.

I''m sure this has nothing to do with superb producton quality...

Hi. Bob, Model X owner. What parts are you waiting on? We've ordered a Model 3.

 

[WarpedOne]

I got no details on the problem... i just wait some more ...

 

[Brando]

While one DS was congratulating me on my delivery scheduled for tomorrow, the other DS was writting me email how it has to be postopned for technical safety issue and I need to wait on the parts to arrive.

I''m sure this has nothing to do with superb producton quality...

Please tell us how to get 2 DS agents - I'm sure everyone would rather have 2 than just one.

 

[hcdavis3]

Production Hell July 2018 car. Nearly perfect. Probably built in the tent. I guess I got lucky.

 

[ocEVguy]

We have to acknowledge that although Tesla is getting better there are still a lot of build quality issues they need to iron out. I mean look how nice a Lexus SUV build looks compared to a X!

If Tesla was smart they would just partner with Toyota to actually build their cars and they can focus on the ideas instead.

 

[CharlieLab]

My car was build in mid June at the height of the rush. It’s perfect. No imperfections. No tape. It’s 10X better quality than my last Tesla.

 

[Daveman]

Unnamed sources are absolutely worthless, and makes stories like this wreak of BS

 

[Erie Electric]

Everyone should be noticing the very timely negative news reports on Tesla right right when Tesla is about to report record production for the quarter. This stock is the most shorted stock on the market. Short sellers cannot allow good news to go unchallenged.

I am still waiting for CNBC and others to talk about the Detroit News excellent investigative report on the defective transmission designed and built for all of those Ford Focus and Fiestas. That is estimated to cost Ford $3 billion when it is all said and done.

I guess a transmission that constantly shifts into neutral while the car is doing 70 mph on the interstate is not as important as some black electrical tape on a cracked plastic bracket.

By the way, I am a mechanical engineer with a history of manufacturing automotive components and being involved in the auto industry. I am three months and 6,000 miles into ownership of a used 2016 Model X and my amazement and respect for Tesla engineering and manufacturing increases every day I get into that car and drive to work.

This kind of radical change is going to hurt many people in the existing ICE industry so expect it to be ugly and difficult.

 

[Tiger]

This is old news: See thread: Delivery Issues Ruining My Experience

 

[Glamisduner]

My Nissan came with electrical tape holding together wire harnesses too hah.

Well, at least this explains the shoddy quality of my car that was cranked out in the September push. I mean I think when it gets back from the shop this time, most of the paint and broken clip issues will be sorted out. I hope anyways. Honestly I would sell it there was some other car that would be a good replacement, but even tesla is still building them in tents so I need to keep it for a while until they get their *sugar* together I guess. I was hoping to keep the car for 10 years, but in reality, it's been in the shop for over 2 months time since I purchased last October, so I think I overestimated how long this vehicle is going to last me.

They are wrong though, as of right now if I sold my P3D- it would be for a P3D to replace it, not that I wouldn't be upset about selling a less than one year old car. And I agree this looks really bad to me as a customer, but there really isn't any competition so fool me once.... Just sucks that you have to roll the dice quality wise with 75k or whatever they are costing these days (probably allot less than I paid)... But I know several friends who have 3's and none of them have any real issues but me, well they usually have a couple minor issues, but nothing requiring months of shop time and paint fixes like my 75k model 3 has..

 

[cwerdna]

Unnamed sources are absolutely worthless, and makes stories like this wreak of BS

I guess you've never worked in a large company before. MANY companies have an official policy of not allowing employees to talk to the press unless you've had specific PR training. If their names were used, they'd likely be fired. How would you like to lose your job for speaking to the press about conditions and shortcuts taken at your factory job?

My current company (much smaller) I don't recall having one but let's just say, unless you had a good reason to speak to the press (e.g. you're in marketing, PR, communications, an exec, giving an official talk, or in some official company sanctioned event for the press), being named in the press is usually not a good idea.

As for electrical tape, sure, my Toyotas, Nissans and GM vehicles have some of that from the factory around some wiring harnesses because it was intended to. That's totally different from factory workers improvising and as a "patch" for parts that cracked.

 

[Glamisduner]

I guess you've never worked in a large company before. MANY companies have an official policy of not allowing employees to talk to the press unless you've had specific PR training. If their names were used, they'd likely be fired. How would you like to lose your job for speaking to the press about conditions and shortcuts taken at your factory job?

My current company (much smaller) I don't recall having one but let's just say, unless you had a good reason to speak to the press (e.g. you're in marketing, PR, communications, an exec, giving an official talk, or in some official company sanctioned event for the press), being named in the press is usually not a good idea.

As for electrical tape, sure, my Toyotas, Nissans and GM vehicles have some of that from the factory around some wiring harnesses because it was intended to. That's totally different from factory workers improvising and as a "patch" for parts that cracked.

Electrical tape fixes are no good. They (for sure) would have been better off using duct tape and zip ties, everyone knows that.

 

[boggyver]

Hmm... EX employees bashing former employer. What else?

 

[Bigboy13]

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...
[WPURI="https://teslamotorsclub.com/blog/2019/07/16/report-tesla-employees-pressured-to-take-shortcuts-to-meet-production-goals/"]READ FULL ARTICLE[/WPURI]

CNBC is anti Tesla. Supports short sellers only. Never believe anything they publish.

 

[Lytle]

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

Agreed

 

[20140emission]

Got mine June 29. Have been looking for issues described by some of the postings. Did not find any, yet. One of the door rubber seals was pinched and I just pulled it out. Otherwise, the car seems perfectly put together. I said "seems" because I have not washed it yet. Usually I will notice issues when washing the car. I did hear rattles coming out from behind the inside rear view mirror. That was when the car was delivered at 50 psi pressure. After I bled the tire down to 45, the rattle stopped.

 

[foolzrulz]

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?

I am in the same July batch of deliveries. I saw no issues like missing nuts, bolts etc. I felt like it was like anyother new car. Atleast, Tesla owns their small mistakes and does its best to fix these small issues. How many premium cars or any car companies for that matter can take responsibility and send a technician to fix them.