| > From an engineering standpoint, Apples devices became hard to repair because they optimized for weight and size over maintainability. Would Tesla do the same? > Tesla offers very long warranties (I believe is 4/8 years for vehicle/drivetrain), so making things hard to repair would likely be costing them money. The Apple analogy is a good one. Tesla makes similar tradeoffs, but instead of optimizing for size and weight, they are optimizing for safety, performance, and ease-of-manufacturing. Sometimes, there is no conflict. For instance, Tesla's battery is designed to be super low to the ground to lower the center of gravity, reduce rollovers, and improve turning. They managed to achieve this via a bolt-on assembly that is easy to install and and just as easy to replace. Hurrah! But in other places, the tension is very much felt. Replacing the front radar (even on pre-facelift cars, before it was hidden) requires removing the entire front bumper cover. Replacing a broken paddle gear in a rear door handle often requires removing the door's window. If modularity were a first-order goal, these procedures would be a lot simpler, and major hardware upgrades (like Autopilot hardware or the 2nd gen MCU) would be reasonably feasible. But to the extent that modularity comes at even the slightest structural cost, or unnecessary weight, or any difficulty in robotic assembly, Tesla has erred away from it. I assume their calculus is: * Safety and performance are what they compete on * Ease of manufacturing is their competitive advantage * Modularity and cheap repair costs are "nice to have", but less important than the previous two. |
The original iPad was rendered unsupported after 2 years on the market. At that point, the lack of software updates combined with inevitable unknown security vulnerabilities mean that Apple's model actually generates a safety hazard.
It's common for Android hardware to become unsupported after 2 years, but the degree of success of cyanogenmod and postmarketos (and now project treble) demonstrate that there is a better way.
As time passes, an iPad's unknown vulnerabilities become known. Similarly, the scenarios and environs in which a Tesla is driven also change unpredictably.
Apple and Tesla can't support their designs indefinitely and remain profitable. The ethical solution is either don't sell the product (rent it out instead) or simply allow owners to accept the maintenance burden.