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- #1
Don't get me wrong...Tesla's are fun cars to drive and I actually seriously considered buying a Model 3 before my Maverick was finally delivered. I am an Engineer by trade and I appreciate a lot of what they are doing to reduce costs. Some of these end up costing the consumer HUGE down the road....Some are just strange to me.
Rant over.
- Glass Roof....Why? The "ultimate sunroof" looks cool but has a huge replacement cost if a rock gets airborne and breaks it. Replacing a $2k roof panel because of rock chips raises insurance costs.
- Gigacasting.....Yes, manufacturing efficiency is greatly increased by turning a bunch of small parts that are welded together into one giant Hotwheels casting. The biggest downside is a relatively minor accident will not be easily repairable and the car will be totaled. This also results in higher insurance costs.
- Electric "presenting" door handles.....is the miniscule amount of drag reduction worth all the added complexity and issues? ie: Icing up in the winter and safety issues in the event of an accident.
- Doors with frameless windows. I'm sure this was another way for Tesla to reduce manufacturing costs, by utilizing smaller stamping dies, or just simply using less material. I believe that most car manufacturers have gone away from this because it is hard to engineer a gasket to seal the window properly. I rented a brand new Tesla and the seals were already coming apart.
- Eliminating the speedometer above the steering wheel. Potentially less safe having to look to the side to see your speed. This was obviously a way to reduce manufacturing costs and increase profits at a cost of driver safety.
- Eliminating the gear selector and turn signal stalks. The new Model 3 has barely any physical controls outside of the touchscreen. I personally don't care for this. I feel it is less safe to have to swipe through touchscreen menus than to click a traditional tactile button. Another cost reduction win for Tesla.
Rant over.
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