For some time now, Sandy Munro, owner of the manufacturing analysis company Munro and Associates, has become very popular within the Tesla community due to his analysis of models of the American company. Both for his criticisms of quality constructive of the vehicles and for their praise of the advanced technical solutions they employ.
Now, the engineer has returned to cause talk on the YouTube channel E for Electric, in which he has affirmed that the paint shop at the Fremont factory is “a piece of garbage,” referring to the many painting problems presented in the Model 3 and Model Y (although the Model S and Model X also suffer).
Munro cites the breakdown he made a year and a half ago of a Model S, a model that has been in uninterrupted production since 2012, and that still has construction flaws that should have been solved “eons ago.” New releases are not exempt from these type’s of failures; in fact, some users have complained that their original Model Ys collect water on the rear doors.
According to Munro, the vehicles manufactured by Tesla in the new Giga Austin factory may significantly improve the quality exhibited by the units produced in Fremont; in fact, the Giga Shanghai Model 3s have dramatically better finishes than its Californian brethren.
Munro says that Tesla is currently not seeing these problems affect its reputation because its current customers turn a “blind eye” and prefer to focus on the many technical advances in their vehicles; however, if the company wants to expand, it will have to improve its build quality for those buyers who are not “fans” of the brand. Still, only customers looking for a car that is satisfactory to them at all levels.
The engineer goes even further and speculates with the possibility that if finally, the vehicles manufactured in Giga Austin turn out to have a construction quality much superior to those of Fremont, this last plant could even close. A threat that Elon Musk has launched several times also though Tesla was able to flourish at the time thanks to the support of customers and California authorities.