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Comment by aslkdjaslkdj1 | Hacker News Reader

“The existing line isn’t functional, it can’t build cars as planned and there isn’t room to get people into work stations to replace the non-functioning robots,” Warburton said in an email. “So here we have it—build cars manually in the parking lot.”

This theory makes sense to me. Changing a over-automated line to one that is safe to use by humans must be way more expensive and time consuming then just rebuilding the whole thing in the parking lot. I imagine this line will have a pretty hefty defect rate though.

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I can’t imagine they’re going to have any kind of profit margins left over after all of this and once returns start coming in.

Why would a car built in a 40+ year old factory have lower defect rates than one built in a tent? Honest question here...

FTA: "The chaos of how Musk is going about this makes it difficult for him to provide the standardized, repeatable work routines that allow people to function"

It's not so much the tent that's the issue. It's more to do with the "fk it, we're in a bind, quick, everyone in the tent" approach which is raising eyebrows. Say what you want about Tesla, but they do make for interesting watching. I'll be grabbing my popcorn for this new episode in the story :)

I don't think the factory is 40 years old. They built it in the last 5 years.

The structure is basically the same one GM completed in 1962 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Assembly

The insides are all new (and now some of the outsides, too!)

I'm no pro but I've worked in a few auto assembly lines. They are constantly reworked and the only real support they get from above is lighting and HVAC. Stamping isn't going to get moved very easily, but most other processes are pretty much bolted to the floor. As long as you have power and reasonable environmental control I don't see why it wouldn't work. It's ghetto but whatever.

The building and the tent is the wrong comparison. The right comparison is between a well setup assembly line (say at some other automaker) and one tossed together in a parking lot.

Because you've had 40 years to iron out any problems on the line.

The oldest line producing Tesla vehicles is a decade or so old, and is housed in an old building designed for someone else’s production line.

Sure they're not putting together internal combustion engines but still, tolerances are important and can vary quite a bit without temperature control.

The “tent” probably will result in a better quality production line since it is a single arch structure with no internal support pillars restricting access or positioning.

The “tent” also likely has better quality air due to not using 40 year old air handling plant.

The mischaracterisiation of the new building as a tent is indicative of the lack of actual concerns about the new line, meaning the short propagandists have to invent new fears.

There’s no AC in the tent

This is not a theory, it is pure unbridled bulldust.

The existing line is functional, this is a new line to produce a new product (specifically the performance model 3).

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