Quote:
Originally Posted by JSH
You can't work people 12 hours a day / 6 days a week for an extended period of time. They do burn out.
The tent production line is to add capacity because the normal line isn't working as it was designed. It isn't working because Musk had his people skip basic steps in the development process and implemented a level of automation beyond what any other automaker has attempted. A lot of that automation isn't working so Musk is throwing humans at problems as a short-term fix.
I come from the automotive manufacturing industry and currently work as a manufacturing engineer.
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I don't doubt you know more about auto manufacturing than me. That said, I stand by my point that increased volume is the pathway to profitability, not idling production capacity.
I agree that too much OT will burn out employees. That's not a long term solution, and neither is a tent for a building.
That said, Munro says there is a 30% margin on the $55k 75 kWh version of the Model 3; higher than any other EV profit margin. Tesla's cost in materials and labor is somewhere around $38,500 for this higher spec'd version.
https://jalopnik.com/engineering-fir...-li-1827632866
The long range battery is 75 kWh, and the standard is 50 kWh; a difference of 25 kWh. Tesla's cost for those 25 extra kWh is about $4750, which when subtracted from the $38,500 car, comes to $33,750 for the standard range.
This is all speculation, but it seems Tesla can break even selling the stripper version of their Model 3 for $35k, and any options at all should return a marginal profit.