Posted on 04/21/2016 11:06:58 AM PDT by jazusamo
As it continues to defy common sense and the laws of economics with its lofty stock price, Tesla has again shown it has little corporate competence in the ability to deliver a consistently functional product that satisfies customers.
The latest evidence comes in the recently rolled out Model X, which is allegedly an SUV, but looks like just another car. Retailing at a price only the extremely wealthy can afford ($138,000), the all-electric follow-up to the similarly troubled Model S automobile has stumbled out of the gate. The problems were outlined in a Consumer Reports article posted online Tuesday, which spurred a number of similar follow-up stories in other media, and temporarily caused Teslas stock to dip. Long-time followers of the company know that is only a temporary condition, however.
Nonetheless those who actually own a Model X as opposed to those who own a certificate of stock in the company registered their displeasure with their new vehicles. Among the problems cited were the failure of its DeLorean-style falcon wing doors to close; sensors in the doors that didnt detect overhangs and thus caused collisions; windows that dont close properly; frozen infotainment screens; and various other maladies.
Tesla message boards are already swelling with complaints from Model X owners regarding balky doors, interior trim-piece tolerances, paint-spray quality, malfunctioning second-row seats, sheet-metal panel gaps, and climate control issues,Consumer Reports reported.
The magazine conceded that such problems are expected from a brand-new model, which Tesla claimed are not widespread. The companys excellent customer service was said to mitigate some of the customers frustrations.
But that only goes so far. The Wall Street Journal reported the experience of a California financial adviser, Brad Ledwith, who loved his new Model X that he received less than a month ago for a few days at least, until the falcon-wing doors broke. He was told it would be two weeks before they could be scheduled because Teslas service center was overbooked with repair appointments.
I think to myself, I am willing to concede a couple of things, but it is just Im leasing this car for $1,350 per month, Ledwith told the newspaper. If it is out two weeks, that costs $700.
Then there was the Model X owner who reported that its AutoPilot hands-free driving feature failed when a roads shoulder ended, requiring the driver to take control. AndConsumer Reports noted a design problem with the SUVs long, curved windshield, which gives a double-vision effect on headlights, taillights and streetlights. An owner interviewed reported that the vehicles heating system was inadequate also.
It would be easy to dismiss all the Model X flaws as beta problems that will be worked out, except many of them were predictable and even forecast by auto industry experts.
The Model X appears to be unbuildable with those automatic gull-wing doors, which everyone in the industry always said were not going to work, said former General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz on CNBC last year.
The SUV rollout follows similar reports of complaints and glitches with Teslas introductory all-electric vehicle, the Model S. After Consumer Reports issued glowing reviews for performance and comfort in 2013 and then again in 2015, reality bit when the actual customer feedback was weighed in . After the magazine received 1,400 survey responses, the resultsshowed that Model Ss were likely to involve a worse-than-average overall problem rate that affect reliability. Issues cited included problems with the drive train, power equipment, charging equipment, the giant iPad-like center console, and body and sunroof squeaks, rattles, and leaks.
This extensive data allows us to forecast that owning a Tesla will likely mean worse than average reliability, a decline from last years average prediction, said Consumer Reports head of automotive testing, Jake Fisher, last year. As a result the Model S will not receive the recommended designation.
The experiences with the Models S and X foreshadow a likely problematic introduction of what is supposed to be Teslas broadest appeal vehicle yet: the affordable electric Model 3, to be introduced in late 2017 or 2018. With more than 300,000 pre-orders taken with $1,000 deposits, the Model 3 is supposed to expand Tesla from niche manufacturer to producer for the masses.
As reported previously by NLPC, one area where Tesla and CEOElon Musk have shown great competence is in convincing governments at all levels to award them billions of dollars in subsidies, grants and loans . Without all the taxpayer investment there is no green energy industry, as Steve Moore explains in the current issue of The Weekly Standard.
Current battery costs for a Tesla and other electric vehicles are roughly $325 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), Moore wrote, citing researchers from the Journal of Economic Perspectives. How does that cost fare against standard gasoline in the tank? At a battery cost of $325 per kWh, the authors wrote, the price of oil would need to exceed $350 per barrel before the electric vehicle was cheaper to operate.
Which goes to show that regardless of whether your luxury electric vehicle has doors that work or dont, or an infotainment system that freezes or functions, what youre running on is the fuel of taxpayer subsidies.
Paul Chesser is an associate fellow for the National Legal and Policy Center and publishes CarolinaPlottHound.com , an aggregator of North Carolina news.
They are also mostly coal and natural gas powered.
Contrary to popular leftist belief, electric cars are not magically powered by unicorn farts.
For an very expensive car I would think it would have more legroom!
Gull wing doors are so stupid.
No, the editor didn’t miss it but you missed much in the article that you didn’t point out.
I chose that photo to show that the front doors were conventional. I was thinking the gull wing doors were for a two seater. That would make for a very expensive two seater. Not so. The gull wings make for a very expensive four seater and may be one reason why the car is so expensive.
LOL!
You win the El Cid Award for excellence in abstaining from reading the article and directly posting comments.
Bricks on wheels
Oh indeed it is
True I did not read the article. I was simply interested a quick answer.
Hollywood will make a time travel movie using the Tesla..........
Elon Musk is today’s John DeLorean.
“You put a time machine in a... Tesla?!”
I usually don't get that far down into the article, but for some perverse reason I seem to take glee in the Tesla bashing articles. So I read this one (and it also didn't require linking to some other location).
I don’t understand the claim that the cost of a Tesla battery is $325 per KWH. At that rate, the Tesla battery’s entire lifetime charge is 20 KWH. Last I checked, the price of a KWH of electricity was about thirty cents.
You do know that Tesla has already sold several times more cars than DeLorean? And that what send DeLorean under was a drug sting, not any problems with the business plan?
In California road construction and maintenance is funded through gasoline taxes. Tessa’s drive on roads that they do not pay for.
Electric cars that cost an avg. of 100,000 grand plus that won’t go very far in winter nor summer are not middle class vehicles.
I don’t know what they’re trying to say. The Md S has an 85 kwh battery in it and if the manufacture cost of battery is $325 per kwh that means the cost of the battery alone is close to $28K.
Yeah there was a massive line at the dealership in town for the model 3 pre-order. Line went down the block so people could plop down a grand for one.
The current versions of the model S have 70 or 90 KWH batteries.
Okay, I was looking at I guess an older Md S. I guess the 75D Md X has a 75 kwh battery.
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