Peddle Meddle

This recent kerfuffle around Tesla's Cybertruck and its accelerator pedal coming loose and jamming in the footwell of the vehicle has reminded me of something I read about John Delorean and the production of the iconic DMC-12 that would take Marty McFly backwards and forwards in time. 

The story goes that during preproduction, ol' JZD was trying every chance he could to cut corners on design and testing, trying to retain as much of his original vision as possible. His logic was that Lotus (who were helping in the production) frequently skipped a lot of steps that the larger automobile manufacturers make, especially in design and testing. Basically, if it was good enough for Colin Chapman, it was good enough for John Delorean. 

Finally, someone challenged him. He explained that the reason why Lotus can take a more seemingly more cavalier attitude to design and testing is that they're typically only making a few hundred examples of a vehicle at most. If they find a flaw really late in production, including coming off the assembly line, they can fix it right then and there and repeat the steps for every vehicle that comes off the line. Delorean wasn't making a few hundred DMC-12's. He wasn't making a few thousand. He was making tens of thousands in one of the most sophisticated assembly lines of its time. If it was found that a wheel arch was too narrow or, let's say, the accelerator pedal came loose and got stuck in the footwell, that's a repair you're going to have to repeat tens of thousands of times. 

The worst part about what's happening with the Cybertruck is that even some of the repairs aren't going so well. They're using 3D printed jigs to reattach the pedal with a Phillips-headed wood screw, and some of the examples that have gotten back to customers have the screw misaligned. They're literally botching the repairs despite having all the necessary tools for what is quite possibly the laziest, most half-assed repair anyone could do for a vehicle. 

Bear in mind, I'm not one of these "I told you so" types. I had legitimate faith that Tesla would succeed. After all, it managed to do what I thought would be impossible in my lifetime, and that's make electric cars cool. For perspective, I used to drive a Nissan Cube, and I got asked once if it was electric. Considering other vehicles like the Toyota Prius and the Nissan Leaf, nobody was expecting a an electric car like a Tesla to come out of the concept phase. That it's turned out to have more than a few smoke and mirrors behind it isn't surprising, like exaggerated ranges and the safety of its battery packs in collisions. What is surprising is that not only did they cut corners on the adhesive holding the accelerator in place, but the design of the footwell was such that the pedal can get jammed. 

Sadly, another thing that's not surprising is that there are those who are still defending Tesla in light of this recent event. Something needs to change. Someone needs to challenge the rule over there and tell Delorean he's not Lotus.