Elon Musk Says 'If Lego Can Do It, so Can We' About Cybertruck Quality in Leaked Tesla Email

In a leaked email to Tesla employees, Elon Musk highlighted the need for high standards of quality and “single-digit micron” tolerance with the Cybertruck due to its straight edges.

Today, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that he test-drove a production candidate Cybertruck at Gigafactory Texas.

Presumably, he also surveyed the Cybertruck production at the plant and the quality of the pickups Tesla is currently producing ahead of the official production start.

He came away from it with an interesting thought that he shared in an email to Tesla employees that leaked (first reported on Cybertruck Owners Club):

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.​

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

That means all part dimensions need to be to the third decimal place in millimeters and tolerances need be specified in single digit microns. If LEGO and soda cans, which are very low cost, can do this, so can we.​

Precision predicates perfectionism.​

Elon

Musk noted that the design of the Cybertruck, with its sharp edges and stainless steel finish, makes every imperfection look worse.

Top comment by Doug T Liked by 8 people

I can only assume that Musks post is poorly worded or he is clueless. Nobody is sourcing parts with overall dimensions on the order of a meter with typical tolerances of a few microns. This is especially true of non-machined cast or formed parts which will deform microns as they age due to internal stresses. Handling the parts will deform them that much.

Those dimensional toleranced are usually reserved for precision fitting small parts (or small features on a large part) or optics.

His post is nonsense.

But he does this all the time trying to sound intelligent, like saying The CT can pull a "near infinite mass"...near infinite IS infinite.

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The CEO suggests that the Cybertruck needs to achieve a level of accuracy in the single-digit micron range on all parts in order for the fit and finish to look perfect.

He compared the approach to the requirements of products like LEGO and soda cans, which Musk has praised before for their high volume manufacturing capacity at low cost.

In the past, Tesla has often been criticized for its fit and finishes. However, it is generally accepted that the quality has improved over the years, and now Tesla’s latest products, like the Model Y, receive better reviews in that regard.

Tesla is looking to launch the official Cybertruck production in the coming weeks for a delivery event by the end of the quarter.