I've heard from the CTO that they have a fraction of the amount of workers than most other car plants, and they've intentionally developed it this way so that their factory is programmable to make it more flexible for other cars.
What's also REALLY cool is that their whole car is programmable, in other words, they can push software updates to it and have that affect your driving experience. So, if there are defects, you don't have to be stuck with a crappy car -- you just get a software update.
Saab utilizes this through Tech2. Just to turn the Aux Out component on my stereo would cost $150-300. Disable the Alarm system beep? $150-300. Disable the airbag warning? $150-300. Replace the stereo? $150-300. Disable daytime running headlights? $150-300. List goes on.
Had Saab made these options available through menus, I would bless their innovation. Instead, the menus are 'hidden' and only accessible with a DRM yearly license and a device.
I know these aren't driving experience based updates, but it is a testament of how a car's configuration can lead to thousands of dollars of waste and customer dissatisfaction.
The difference is that Tesla doesn't charge for any of these features, and all of this is configurable via their onboard system (of course, only when your car isn't driving ;) ).
You can even configure your car to "creep" forward or to stay put when your foot is off the break but the car is on. This is also done via the menu.
I think what you mentioned is more of a testament to how Saab overcharges for small features on their product. Just because Saab does this, it doesn't mean Tesla does. I'd love to have more configuration options come with my car.
They claim 3000 workers. A typical B&A plant has about 4000 employees and produces 3000 cars per week, and Tesla is building about 500. I'd say the CTO is blowing smoke.
I also don't understand the point about software. Very few car defects are related to software. It is stuff like rattles, and wind noise (NVH) that are common problems due to build issues. It is quite hard to fix a dashboard rattle with a firmware change.
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I've heard from the CTO that they have a fraction of the amount of workers than most other car plants, and they've intentionally developed it this way so that their factory is programmable to make it more flexible for other cars.
What's also REALLY cool is that their whole car is programmable, in other words, they can push software updates to it and have that affect your driving experience. So, if there are defects, you don't have to be stuck with a crappy car -- you just get a software update.
Saab utilizes this through Tech2. Just to turn the Aux Out component on my stereo would cost $150-300. Disable the Alarm system beep? $150-300. Disable the airbag warning? $150-300. Replace the stereo? $150-300. Disable daytime running headlights? $150-300. List goes on.
Had Saab made these options available through menus, I would bless their innovation. Instead, the menus are 'hidden' and only accessible with a DRM yearly license and a device.
I know these aren't driving experience based updates, but it is a testament of how a car's configuration can lead to thousands of dollars of waste and customer dissatisfaction.
The difference is that Tesla doesn't charge for any of these features, and all of this is configurable via their onboard system (of course, only when your car isn't driving ;) ).
You can even configure your car to "creep" forward or to stay put when your foot is off the break but the car is on. This is also done via the menu.
I think what you mentioned is more of a testament to how Saab overcharges for small features on their product. Just because Saab does this, it doesn't mean Tesla does. I'd love to have more configuration options come with my car.
I wasn't aware of that. Sounds cool - I always like to play with the available options in the software ;-)
They claim 3000 workers. A typical B&A plant has about 4000 employees and produces 3000 cars per week, and Tesla is building about 500. I'd say the CTO is blowing smoke.
I also don't understand the point about software. Very few car defects are related to software. It is stuff like rattles, and wind noise (NVH) that are common problems due to build issues. It is quite hard to fix a dashboard rattle with a firmware change.