Whoopsy:
Leawood911:
RC:
Leawood911:
RC:
CGX car nut:

He thinks he has an answer and reply for everything.  It's all irrelevant as Tesla is facing unparalleled competition in the marketplace that it has never faced before.  This is a game of attrition and Tesla is not the longterm winner.  

Unless Tesla decides to ally themselves with a major manufacturer. Smiley

Why would they want to do that?  There is nothing at all they would bring to the table at this point other than an impossible to dispose of inventory and legacy ICE production tools. Sounds like a nightmare for Tesla and a last chance for some automaker. 

Additional capital and quality/experience. Simple.

Who has more capital?  They are soon casting the cars into two pieces and a battery pack. This will greatly simplify and reduce costs. Panel fit will be vastly improved and the new paint process going into Berlin is supposed to be world class.  The German workforce will certainly help as well. I can’t think of much a legacy automaker can bring to the table other than new problems in phasing out all the existing tech and investments in ICE factory processes and inventory.  Just not a good fit. Maybe a tech company or other EV startup.  Elon is much more interested in other forms of EV transport like planes, tunnels, boats, motorcycles and all the components like batteries and solar.  Next I see him going for sources of raw materials.   Even a car companies dealer network or service strategy would be outdated if they join Tesla. 
These are just not a good mix. In my opinion.   But it would be awesome for a legacy automaker if they can pull off being taken over by Tesla in a fire sale.  But in the end they are focused on building the ultimate factory - the machine the builds machines - and none of the current factories the ICE makers have are similar. 

 

And the insurance companies will object, or even perhaps priced the insurance premium out of reach for buyers. 

Face it, people get into car accidents all the time. Separate panels and sections means easier and cheaper repairs. There are many examples of insurance companies objecting to how a car's panels are designed and changes were made. 

Fit and finish aren't a problem for normal car makers, they have the knowhow to design something that fits and also doesn't cost much. It's the basics of car design and engineering. Why can't Tesla do that? 

 

 

 

Have you seen the accident or theft rate of Tesla’s?  They are dirt cheap to insure - ridiculously so given the performance. And that is not counting Tesla Insurance, now only in California.  Once they eliminate so many frame components it will be cheaper to build and cheaper to fix, cheaper to sell and cheaper to insure - and more competitive. The panels and bumpers on the outside will still be there and that is where most repairs end. If the frame is bent most cars are totaled anyway. Thanks to the castings the panel fit will be simpler and more precise. And let’s be frank. Some Tesla’s have perfect panel fit already. No manufacturer builds a car where each model and each car following off the line has flawless paint, panel gaps or zero defects. To pretend all other car makers build perfect cars is silly. There are plenty of 10 year old S class Mercedes which are not worth $10k and same goes for any BMW with an engine issue and more than 10 years old. 
When I was a kid dreaming of that Lamborghini on the wall I was not concerned that the panel gaps were a joke surpassed only by the cardboard interior.  40 years later the auto enthusiast is still more interested in performance and bang for the buck than panel gaps. (Personally I have not seen any Tesla with panel gaps way out of the norm.)

Of course Tesla’s are not perfect nor is any car. I’m not trying to sell one to anyone but it is pretty clear that the complaints are as close to nit picky as can be and many assume not just evil intent but also that issues are not capable of being addressed. That’s where you lose me.  If you look at Tesla customer satisfaction vs any other automakers you might discover the most important metric of them all. If I was in business it’s the one I would be most proud of. Am I wrong?