Elon sends employees email on Cybertruck build quality: accuracy & tolerances must be in microns -- "Precision predicates perfectionism."

[uff_da]

Better keep your parts in temperature control environments to keep them in spec.

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[Jhodgesatmb]

@Jhodgesatmb

sound of “CUSTOMER production is starting” or no?

Why are you targeting me on this thread? I do not remember whether I chimed in on Elon’s email but I wonder how he can call for micron-level design and build when the parts have long been designed. They either work, and fit, or they don’t, and an email like this seems very odd indeed.

FWIW the fit and finish look pretty good to me. I have read that there are issues with noise paths and hope that those issues have been or will be addressed w/o sound-deadening tape as a quiet interior is really nice to have (when on regular roads).

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

Note to self: Don't forget digital calipers for CT pickup.

I am less concerned with the ‘horizontal’ gap (within reason) than with smoothness across gaps because it seems to me that the latter would generate more turbulence and noise. Is this true or bs?

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

What are you trying to say here? Elon is not talking about gap ‘size’. If there was no gap you couldn’t open the door, hood, etc. Your red lines should talk about gap ‘tolerance’ and that ‘could’ be in the microns.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

I can only hope/assume this is a joke, but after serving years of crazy Model 3/Y delivery stories, extensive checklists and similarity psychotic behavior you never do know.

But really if you show up with calipers I kinda hope/expect you to get stabbed with them.

People ‘that’ anal don’t deserve a truck.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

I just don’t think press-break formed SS sheets can achieve those levels of sub-10 micron tolerances …

But would love someone with experience to weigh in

Press “brake” you mean, but that is a good question. My guess is that, after a lot of experimentation, they can dial in the bend and strain relaxation to very tight tolerances. Just what that tolerance might be I don’t know.

 

[fritter63]

I can only hope/assume this is a joke

You think????

 

[MonkeyDeLuffy]

Lego building in the process:

 

[ED_SFO]

Sounds to me he is talking to everyone as a whole..but at the end of the day it's the body panel ppl who's job is to manage them gaps. When he said hard to build he prob means this. I need a Tshirt that says:

< 10 MICRONS

🥲

 

[FutureBoy]

Sounds to me he is talking to everyone as a whole..but at the end of the day it's the body panel ppl who's job is to manage them gaps. When he said hard to build he prob means this. I need a Tshirt that says:

< 10 MICRONS

🥲

Um.... That is pretty small. Hope people don't misinterpret the shirt and think you are talking about your personal measurements.

 

[cvalue13]

Press “brake” you mean, but that is a good question. My guess is that, after a lot of experimentation, they can dial in the bend and strain relaxation to very tight tolerances. Just what that tolerance might be I don’t know.

two out of three ain’t bad (re my recent spellings of brake)

I’m also sure they can dial in the bend and strain relaxation to very tight tolerances

But to the width of a red blood cell?!?

id be interested to learn of any stainless sheet stock meets those tolerances in any application, much less automotive body panels!

not because I’m knowledgeable enough to doubt, but just because it doesn’t compute

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

two out of three ain’t bad (re my recent spellings of brake)

I’m also sure they can dial in the bend and strain relaxation to very tight tolerances

But to the width of a red blood cell?!?

id be interested to learn of any stainless sheet stock meets those tolerances in any application, much less automotive body panels!

not because I’m knowledgeable enough to doubt, but just because it doesn’t compute

I happen to agree but, just as importantly, I cannot see it being necessary in gap instances. As long as drag turbulence isn’t out of spec it should be ok. I just wonder why he made such a statement this late in the game. Maybe what someone else said about him sitting in the RC truck and noticing these things made him comment and he just went overboard. We will probably never know.

 

[charliemagpie]

Reminds me of zero tolerance in the 80's... Good idea, but uneconomical in the end.

But we have better robots and better AI these days. Who knows? Maybe 10 micron objective is just a pathway to 100 microns, the difference, I guess, is undetectable to the human eye.

 

[fritter63]

Some visual aids to put this in perspective.

10 microns ~ .004" (yes, I'm rounding up, hope I did the math right... my RPN calculator won't even convert to microns).

That is smaller than the smallest bits (.005") I use on the CNC for doing shell inlay on my guitars. See picture below. They are so small, I can only cut at .005" depth per pass. And they are sold in packages of 10 for a reason......

Also shown are my digital calipers set to .004". You pretty much can't see the gap unless you hold it up to the light.

You're certainly not going to notice any panel gaps at that difference.

But thinking about it, I'm pretty sure that internal components are already built to that level of accuracy. They'd have to be (I think?). Think about parts with mating holes for fasteners, etc.

So if he's just talking about body panels, it seems a bit extreme, maybe twice as much as actually needed?

 

[Glenn]

Note to self: Don't forget digital calipers for CT pickup.

We should all show up with our measuring devices

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