Bob Lutz: Improved Tesla Panel Gaps is now "World Class"
Cars
Published on June 16, 2019 |
by Dr. Maximilian Holland
16. June 2019 by Dr. Maximilian Holland
The famous Tesla bearer, Bob Lutz, has recently sold praise for the build quality of Tesla's vehicles, and says of a model 3 he inspected, "not only was the paint without obvious error, but the various panels formed a precision color which was beyond belief. "
This is a significant high note from Lutz, who has sold Tesla's imminent fall for many years. Now a retired veteran from the automotive industry, Lutz's view of the world's largest EV manufacturer has at best been mixed.
Remember that in July 2006, Tesla revealed the world's first compelling long-distance EV, Roadster. Then, in August 2006, Elon Musk "leaked" the secret Tesla Motors master plan, announced its planned product map of increasingly affordable EV.
Lutz later famous famous Tesla's Roadster and early EV plans (along with Prius early success) as inspirational GM to work on the Chevrolet Volt (see Chris Paynes Revenge of the Electric Car for more early history). Lutz has also said about Tesla, and his groundbreaking work in EV, that he will always blame them for having some kind of broken ice. Lutz obviously recognizes the role Tesla played early in creating the EV Renaissance and
Lutz has often praised Tesla's vehicles himself, and says about Tesla Model S: "A model S, especially with the performance upgrades, is one of the fastest, best handling, best-stopping sedans that you can buy in the world today … Acceleration times will beat some $ 350,000 European exotic. "
However, Lutz has often expressed doubts about Tesla's business model and lack of focus on profitability. There are many examples of Lutz's Tesla bashing, but this gives the overall taste: "Tesla's business model is upside down … their costs have always been higher than their income. … They must always get more capital, so they burn We've covered the shadow that Lutz has thrown Tesla's way in recent years – if you want more examples, our full archives are here. Charles Morris also has an excellent article that maps many of Lutz's various statements about Tesla and Elon Musk, if you want a deep dive.
My own assessment of Lutz's misconception about Tesla's investment growth strategy before profit is quite simple. Lutz himself was always a career man working for existing, well-established automakers who were well beyond their early growth phase and probably never understood the culture of an innovative start-up that wants to disrupt the status quo. He probably did not believe Tesla's conscious focus on continuous investment in (extraordinary) high growth, not quarterly earnings per se . This is a deliberate business strategy at Tesla, and one that Elon Musk re-iterated at the Tesla Annual General Meeting in 2019.
In fairness to Lutz, given his own career, he could hardly hope to understand this. Since leaving his fairly conventional leadership roles, Lutz has only been involved in two small startup machines (VIA Motors and VLF Automotive). It also does not seem to be beyond showing gross concepts and now both seemingly either failed or entered suspended animation. In short, Lutz has never been involved in a successful startup. He is not an entrepreneur.
Bob Lutz. Bill Credit: Ed Schipul / [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons
The wind has changed once again, and we find Lutz calling the ruling of Tesla's vehicle again. In a recent Road and Track article, Lutz writes: "When I was spying on a metal red model 3 in a car park in Ann Arbor, I felt compelled to check it out." Lutz was expecting to see evidence of the Tesla Model 3's "production weekend" writing big, in uneven panel gaps and lacks in paint work.
To his great surprise, Lutz found something completely different:
"But when I was next to the car, I was stunned. Not only was the paint without any noticeable flaws, but the various panels formed a precision color that was out of bounds Gap from hood to fender, door to frame, and all the others seemed to be perfectly smooth, just as side-to-side, and completely parallel, 3.5 to 4.5 mm Gap is considered a word class. . "
If anyone is concerned that Lutz has been abducted and replaced with an avatar, do not sweat it:
" So, while continuing to be critical of Tesla's business model and Musk & # 39; s strategy, it was impossible to find fault with the visual quality of the Model 3. "
Thank you Bob, good to know that things do not change. 19
Editor's Note: As much as I have enjoyed Bob Lutz's comments on Tesla over the years, I think he deserves great props for having a pretty open mind and so publicly praised Tesla after putting so much pessimism out there about the company's ability to succeed or even produce some of its vehicles (Model S, Model X, Model 3). Thanks + kudos to Bob for not being a tribe of Tesla trolls.
About the author
Dr. Maximilian Holland Max is an anthropologist, social theorist and international political economist, trying to question and encourage critical thinking about social and environmental justice, sustainability and human condition. He has lived and worked in Europe and Asia and is currently based in Barcelona.
