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.

 

[darrelld]

I agree. These people calling everything negative about Tesla "fake news" -- even if they mean it to be funny -- are painful because of what's going on in the bigger field of politics.

Every company -- especially a good one like Tesla -- needs to be viewed critically. Total worship leads to corruption.

Owned an F150 less than 3 weeks when a letter from Ford came informing me of a factory defect causing the lug nuts to fall off.

Ford dealer told me they were out of lug nuts and check back in 6 weeks.

 

[Grappicker]

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?

How is your BT performing

 

[Tes*la*rosa]

90k+ mikes in my 2014. No major problems at all. Any small issues were taken care of right away at the SC or they sent a service tech to my home. I’ve never been more pleased with any vehicle or vehicle service in my 32 year history of owning cars.

 

[Perry]

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]

Considering the poor build quality of my car I don't doubt this at all. My trunk closed crooked. Had to take it in and when they fixed it, that made the panels not align correctly. To this day they where not able to get both right. They told me I have to live with either crooked trunk or bad panel gaps. I chose the gaps.

The missing bolts part is spot on. Two weeks after I bought my car, the front under the car Aero shield fell off and broke because of loose screws. This prompted me to inspect the entire under carriage so I found 2 of the 3 screws holding the rear bumper in place missing too. Good thing I looked but who knows how many bolts and crews are missing that I can't see. This would explain all rattles, creeks, and lose part noises I hear coming from the cabin every time I drive. Its annoying as hell.

Yes, I am sure there is no QA at Tesla or it is very poor. Looks like the FUD in this case is coming from Tesla.

 

[Tobyw]

TESLA MFG NEEDS SOME RETIRED MERCEDES MECHANICS WHO ARE USED TO DOING RESTORATIONS. They are masters of knowing what will work and what will not, and knowing how work quickly and efficiently, and understanding unit repair. IMHO Tesla could have been well served with more vertical integration in their plants. Avoiding delays from parts shortages and defective parts would have boosted car delivery in many circumstances. The ability to repair door handles would lower repair costs significantly, since so much cost is in the chrome handle. An experienced mechanic could easily tell if a broken door handle would be a one off problem or if most of them were going to fail.

I am not too impressed by the assembly line work I see in videos. In fairness, I have certainly not seen a large sample of workers, but I guess they are trained by the same people.

 

[tavish]

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.

That's interesting to me because I also have a Dec 2018 Model 3. Zero issues at all.

 

[NIKOLA696]

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.

 

[NIKOLA696]

I'm also a mechanical engineer, from Detroit. I'm 10 months and 14k miles into my P32 and I get giddy EVERY DAY!

 

[SWPenn]

Check Twitter, this couple had financial connections to TSLAQ and this is paid for propaganda.

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]

 

[claudelaval]

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]

If and I must say IF...it's true then Tesla is no better than the american Big 3

 

[A.N. Gineer]

There's clearly a major hole in Tesla's hiring process that electrical tape can't fix. No matter the reason for your dismissal or leaving, you STFU about internal company information. NDA or not. This stems from hiring money-grabbing psychopaths, usually.

The SEC needs to put the hammer down on these unethical leakers -- Tesla is a publicly traded company and information about its operations is insider trading if it is not released through official channels. There seem to be a disproportionate number in Tesla vs other automakers.

 

[ZenTurbo]

MSNBC has no credibility. They have proven this time and time again.

 

[Bombillo]

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.

 

[Bombillo]

I have several automobiles. A Model x being the most recent, as of a month ago. Our Honda air conditioner quit and we bought a replacement unit from OEM Honda dealer. New install, didn't work then realized the replacement unit was defective. Where is the blog that I get to throw eggs at Honda about this outrage?

 

[Jeff Hudson]

I have several automobiles. A Model x being the most recent, as of a month ago. Our Honda air conditioner quit and we bought a replacement unit from OEM Honda dealer. New install, didn't work then realized the replacement unit was defective. Where is the blog that I get to throw eggs at Honda about this outrage?

Try this website.
https://honda.blog/

 

[jj88]

Except for the fogged-up fog light they replaced, no problems on mine, with 800mi.
Or so I thought - the service writer noticed a plastic piece missing, from around the front camera. More of a decorative piece. He ordered the part, and it will be installed.
But let's be honest - every worker has a complaint. I don't doubt the workers were pressured. Because people like me wanted their car before the rebate changed. And every factory passes, or ignores, minor problems. Or big ones, if they think they can get away with it!

 

[jj88]

MSNBC has no credibility. They have proven this time and time again.

Oh, please!

 

[SOULPEDL]

MSNBC has no credibility. They have proven this time and time again.

So which TV stations can we trust for EV and Auto news?
Is there one? Comedy channels maybe?

 

[daniel]

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?

My early Model 3 has no problems at all other than a few quibbles regarding design and software. One person pointed out to me that the panel gaps were not all uniformly exactly the same size. I couldn't even see it until she pointed out which ones. Before that I had looked (due to the kerfuffle here on TMC) and thought mine was perfect.

Tesla does have to improve its quality control and its customer service. But, damn, this is the best car I've ever owned, or even driven. I even got to drive a Model S on two occasions, and I like my 3 more than the S. I suspect that they haven't been expanding customer service enough to keep pace with the number of cars, and they never responded to my message for help about my solar.

 

[notrhj]

Check Twitter, this couple had financial connections to TSLAQ and this is paid for propaganda.

Check who owns nbc CNBC msnbc

It’s All FakeNews Advocacy Journalism At Best