So Much For Model S's Transported In Only Closed Trucks...

[Electroman]

I wonder what damage this will do to the battery roasting at 100F+ ? Would the BMS be keeping the battery nice and cool when it is getting transported ?

 

[Kaivball]

I have seen these kind of trucks leave the Tesla factory several times.

 

[Jason S]

I expect the closed trucks would be most effective for "last mile" transport -- get to the local service center for final prep, etc., and then use closed truck for the delivery to customer.

 

[AustinPowers]

I'm actually very impressed with the pics - taking phone pics while driving is a challenging task! Nice job.

Not to forget completely irresponsible and (here) highly illegal. Definitely NOT a nice job! Just having told us about it would have sufficed.
(I might add that we almost had a terrible accident because some idiot in an oncoming vehicle was doing something with his phone while driving that looked exactly like taking pictures. No responsible person should do such a thing!)

Anyway, why should the cars be transported in enclosed trailers? Every other carmanufacturer transports his vehicles in this fashion, i.e. in the open. Cars for export/or very long distance delivery are transported on trains in the open, cars for delivery on open trucks. All the time. If something really happended during transport, it is repaired before you even pick up your car at the dealer. So no problem really.

 

[Tacket]

I can confirm that cars delivered to the Bellevue, WA location also arrive uncovered.

 

[CapitalistOppressor]

As has been stated elsewhere, its common in the car industry for cars to be transported uncovered. Cars routinely arrive at dealerships with scratches, chips or whatever, and have to go through an extensive prep process before they are sold.

The main difference with Tesla is that the cars are made to order, and the delivery process (and lack of physical infrastructure/space) doesn't always allow for proper prep work. Tesla has done a lot of work on this front by reducing the number of contractors involved and centralizing distribution operations, but they obviously have a ton of work left to do in order to match the seemingly seamless experience of customers at most dealerships who might not ever realize that their perfect new car had had chips and scratches that were worked out before they ever laid eyes on it.

 

[Colasec]

I saw a (pearl?) white 60 getting ready to leave the Costa Mesa service center this morning for delivery in Cathedral City near Palm Springs. It was already prepped and detailed, and was going to be trailered by a special Tesla truck.

 

[irishstoutaz]

We saw 3 on the AZ-51 on Sat on a regular open air car carrier... strange thing was that they were mixed with other cars.

 

[Newscutter]

Roadtrip for Pittsburgh to Chicago last month -- saw 2 fully loaded open carriers pass with MS onboard. Appeared to have minimal/no protective coverings on most of the cars. Was actually pretty excited to see so many cars heading East. I'm pretty surprised they truck them from Cali. I would have thought train transport would be cheaper for that distance.

 

[007]

...imagine my surprise the other day when I happened on this open truck on I-40 east of Flagstaff in Arizona.


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I work a few mile away from the factory and see sights like this every week on the highway. Seems to be standard operation.