In a new interview, Elon Musk agreed with some scathing criticism of Telsa Inc.’s vehicles, and discouraged the purchase of Tesla vehicles during an increase in production.
The extraordinarily sincere interview – even for an extraordinarily sincere CEO like Musk – with engineering consultant Sandy Munro aired Tuesday on the YouTube channel and podcast “Munro Live”.
Musk had a strong answer when asked about quality control issues: “It took us a while to plan the production process. Friends ask me, “When should I buy a Tesla?” And I say to myself, “Well, either you buy it at the beginning or when production reaches a steady state. During this production ramp, it’s very difficult to be in vertical upload mode and do everything right on the little details.”
Painting problems also arose in December, Musk said, with a desire to produce as many cars as possible before the end of the year. “One of the things that happened when we increased production was that the paint wasn’t necessarily dry enough,” he said. “Then it’s like you’re going faster … it’s like you’re just discovering these things. For example, if we knew them in advance, we would solve them in advance ”.
“Production is hell,” Musk said.
This could be a concern for future buyers, as Tesla TSLA,
plans to open new factories in Texas and Germany in the coming months and start production of the Cybertruck pickup and semi-large platform by the end of the year.
See also: Apple could build a fully autonomous electric car with Hyundai-Kia: report
During a tough demolition in 2018, Munro compared Tesla’s Model 3 sedan to a poor-quality 90s Kia. “I can’t imagine how they launched this,” he said at the time. (Munro appeared later and liked later versions of Model 3.)
In the interview, Musk said he agreed with Munro. “I thought your criticisms were accurate,” Musk said.
Musk also admitted that the seats in the early versions of the Model S were terrible, “it probably had the worst seat of all the cars I’ve been in,” Musk said, noting that he used to call the seat a “stone shield.” “. This stimulated a much more comfortable seat design in the Model 3, which Munro complemented.
Munro isn’t the only one criticizing Tesla’s quality. Consumer Reports last year ranked Tesla in second place according to a reliability survey. “Only the Model 3 sedan is reliable,” Consumer Reports said in November, leaving the Model S SUV, Model X SU and Model Y compact SUV to a minimum.
But that hasn’t hurt Tesla. The company delivered about 500,000 vehicles last year and analysts expect that number to grow to 800,000 this year. Tesla shares have soared more than 480% in the last 12 months.