Is there some functional, as opposed to cosmetic, problem with these minor build issues? Does anybody care other than manufacturing wonks? My guess is that almost nobody even sees these details. I know I would be irritated for about five minutes and then never even notice it again.
And the fix is obvious and no doubt being worked. There are tiny variations in stamped parts, and everything else. Probably the mega casting reduces one area of variation. Clearly there must be automatic choosing going on, where a part that's slightly out of spec gets mated with another that is also slightly out of spec in a way that will compensate rather than exaggerate the problem. The fastening points, whether they be bolts or welds no doubt have a little wiggle room which can be exploited to true things up as well. It just has to be implemented properly, and that means not by people eyeballing things. This is how you make manufacturing better.
I'm quite sure those passenger side problems were deemed acceptable because they work just fine. And I notice that there was comparison only with perfection, not with how similarly priced cars typically are delivered. Doesn't seem reasonable to me. Did you notice how perfunctory Sandy was about perfection on the driver's side? He expected perfection.
So ask yourself about what the mission is: how is it served by slowing things down to achieve perfection? I think what you always want is to be as fast as possible while being good enough, and working on getting better in all ways. But cosmetic perfection deserves to be way down on the list of necessities. It's a nice to have, but good enough will do.
Cannot agree with this assessment of the situation.
If anyone insists that this is a minor issue, then you need to open up your mind and see from out of the box.
In China, with constant attack from the public and media about supposed inferior build quality. It is somehow a fact now that Tesla is like VW, going mass market but yielding to other car makers, like Nio, on the luxury segment. It is also a implied drawback even for most of the buyers. "Yes, Tesla has built quality, but...."
If you focus on "but", then in China they sold every car they can ever built. but Nio right now position themselves to be like BBA of EV. It does not bold well with a car that is trying to compete with BBA and knock them out. If this trend continue down the road, it could only do more damage.
Like everybody else here, I feel Elon's word command authority and sincerity. Then here is what he said: " We want to achieve production perfection that if the gap is not consistent, then you measurement tool is wrong". This was said like what, 2 years ago?
Mission is critical, but you are marketing your product to the public, where most of the people care less about the mission like everyone here, including me. And to provide this type of product hurt you image, and hurt your mission. In comparison, if Starship has a gap inconsistency that does not affect the functionality, then nobody would care.
Please don't start with Tesla sold every car they made in China. That is simply not relevant. Or shall I say, they could sell more and speed up the mission more if this build quality has been eradicated? Don't agree with me? Thinks they sold every car possible in China? How about they could sell every possible S and X in China? Not being argumentative, just trying to make the point.
To defend the indefensible only makes our mission a cult mission.
