The tesla is expensive compared to regular cars yes. But is not supercar that it tries to be. And it shows. If you’re going to use carbon fiber and tout it, do it right.
tesla on the showroom floor,
a little comparison
porsche carrera gt
Don’t expext much from a home-made tree huggers car.
This is also why most composite parts should be painted! The priorities should be strength and low weight, not cosmetics.
I read somewhere that early on in their process there were actual gaps, completely void of fabric. This one spot wouldn’t inspire confidence that is completely fixed. Yes composites are first about strength, but when something is done right it comes out performing better and looking better, welding would be another good example.
I agree with TET. The carbon fiber look is nice but its purpose to the strength to weight ratio.
But all car companies have had their faults. The BMW M6 cars had to be recalled because of delamination on their carbon fiber roofs
That’s the new fashionable way to lay up carbon fiber… swirl and push the weave all to heck then infuse the part haha.
I would be utterly embarrassed to put that part on a car, I would not have even bothered trimming that part once i saw the weave out of the mold. Garbage.
Looks like all show and that ain’t that nice. Really like and agree with the comment about function vs. look. I have so many that say they are looking at the engineering advantages of carbon but then ask can I make it look pretty…guess it takes all kinds.
maserati has a lot of cosmetic flaws in their carbon as well
how many of these parts and cars are made? It takes awhile to get the perfection down pat. If you design the mold and layup on the computer, and only make 5 parts for the 5 cars you are making, then there will always be problems.
As for bridging and voids…as long as they can live with the sacrificed look AND performance…they will use it. Otherwise, a cash straped company trying to sell a new type of car will be tossing out 100-1000$ a part, just because it looks bad.
I hope they designed it with a good failure limit though!
I kinda disagree… you can have both function and look good cosmetically. Porsche does it, right. Small companies like us do it. My customers would be upset if i tried to sell them a part like that. They want function but they also want it to look good. I don’t blame them. So tesla has to toss 4 parts in the trash… all they have lost is some time and a few hundred in materials cost. That should not cause even a small mfg to go into bankruptcy. Tooling costs $ , perfecting the lay up technique costs $. Perhaps Tesla should just throw in the towel if they are going to produce parts like that.
… and that’s my Andy Rooney opinion of the day.
I feel the same way FastrR, particularly with a reputation setting up & coming company. Those parts could have been painted and been just fine…the clear could have been single stage instead FTW.
They possibly got what they scheduled/payed for ??
possibly. everyone wants cf for cheap prices… not really possible to produce good high quality cf parts for cheap, even in bulk orders. Not unless your buying from China :o