A Leaked Tesla Report Shows the Cybertruck Had Basic Design Flaws

[Easyejl]

Alpha prototypes of new vehicles are destined to have problems. That is why they are Alpha builds, plus they aren't constructed in production lines, thus the lack of QA/QC. The important aspect from Alphas is to figure out these problems and manufacture techniques to alleviate these issues on the final production build.

I think this article purpose was just to get masses stirred up, create good click bait, and hate on Tesla.

What reporting today isn't clickbait? This article literally could be repeated for every auto manufacturer for every new vehicle model they've ever built during its alpha phase. The Ford Bronco, Maverick, Lightning, same with Mercedes, Toyota and all the rest too.

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[CyberGus]

If this report makes you angry that it got ”leaked” and you believe someone should go to jail for this, you are a fan boy.

From the article:

"The documents contained in the leaks to Handelsblatt also included private information, including employee salaries and customer bank details. The data protection authorities in the Netherlands, where Tesla has its European headquarters, are investigating the leak. Under the European Union’s privacy law, companies can be fined up to 4 percent of their annual revenue for data breaches."​

The stolen documents include private information that is protected by law. I do not need to be a "fanboy" to believe prosecution is warranted.

 

[Buccaneer2598]

Palmer says he’s surprised at the frankness of the report. “You’d be giving the engineers that wrote this stuff a good bollocking. You don’t normally write this down.”

Yeah, one response claimed in the article was how surprised they are by the honest of the report... my thought was, isn't it a good thing that Tesla engineers can feel like they can be honest in writing?

Agreed. Earlier in my career, I attended many project meetings where a lead or engineer knew of problems they chose not to document fully, gloss over, or simply ignore. As a senior level Program Manager, I insist on knowing issues that may, in the future, affect time and money. I do not micromanage, but I want the information to decide if an issue needs further investigation, which is well less than 5%. I only have three requirements: Document, Document, and Document. If you don't measure it, you cannot correct it. It is my sense that Elon has the same philosophy.

 

[intimidator]

We all feel fairly confident Tesla engineers have sorted out a lot of these Alpha version issues/challenges over the last year and a half since this report, but this quote from the report does point out it is not a slam dunk for Tesla to make a vehicle (pickup) that they never made before, and using materials (stainless steel) that they never used before, and bending said metal using processes that are new to Tesla.

"....Tesla has been making electric cars since 2008, but experts say building a truck presents a completely different engineering challenge. Other manufacturers, like Ford, whose F-150 Lightning electric pickup began production in April 2022, have decades of experience in the category..."

Come on October, I want to see our baby hit the streets !

 

[MEDICALJMP]

To paraphrase what one person in the article said, he wasn’t surprised the alpha had problems, he was just surprised they were putting it in reports. That means to me Tesla found flaws, was honest enough to document them, and make it so that anyone in higher management would see them. This gives the company (Tesla) motivation to fix these flaws. Unlike past examples of all the Big 3 OEMs which hid their production flaws and caused harm or death to their customers as it was less costly to deal with the few lawsuits versus recalling hundreds of thousands of cars to fix exploding fuel tanks, ignitions or air bags.

 

[PilotPete]

From the article:

​

"The documents contained in the leaks to Handelsblatt also included private information, including employee salaries and customer bank details. The data protection authorities in the Netherlands, where Tesla has its European headquarters, are investigating the leak. Under the European Union’s privacy law, companies can be fined up to 4 percent of their annual revenue for data breaches."​

The stolen documents include private information that is protected by law. I do not need to be a "fanboy" to believe prosecution is warranted.

Gus,

You are correct. I’m sorry I wasn’t more specific. I was referring strictly to the issues about the alpha prototypes having issues. If that part makes you feel that way, you may be a fanboy.

Having been the subject of more than one data breach involving personal information, I don’t take it lightly. I don’t feel like “meh” about any personal data leak.

I stand (or sit) corrected.

 

[CyberGus]

If that part makes you feel that way, you may be a fanboy.

You're starting to sound like Jeff Foxworthy

 

[firsttruck]

Agreed. Earlier in my career, I attended many project meetings where a lead or engineer knew of problems they chose not to document fully, gloss over, or simply ignore. As a senior level Program Manager, I insist on knowing issues that may, in the future, affect time and money. I do not micromanage, but I want the information to decide if an issue needs further investigation, which is well less than 5%. I only have three requirements: Document, Document, and Document. If you don't measure it, you cannot correct it. It is my sense that Elon has the same philosophy.

Yup

A fairly recent example of design problems that were minimized (buried/ignored) and disaster ensued was Boeing 737 MAX (couple crashes and many near misses).

 

[cvalue13]

Tesla is building a truck for the first time - which the article correctly explains is not merely a doup-repeat of having built sedans. There are hard learnings along the way, and new challenges.

Moreover, they’re building a truck with manufacturing techniques and engineering/materials constraints, that no manufacturer has done before, sedan or pickup.

That sort of sausage being made, appears to be what 80% of this report provides some imperfect glimpse into. And therefore gives context to some (surely not all) reasons why deliveries didn’t begin in 2021, or anytime since.

 

[SolarWizard]

Here we are, 3 months from a release candidate and 4 months from the start of production, and these same anti-Tesla people are at it again. I am so tired of this FUD stuff. Personally, I have complete faith that Tesla will have addressed every issue in the next 3 months, but I guess we’ll see. I don’t need this crap adding to my frustration :-(

Pro tesla people spout garbage about other brands as well

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

Pro tesla people spout garbage about other brands as well

Perhaps. The only things I have to say relate to specs published by the manufacturers since I have no first-hand experiences with non-Tesla BEVs. But when someone from an established news outlet says things as though they are fact, but aren’t, that doesn’t do anyone any good.

 

[Westie10019]

Alpha prototypes of new vehicles are destined to have problems. That is why they are Alpha builds, plus they aren't constructed in production lines, thus the lack of QA/QC. The important aspect from Alphas is to figure out these problems and manufacture techniques to alleviate these issues on the final production build.

I think this article purpose was just to get masses stirred up, create good click bait, and hate on Tesla.

Thats why the products are called prototypes DAAAH!

 

[jerhenderson]

What ? A prototype had flaws ?

 

[PilotPete]

A fairly recent example of design problems that were minimized (buried/ignored) and disaster ensued was Boeing 737 MAX (couple crashes and many near misses).

Don’t get me started on the 737Max and the disinformation about it. The media was as far off on this as they were in the early days of the A320 Airbus and the crash at the air show in Toulouse, France. There is a parallel story here that says a man goes to the doctor and says; “It hurts when I do this” and the doctor replies; “Well, don’t do that.” Some people have a hard time learning that one.

 

[kbolt]

"....Tesla has been making electric cars since 2008, but experts say building a truck presents a completely different engineering challenge. Other manufacturers, like Ford, whose F-150 Lightning electric pickup began production in April 2022, have decades of experience in the category..."

Didn't they say that about Tesla and cars because legacy had been making cars for 100 years and Tesla has no experience? Now with 15 years of experience you would think the truck would be much easier...

If electric vehicles are hard, and trucks are harder, then that sucks for Rivian who started with an electric truck. I guess that more props to them.

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