Tesla is taking a major gamble regarding the production of its upcoming Model 3 sedan in skipping prototype tooling and jumping straight to permanent production tooling, says a noted auto-manufacturing expert.
“He’s pushing the envelope to see how much time and cost he can take out of the process,” Ron Harbour, a manufacturing consultant at Oliver Wyman, told Reuters.
Automakers normally order inexpensive prototype tooling to work out potential kinks and quality issues that may arise in parts and assembly processes.
More at Green Car Report
