Leaked Email Shows Elon Musk Demanding "Sub 10 Micron Accuracy​” Cybertruck Parts

It's almost like he hears about how bad the build quality of Tesla cars have become, so he thinks the solution is more accurrate, more expensive parts. Kind of like he has absolutely no clue what he's doing, and doesn't want to listen to smarter people telling him what they need.

Tesla should mill the car from one solid block of steel.

10 microns is .4 thou, about the width of a cotton fiber. Its possible to machine those tolerances, but very time consuming as machine maintainance steps up. Its also small enough that the thermal expansion of the sheets will be larger than that

If LEGO and soda cans, which are very low cost, can do this, so can we.

This man is a certifiable idiot, and I feel bad for anyone working for him.

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"All parts for this vehicle, whether internal or from suppliers, need to be designed and built to sub 10 micron accuracy.​"

LOL

Yeah ok.

Tell me you know nothing about manufacturing, without telling me you know nothing about manufacturing.

That one quote - assuming it is accurate - explains that Musk is even more of an idiot than everyone already knew he was. You don't make things at those tight tolerances. A couple of dimensions on a part might be (for instance the bore on a press fit sleeve), but you'd almost never, ever hold an entire part to that tight of a tolerance.

In imperial units, 10 microns is .00039". A human hair is roughly .001 to .005" thick. So he is asking for a tolerance that is 3 to 10x smaller than the thickness of a human hair. To put the absurdity of Musk's demand into perspective, most parts that go into a car are roughly an order of magnitude looser in tolerance with some dimensions being 2 orders of magnitude looser.

That difference might not sound like a lot, but holding something to +/-.0039 versus +/-.00039" could easily triple the price of an item or more. Easy. You use a tight tolerance only when you need to - that's engineering 101. Some parts could easily be +/- .039" and not affect their performance on bit. Close tolerance engine parts might be held at what Musk is demanding, but never "ALL PARTS" would be held to that.

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Due to the nature of Cybertruck, which is made of bright metal with mostly straight edges, any dimensional variation shows up like a sore thumb.​

It sounds to me like the reasonable conclusion to draw from this would be to modify the design of the car. I'd also assume you don't need tolerances to be the same for literally all parts inside and out. I'd also think that, if the car looks that bad if things are 10 or more microns out of place, these cars are going to age terribly after regular use.

But what do I know? If I were smart, I'd be rich, right? And Elon is so rich, he must be a genius!

This just shows how dumb he is and that he doesn't know shit. Unnecessary, unreasonable and unrealistic tolerances will not result in a better car!

It's just marketing. Elon wants dumb tesla bros to think their truck is built to that accuracy. No need for it to be reality.

Cybertruck, Cybertruck,
Engineers say "what the fuck"
Micron fits for auto steel?
Those are not a thing that's real
So deal! Deal with it, Cybertruck.

In the full email he goes on to tell the engineer what a micron is.

I guess, he just read that word somewhere and now feels cool that he knows it.

It would be cute if he was a junior manager, but this way it's just sad.

Why does Space Karen still have all his fanbois? Do they really think he's some kind of software/technology/business genius, even after all that has come out about him?

If Elon would have looked back, he would have seen that Delorean has already tried bare metal, and it's nearly impossible to fix. Dent your truck? May as well paint it.

I mean, Elon obviously doesn't care about repairability, but the first few fender benders will result in a pile of articles about how unfixable the body panels actually are.

Elon gonna engineer the shit outta this thing. Nevermind coil steel itself varies by more than that before it goes into a die and stretches. It's almost like he doesn't have any background in automotive manufacturing. This statement makes me think Elon may not know what a micron even is. The fit and finish of Tesla's current offerings seems to evidence it anyway.

Sounds like a pr campaign

Hilarious considering the panel gaps in all his other cars, dude is fucking insane. Unattainable standards don't breed better work they breed exasperation and apathy.

Sure hun. Would you like that with a side of fries or mashed potatoes?

to build it to that accuracy the car would have to cost millions

Two things, not necessarily related.

1. The cybertronk looks highly regarded when put together correctly. Imagine if it has the panel gaps of other cars TSLA makes.

2. My tinfoil hat theory on why Elon is acting all right wing all of the sudden is to get those idiots to buy electric bare metal Pontiac Aztecs with "unbreakable" windows instead of F-150's

They've had five years to figure that stuff out. If they haven't done it by now, they never will.

