Re: [EVDL] Was Tesla Designed in California? :-/ - Fixed Cold Weather Frunk Hood Latch Stuck

[(-Phil-) via EV]

I know a few engineers that are/were at Tesla, and not only did they do
environmental chamber tests, but also Alaska and Death Valley in
winter/summer.   I don't know any other particulars.   However, No amount
of testing can cover every situation of course, and there is a difference
between how a new car acts in extreme environments and how it acts in those
after it's aged somewhat.

I think Tesla made a mistake on the door handles on the Model S, but I'm
pretty happy with the ones on the Model 3 (same as Y).  One easy fix Tesla
could make on these is to add door open command from the app, that way if
the handle is covered in ice, you could still pop the door without even
having to touch it.  The exterior door handles are literally just a switch,
and a grab handle to pull on the door.

If you are a California engineer who has never lived in areas with poor
weather, it's hard to imagine all the requirements as well as one from
Detroit.  I also lived in suburban Detroit in my younger years, so I know
what it's like.  I'm glad I don't live there anymore, and I'm glad I don't
have to engineer automotive closure systems.  =)

I'm glad I live in a good climate, and in the rare instance it's not, I
have a garage.


On Sun, Jan 21, 2024 at 11:44 AM Lee Hart via EV  wrote:

> On cold-testing cars...
>
> I grew up in Michigan, at a time when the US auto industry was king.
> Friends of mine worked for various automakers. They each had huge
> environmental test chambers that could be adjusted for anything from -40
> deg.F deep freezes to 140 deg.F deserts, howling winds, blizzards, driving
> rain, and altitudes from Death Valley to Pike's Peak. That way, they could
> find out how their cars would fare with weather in the real world.
>
> This headed off many problems, at least when the cars were new. But as you
> might expect, there were cases where the environmental chambers were
> over-booked, or someone changed a part without re-testing, or testing one
> car didn't reveal that 50% of that model would have problems.
>
> A friend related one incident where there was a blizzard and -40 deg.F
> temperatures forecast for Houghton MI. GM had engineers drive a few cars up
> there for testing. They stayed at a motel, and the next morning, none of
> the cars would start. Not from a battery problem; but because the emission
> control computers were dead. My friend opened up the emission control
> computer, placed his hand on the chips to warm them up, and the car
> started. It turned out that a one hour at -40 deg.F wasn't long enough to
> cool everything down; but overnight was.
>
> Big companies only tend to learn from their own mistakes (not others). The
> traditional automakers have learned their lessons over a very long time.
> The engineers would complain about stupid tests that only held things up,
> but that were mandated to prevent past mistakes.
>
> Tesla is a young company. Perhaps they don't yet see the reasons to do
> much environmental testing. So it's going to take them time to make their
> own mistakes, and learn from them.
>
> Excellence does not require perfection. -- Henry James
> --
> Lee A. Hart https://www.sunrise-ev.com
>
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Re: [EVDL] Was Tesla Designed in California? :-/ - Fixed Cold Weather Frunk Hood Latch Stuck

[Lee Hart via EV]

On cold-testing cars...

I grew up in Michigan, at a time when the US auto industry was king. Friends of 
mine worked for various automakers. They each had huge environmental test 
chambers that could be adjusted for anything from -40 deg.F deep freezes to 140 
deg.F deserts, howling winds, blizzards, driving rain, and altitudes from Death 
Valley to Pike's Peak. That way, they could find out how their cars would fare 
with weather in the real world.

This headed off many problems, at least when the cars were new. But as you 
might expect, there were cases where the environmental chambers were 
over-booked, or someone changed a part without re-testing, or testing one car 
didn't reveal that 50% of that model would have problems.

A friend related one incident where there was a blizzard and -40 deg.F 
temperatures forecast for Houghton MI. GM had engineers drive a few cars up 
there for testing. They stayed at a motel, and the next morning, none of the 
cars would start. Not from a battery problem; but because the emission control 
computers were dead. My friend opened up the emission control computer, placed 
his hand on the chips to warm them up, and the car started. It turned out that 
a one hour at -40 deg.F wasn't long enough to cool everything down; but 
overnight was.

Big companies only tend to learn from their own mistakes (not others). The 
traditional automakers have learned their lessons over a very long time. The 
engineers would complain about stupid tests that only held things up, but that 
were mandated to prevent past mistakes.

Tesla is a young company. Perhaps they don't yet see the reasons to do much 
environmental testing. So it's going to take them time to make their own 
mistakes, and learn from them.

Excellence does not require perfection. -- Henry James
--
Lee A. Hart https://www.sunrise-ev.com
 
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