Scaling Production: A Daunting Task for Tesla
Now Tesla faces the daunting challenge of scaling up production—a task that the electric car manufacturer has historically struggled with. Describing the situation, John Voelcker, Contributing Editor for Car and Driver Magazine, states, “And this is in some ways a really giant experiment.”
In an interview with Top Gear, Lars Moravy, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, divulged that the company had to develop a unique manufacturing technique known as “air bending.” This process shapes the steel using high air pressure without physically contacting the surface. However, the steel’s thickness and the angular flat design added further complexity, particularly in terms of mass production.
Mike Ramsey, VP Team Manager for Automotive and Transportation at Gartner, explains, “Stainless steel…when you cut it, all the mistakes basically show up. When you have a flat plane like that, it’s really hard to hide mistakes.”
In a late August email to Tesla employees, Elon Musk emphasized the challenge of ensuring precision in the manufacturing process of the Cybertruck, due to its bright metal composition and mostly straight edges. Musk stated, “any dimensional variation shows up like a sore thumb,” underscoring the need for all vehicle parts to be designed and constructed with remarkable accuracy, down to sub 10 micron levels.
During Tesla’s third-quarter earnings call, Musk managed expectations regarding the Cybertruck’s production timeline. He cautioned, “I do want to emphasize there will be enormous challenges in reaching volume with the Cybertruck,” and suggested that it will take at least a year or longer for the vehicle to make a “significant positive cash flow contribution.”