Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by slantyyz 4873 days ago
>> Sorry, but this is a huge stretch.

Why? Even individual cars produced in assembly lines can have problems.

When I worked at Toyota, there was a problem with a Lexus model that was so hard to isolate. Eventually, after a long data collection period, they found that the problem was only existent in cars painted in a certain color.
1 comments
stcredzero 4873 days ago
> Why? Even individual cars produced in assembly lines can have problems.

So? If there's some conflicting results, we can then turn around and test the same car as well. If there's a problem, those are measurable.

> When I worked at Toyota, there was a problem with a Lexus model that was so hard to isolate. Eventually, after a long data collection period, they found that the problem was only existent in cars painted in a certain color.

Color and whatever other factors were measurable. Empiricism is possible. Your example supports my point.

link
slantyyz 4873 days ago
>> Color and whatever other factors were measurable.

Sure, but it was such a rare problem that they tried to reproduce it using the same model and year and production run, assuming the problem would show up but it didn't. They didn't think colour would have been the identifying indicator of the problem until they had amassed enough data to lead them down that path.

Broder drove a car that has probably been used several times for review and other uses, and may have had more wear and tear and/or maintenance and service than a car sold to anyone else. It could also have been driven under stress conditions that a brand new model may not have been.

All I'm saying is that there's a lot about that car that could be different from other review cars. It could have been a freak occurrence and Tesla was unlucky enough that Broder was reviewing that car when it happened.

In any case, if you go to the Tesla owners forums talking about the NYT article, you'll also see actual owners who live on the east coast were not surprised by what happened to Broder (http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/13633-NYT-arti...).

link