Jesus that thing just remind me of Lara Croft's boobs in the first tombraider game.

While holding this tight of a tolerance is standard for small sinple injection molded plastic part like Lego blocks (0.01mm tol. usually need some really good tooling though), it's not really possible to hold this tight of a tolerance for large sheet metal construction such as the Cybertruck body (Standard tolerance should probably be in the milimeter range at most. )

So, guess the Cybertruck is never coming out.

"Bad news guys... We're gonna have to delay production for just TWO MORE YEARS because of these woke microns! The good news though, you can get re-premium upgraded waitlist VIP positioning with a renewal deposit of only $500"

Guarantee he has no understanding of metalwork. It's not tricky, it's an exact science.

Wait, I thought he was just bullshitting his fans with that. He's actually serious? XD

Also, I don't understand what this has to do with bare metal construction of the Cybertruck and why that should present exceptional difficulties. DeLorean figured out how to make bare metal cars more than forty years ago, so it can't be that hard.

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No amount of accuracy is going to fix the ugly of that thing.

That's an idea I would have supported when I was taking high school physics. My astronomy calculations I put to the nearest centimetre (something like 20 significant digits sometimes) for no good reason. Just writing down all the numbers from the calculator.

Then I took engineering and grew out of it. Sure some crucial parts need very tight tolerancing, but you also have to have it relative to the size of the part. And if your design is bad, better tolerancing isn't going to save you from stuff like the steering wheel popping out.

This reminds me of the episode when Homer Simpson was allowed to design a car.

So just use Lego bricks.

I know it's supposed to make them sound good and might indeed be meant for leaking, but all I can think of is the demands on quality assurance and risks of failures down the road if such precision is paramount for the operation of the vehicle and assumed by the teams building it.

So give me a less finicky vehicle, please, and leave that precision for devices not subject to highly varying road conditions at very high speeds and housing people.

Every time I see it I can't get past how hideous it looks. I just don't get it...who's the target demo for this thing? They've already been beaten to market by non-absurd looking trucks, how big could their market actually be?

Expect that this is total BS, either because he watched some episodes of "how it's made" and had to immediately share the profundity with his brilliant engineers as a lame flex, or he is trying to get out in front of a general rejection of the fashion of his demolition man meme mobiles by giving no room for error from his engineers to make a mistake which will allow him to blame rhe ugliness on microscopic variations in plate size.

High accuracy, low precision.

Machining parts to that precision would exponentially increase the cost of the individual parts. This is something that will never ever ever happen and I'd be willing to bet my entire fortune on it. No Cybertruck will ever be mass produced with all it's components within 10 microns of tolerance. Elon might roll one off the line like that to prove that it can be done, but nobody other than his billionaire buddies would be able to afford one.

Isn't the metal body going to expand depending on the temperature? This is so unhinged.

Kind of wish we would just get away from cars. I'm in a car centric neighborhood and miss the days of when I didn't live in one.

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There are companies making bricks in much better quality than LEGO, and they are cheaper than LEGO. What kind of a margin is this supposed to be?

This man is like an unintelligent P.T. Barnum.

He really is a moron 🙈

I'm not even sure the Space Shuttle was built with those ridiculous tolerances. Maybe some internal engine parts like turbopump rotors and shafts. Does he know what he's saying?

eNgInEeRiNg

Basically, it's an admission that the cybertruck is going to stand out like a sore thumb due to normal wear and tear.

Just like Steve Jobs and every other "visionary" all he does is demand things, have his engineers and factory slaves do their thing, and then go on stage and act like he personally minted every single cybertruck by hand. Any asshole can do the job of a visionary, actually, being an asshole is the only required skill.

Truck is machine dedicated for transportation of goods. Not art from museum.

@stopthatgirl7 silly man

(people frantically selling tesla stock)

Six sigmas of deviation. Stuff is so figured out by u dustrial engineers. What a clueless idiot.

Like Trump demands being King of the USA or something.

Just don't take those idiots seriously. They are Trolls.

LOL. At the same price as the Lightning, there's no way this could compete with Ford. I thought the point of the sharp angles was to make the truck super cheap. If it was $25k, I'd consider getting it not caring about what it looked like (as long as it was warrantied for mechanical failures). Just for a cheap new truck to haul shit and not worry about getting beat up.

A Saturday morning lemmy comment section has more engineering skill than a $1T automaker, apparently.

I hate Elon as much as the next guy, but I have to admit that that car looks pretty good and aesthetic. Damn.