Some Tesla Model 3 rear windows shatter spontaneously
carscoops.com
carscoops.com
I expect similar quotes in here about how it’s totally normal for glass to shatter within 2 minutes of delivery.
Before everyone else says it - no Tesla won’t make its own glass - but it will specify it and should be QC testing it. Maybe glass occasionally does the same for other vendors, but this does seem to be another data point in the weekly series of ‘Embarrassing QC issue that gets defended’.
This seems from reports to be a more serious QA issue. Incoming materials QC is part of QA and presumably this passed (the automotive glass suppliers are pretty used to making auto glass and most cars don't have this problem). But QA should have reviewed the design so that breaking stresses can't occur. That (lack of proper design review) is the problem, and appears from reports to be chronic through certain parts of the Tesla process.
When I say "certain parts of the process", for example I mean battery fires are pretty rare so presumably that team takes QA seriously (batteries are no joke!). While body defects and failures are rampant and very widely attested. (I believe the big touchscreens also have a lot of problems but as I don't follow it closely I might have just seen an unusual number of complaints.)
So: fixable, thought there doesn't appear to be a culture of addressing these things.
Eventually all the stupid little QC issues add up. He’s not a Tesla owner now. Bought a Citroen C5 aircross.
I am not currently short Tesla and not all criticism against them is fair. My point is more along the lines of "If you make big claims and brag about yourself, the onus is on you to deliver."
> Owner Says Tesla Model 3 Window Shattered By Itself, Accused Of FUD
I'm sure she was short $TSLA ...
So.. remind me why it’s a problem if people don’t care about panel gaps but do care about windows shattering? How exactly is that inconsistent?
Put another way, fridges that are well made don’t have wobbly doors. If you don’t care about wobbly doors, it’s still not a good idea to buy a fridge with wobbly doors - Fridges with wobbly doors tend to be more likely to have other issues than just a wobbly door. If you buy a new fridge from a company that is known to have wobbly doors because of low manufacturing precision, don’t be as surprised when your fridges glass shelves spontaneously shatter - you bought something that had high variation and was manufactured with low accuracy and a poor quality system.
I mean a Tesla is still my dream car even considering the obvious quality issues, but I’ll wait until they are more mature at manufacturing before one is my next car.
Feels slightly more accurate.
Or if it happens to Tesla, it's "normal", "expected" and probably "the shorts".
Maybe they've got better. But in 2017 I spend a good amount of time in a Model S, and the impression I got was distinctly "high tech", but not "luxury". The dash was more flimsy, creaky than my old Altima, the fit and finishings were similar, and even my entry level Audi blew past it in interior quality and refinement.
Turns out some kid threw a brick at it.
https://www.iltalehti.fi/kotimaa/a/59ccdab0-e9aa-486e-88da-9...
https://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-threw-rock-off-highway-overpa...
Elon said himself the hard part was mass manufacturing the damn things, and they're clearly failing to do so properly.
It's an interesting situation certainly. You hear a lot of people comparing Teslas to Audis and BMWs to point out how poor their paint is, awful panel gaps, and how lacking their interiors are, but I've never heard anyone compare powertrain reliability or quality.
The value of a Tesla comes form the advanced telematics and EV powertrain, the later of which is more expensive to produce than what's found in an Audi or BMW.
In terms of how well the interiors hold up over time, I don't think that any of them hold up any better or worse. My 2+ year old Model 3 looks just as nice inside as the day I got it, I'd say the same of my friend's BMW 5 Series that was about 2 years old when she sold it.
In terms of maintenance costs, a Tesla requires maintenance ever 2 years at around $150 a visit. BMWs typically get free service for the first 3 years, but after that you're looking at something like $250 every 5000. So if you're expecting to keep your car for more than 3 years there's certainly value in that respect. The high reliability and low maintenance costs of Teslas also increase their resale value compared to other vehicles.
Personally, I find the interiors or Audis and BMWs to be a lot of pomp and circumstance to help their owners justify the price. There's a lot of lights, noise, and different material finishes to make them look impressive but is that better? I don't think so.
They definitely have strong points too, the software package is nice and their charging network is good, but that's where my compliments end.
Yes the paint and interior aren't as good as a comparably priced BMW or Audi, they had to cut corners somewhere to hit their price point. I'm glad they chose a simplified interior and crappy paint over compromising the power train or telematics.
It's like complaining that a 26.73gram gold nugget isn't as shiny as a brand new silver dollar.
I just don't see any justification in worse quality than a 1995-ish SAAB because It's got a touch screen.
The engine and transmission are simpler but not without their challenges, in addition you have to consider the battery which is also part of the powertrain and is the major cost center.
The gearboxes in EVs have to withstand much more torque than a traditional ICE vehicle which is why most manufacturers have stuck with direct driver or reduction gear boxes instead of a traditional transmission. They're simpler to design but require more expensive and stronger materials.
A 3 phase motor can be simple and cheap if it's the induction motor used in something like a forklift but EVs need more power and efficiency and have a much greater duty cycle. The Tesla Model 3 uses a switched reluctance partial permanent magnet motor and an induction motor in the dual motor, the Nissan Leaf uses a synchronous electric motor, the BMW i3 uses a synchronous permanent magnet motor, the VW ID.3 uses a permanent magnet brushless motor.
"In April 1954, a strange phenomenon swept across the town of Bellingham, Seattle, and other communities in Washington state. People began to observe “windshield pits” on their cars – minor damage that, when magnified, can look like a tiny crater in the surface of the glass, usually caused by sand or other small debris colliding with the windscreen at high speed. As the phenomenon was reported in the press, more people noticed marks and chips on their screens. A few weeks before the sightings began, the US had exploded a huge hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean, and many blamed these nuclear tests. Others believed a nearby navy communication tower was warping the glass. Residents panicked. By 15 April, almost 3,000 windscreens had been affected, and the mayor asked for assistance from President Eisenhower.
Today, the Seattle windshield pitting epidemic is often cited as an example of mass panic, in which people attributed a sinister cause to something that had been there, unnoticed, all along. Two days after the appeal to the president, Seattle police issued a statement saying that the pitting epidemic was “95% public hysteria”. Sightings suddenly stopped."
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/01/the-mystery-...
Isn't bioweapon defense mode HEPA filter plus overpressure, not a totally sealed cabin?
https://electrek.co/2019/09/26/tesla-model-3-body-in-white-g...
"Saint-Gobain, a long-term glass supplier for Tesla, established a factory in the Lingang industrial zone to supply Tesla for the Chinese-made Model 3 vehicles and it plans to start mass production on October 14 to match Tesla.
Ma Jun, head of Saint-Gobain Sekurit’s Lingang factory, commented: (...)"
Also found in the USA:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanvoisin/ "Stéphan Voisin Business Director TESLA at Saint-Gobain Sekurit Los Angeles Metropolitan Area"
A quick search suggests that Tesla's had intermittent window regulator problems in the model 3 and others, and there sure are a lot of ads for replacement/rebuilt Model 3 rear door window regulators.
Why is this on HN?
With Tesla? There's "FUD!", "this is normal", "to be expected from time to time", "overblown issue".
Can you provide the information you describe above?
That is actually not true with vehicle windows. They often are tempered and layered so they usually pop back with the force of getting something hit and blast out. Not saying this isn't spontaneous but my experience with car windows breaking is most of the glass ends up on the outside when struck from the outside.