Comment by practice9 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by practice9 | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

> quality control

new Toyota EV = wheels falling off, battery overheating and not able to charge to 100% new VW EVs = large panel gaps

> processes new VW EVs = if you are lucky with your firmware version, to update the car via OTA you have to leave your car dealer's service center; dealers still a pain in the ass for both VW and customers GM EVs = just don't produce them because of parts shortage

I don't believe their expertise helps, it was the slow iterative upgrade path that created this myth. As soon as the OEMs need to create a new product, they encounter the same problems that Tesla was criticised for and eventually solved.

> It just is not that hard to build a decent EV anymore.

There are lots of low-hanging fruits for EV efficiency and production that traditional manufacturers are slow on adopting. Like single-piece rear casting (IDRA Gigapress, etc.)

Any new model introduction has problems, there’s a reason it is popular to avoid the first model year or two.

It’s unlikely these car makers wouldn’t fix these quality control issues after that. By comparison Tesla quality is abysmal and took many years to improve to meet other car makers. It’s hard to stand up large car factories for the first time alongside a new car model.

EVs share probably 90% of the non engine parts with other cars. The big components which are different are the drivetrain (simpler), motors, battery and charging equipment. Motors are a commodity and far simpler to manufacture than ICEs. Batteries are the difficult component right now but will likely become more if a commodity as well. EVs are much easier to build than ICEs.

Ultimately we can expect far higher car quality going forward (from our current period of already excellent car reliability).

as we go forward, cars will become more like phones. it will be interesting to see if the auto industry goes in a similar direction in terms of consolidation of market share.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com