OEM manufacturers for the parts

jsiu · May 1, 2015

I just wonder whether the major parts of Model S such as suspension and electric motors are in fact manufactured by OEM suppliers. Taking my previous Mercedes as example, the suspension system is manufactured by Bilstein and the 12V battery is from Vatra. How is the case for the Model S?

3fiftynine · May 1, 2015

The drive motor is of Tesla design and manufacture you can look up YouTube for documentary made by discovery channel about their factory. Chassis as it's made for EV to hold the battery pack is of Tesla design, I heard that air suspension is OEM (same as that for Mercedes) bought in item.

SK1 · May 2, 2015

How its made: Tesla Model S (How Its Made Dream Cars) - YouTube

jsiu · May 2, 2015

SK1 said:
How its made: Tesla Model S (How Its Made Dream Cars) - YouTube

Thanks for your reply, the youtube is interesting. To my curiosity, are the DC/AC Invertor and the 17" control panel manufactured by Tesla in US? The invertor has to be very tough to stand against heat and RFI (radio frequency interference). A good invertor could be very expensive.

pinguhk · May 3, 2015

268
I think many parts on Tesla are from Mercedes OEM.
The rear seats on MS are OEM of some company but don't know which company.

3fiftynine · May 3, 2015

jsiu said:
To my curiosity, are the DC/AC Invertor and the 17" control panel manufactured by Tesla in US? The invertor has to be very tough to stand against heat and RFI (radio frequency interference). A good invertor could be very expensive.

I don't think Tesla manufactures all the electronics themselves, they must have designed them e.g. the UI and the 17" touch panel and the hardware that goes with it. There simply weren't anything close in the market 4/5 years ago that Tesla could have bought off the shelf. Another more important consideration is about intellectual property rights and the need to be in stealth mode when they put the design together. It's like Apple designing an iPhone or Watch.

jsiu · May 3, 2015

Checked with some Electronics colleagues, DC/AC invertor technology is now very mature. The cost of a good invertor under the production scale of Tesla will not be expensive. Manufacturers in Taiwan can handle that in a very competent manner.

miimura · May 3, 2015

The air suspension system is made by Continental for Tesla. It is a unique variation of the systems they make for other automakers.

markwj · May 3, 2015

3fiftynine said:
I don't think Tesla manufactures all the electronics themselves, they must have designed them e.g. the UI and the 17" touch panel and the hardware that goes with it. There simply weren't anything close in the market 4/5 years ago that Tesla could have bought off the shelf. Another more important consideration is about intellectual property rights and the need to be in stealth mode when they put the design together. It's like Apple designing an iPhone or Watch.

Most of the teardowns show Tesla logos on those circuit boards. The 17" is most likely an nvidia reference design.

miimura · May 3, 2015

pinguhk said:
268
I think many parts on Tesla are from Mercedes OEM.
The rear seats on MS are OEM of some company but don't know which company.

Seating final assembly is done in the Fremont factory by Tesla. They may only be fitting the padding and upholstery to the frames received complete from a vendor. This probably drastically reduces inventory and lead time of all permutations of custom configuration.

pinguhk · May 4, 2015

miimura said:
The air suspension system is made by Continental for Tesla. It is a unique variation of the systems they make for other automakers.

so it is same as MB and BMW ones?
178

miimura · May 4, 2015

pinguhk said:
so it is same as MB and BMW ones?
178

Unique != Same

jsiu · May 5, 2015

I did not go for the air suspension because I believe future replacement could be expensive. I learnt this lesson from my abandoned Mercedes.

pinguhk · May 6, 2015

jsiu said:
I did not go for the air suspension because I believe future replacement could be expensive. I learnt this lesson from my abandoned Mercedes.

Yeah my boss just change 2 of his in his CL AMG and cost over 40k
452

jsiu · May 21, 2015

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Some of our Chinese counterparts give a close examination of the Tesla Model S battery. You have to read Chinese any way.

lx3h · May 21, 2015

pinguhk said:
Yeah my boss just change 2 of his in his CL AMG and cost over 40k
452

But isn't air suspension included in the 8-year warranty?

HankLloydRight · May 21, 2015

pinguhk said:
452

What are these random numbers at the end of most of your recent posts?

harrisonchan · May 22, 2015

lx3h said:
But isn't air suspension included in the 8-year warranty?

Air suspension is under 4-year warranty with limited mileage. I forgot the exact mileage.

jsiu · May 22, 2015

harrisonchan said:
Air suspension is under 4-year warranty with limited mileage. I forgot the exact mileage.

Well, first 4 year should be ok. However, I am used to keep a car for a much longer time. My previous Mercedes had been with me for 14 years.

lx3h · May 22, 2015

harrisonchan said:
Air suspension is under 4-year warranty with limited mileage. I forgot the exact mileage.

What about coil?

OEM manufacturers for the parts

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