I think the Model 3 has less automation than the higher end models. (This could be dated info) I have always wondered how amortizing the automation do-overs shows up in cost accounting. In more than one instance Tesla had to back away from some automation and rethink. Likewise with battery pack design. Tesla has tried a lot of new ideas (aluminum body/chassis).
The legacy auto companies have advantages by not starting from scratch at essential auto manufacturing, and being able to reverse engineer Teslas, don't think they don't. We should not assume the engineers, managers and worker bees at legacy plants are inferior to Tesla. They might be less good at trying new stuff over and over, and better at the basics. I would guess that legacy cars will have efficiency advantages for a long time. Financial advantages, too. I am biased, I have bought Tesla stock more due to the battery business rather than car making. I never believed the legacy manufacturers would not catch up pretty fast when they put their efforts into it. There is a reason why decades passed before new car companies appeared. It is damned hard to do. On Tue, Oct 17, 2023 at 7:25 AM EV List Lackey via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> wrote: > On 17 Oct 2023 at 0:27, Michael Ross via EV wrote: > > > I am not buying these figures on unknown say so. Sounds like BS. Just > > whose EVs and whose batteries? Which models? > > Here's the original article, with some discussion of methodology. > > https://heatmap.news/electric-vehicles/evs-trump-uaw-jobs-evidence > > > Anna Stefanopoulou, a professor of mechanical engineering at the > > University of Michigan, has been investigating three manufacturing > > sites that used to produce conventional cars and are now producing > > EVs: A Tesla factory in California that used to be a jointly-owned > > facility between GM and Toyota that produced Pontiacs and Corollas; a > > Rivian plant in Illinois that previously produced Mitsubishis; and the > > Orion Assembly plant in Michigan, where GM transitioned from producing > > Chevy Sonics and Buick Veranos to electric Chevy Bolts ... Each one is > > producing fewer vehicles per worker than they were before, meaning > > it´s taking more people per vehicle to produce electric cars. The > > California site, which has been producing EVs for the longest out of > > the three, showed the most dramatic change. At its peak, the GM/Toyota > > plant produced 80 vehicles per person per year. The Tesla plant > > averages 30. > > > > Stefanopoulou ... predicts that after a decade or so, as processes > > become more streamlined, the commonly-held belief that EV assembly > > requires less labor will turn out to be correct. However, she also said > > that if she were to consider battery cell production, as Cotterman did, > > EV production on the whole could require more people. > > That's just the central point and there are qualifications. I suggest > that > you read the entire piece at the above link. > > The Tesla vs GM/Toyota vehicle productivity hit really surprises me. I > thought that Tesla had gone all in for automation. > > David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey > > To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my > offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > Things I once thought were funny are scary now. I often feel > like a resident of Pompeii who has been asked for some > humorous comments on lava. > > -- Tom Lehrer > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > _______________________________________________ > Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org > No other addresses in TO and CC fields > HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > > -- Michael E. Ross (919) 585-6737 Land (919) 901-2805 Cell and Text (919) 576-0824 <https://www.google.com/voice/b/0?pli=1#phones> Tablet, Google Phone and Text -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.evdl.org/private.cgi/ev-evdl.org/attachments/20231017/0f8824f4/attachment.htm> _______________________________________________ Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/
