[dragontamer]

> (Sandy Munro for instance seems pretty optimistic that a competent manufacturer could profitably make the $35k M3)

Its pretty clear what Sandy Munro is doing however. He's trying to sell his consulting services to Tesla. His whole shtick is pointing out issues with their design and trying to demonstrate that he knows how to save them lots of money.

It doesn't seem like Elon is biting however. Munro's video was about unnecessary welds, and how various shapes could have been made more cheaply. Only IF Tesla implements those changes (and probably the other changes Munro was thinking about) could they save money.

Not that I don't trust the guy, but you gotta keep in mind what pays Munro's bills. He's selling his expertise.

[londons_explore]

I feel like both Tesla and Munro can point to those savings now... It's a real expert who could point to those savings back at the design stage.

Simple things like "these parts could have been combined into one cheaper simpler part" don't take into account the fact that by making them separate parts they are easier to contract out, easier to modify one without the other, and easier to correct issues when yield is poor on one.