Manufacturing Quality during New Product Development

[Alexander]

How will Scout be approaching quality? Quality has to be a part of the new product development process. How is Scout handling this? Not seeing or hearing anything about quality. Quality cannot be an afterthought as it has been so often in the EV frontier. Please don't repeat the mistakes others have made and continue to make. Project lifecycle for quality. Design through Warranty, there should be a plan.

Would really like to hear more on this.

 

[Jamie@ScoutMotors]

Quality will of course be number one priority. That isn't even a question.

I'm not so sure that quality is an afterthought in the EV market, but rather indicative of a new technology and in particular the software necessary to run everything. Growing pains can be expected, but the good news with software is that it can be improved and upgraded. Numerous manufacturers have updated the software in their EV's improving range, features, interfaces and much more. Since our product is still a couple years away, the technology has some additional time to mature.

But no doubt, quality is number one on the list.

 

[R1TVT]

When I think of "quality" in the EV market, I really only have real-world experience with 3 brands that will be competing specifically in the truck segment so far, but there seem to be some noticeable differences. The 1st pure-EV experience I had was in was a TESLA. The performance quality was high. At first blush, the TESLA Model S had a high quality exterior design aesthetic (given what was available in the EV category). The interior left me feeling like there was something missing. it was novel to have such a big screen, and that screen drew your attention away from some of the lesser / more spartan details of the interior. I would say that TESLA's move to the mass market and future models following the Model S left many wanting for more "craftmanship" and quality.

Then Rivian came along. Rivian focussed a good amount (maybe even too much) effort on quality materials and options out of the gate (which was smart as far as making first impressions). This was a good thing for Launch Edition customers, as many were impressed the the quality of every aspect of the vehicle - particularly when put up against TESLA. However, I think it left Rivian challenged from an operational and supply chain perspective with certain materials and with their suppliers for actual delivery of quality components required for some configurations. There were some delays delivering options with certain dash trims and with some seat choices, for example. HINT: another reason why less could be more for SCOUT at launch. Keep in mind I am comparing EV cars to EV trucks, since there were so few comparisons to be made.

Now there may actually be some TESLA CT's on the road, but we don't have any idea what that interior is going to be like, other than TESLA's previous iterations. I'm guessing they will be very spartan as TESLA struggles to reign-in costs for the CT. There is a short video here: https://electrek.co/2023/10/02/tesla-cybertruck-interior-revealed-in-best-video-yet/

Then there is the FORD lightening. If you are a truck owner (and there are a lot out there) you will essentially have the exact same quality you have today with your F-150. Seems like the Lightening "quality" aligns with the quality you would see on the interior and exterior of the ICE F-150. I guess it comes down to how you (as a future SCOUT buyer) define quality in your mind, but great to hear SCOUT is thinking quality first in terms of their launch mentality.

Scout may benefit from a cost and quality perspective by keeping things simple in terms of maybe two trim levels (for example), at least to start. I would think quality for work truck buyers and for daily drivers with perhaps a nicer trim could BOTH be high.

 

[J Alynn]

When I think of "quality" in the EV market, I really only have real-world experience with 3 brands that will be competing specifically in the truck segment so far, but there seem to be some noticeable differences. The 1st pure-EV experience I had was in was a TESLA. The performance quality was high. At first blush, the TESLA Model S had a high quality exterior design aesthetic (given what was available in the EV category). The interior left me feeling like there was something missing. it was novel to have such a big screen, and that screen drew your attention away from some of the lesser / more spartan details of the interior. I would say that TESLA's move to the mass market and future models following the Model S left many wanting for more "craftmanship" and quality.

Then Rivian came along. Rivian focussed a good amount (maybe even too much) effort on quality materials and options out of the gate (which was smart as far as making first impressions). This was a good thing for Launch Edition customers, as many were impressed the the quality of every aspect of the vehicle - particularly when put up against TESLA. However, I think it left Rivian challenged from an operational and supply chain perspective with certain materials and with their suppliers for actual delivery of quality components required for some configurations. There were some delays delivering options with certain dash trims and with some seat choices, for example. HINT: another reason why less could be more for SCOUT at launch. Keep in mind I am comparing EV cars to EV trucks, since there were so few comparisons to be made.

Now there may actually be some TESLA CT's on the road, but we don't have any idea what that interior is going to be like, other than TESLA's previous iterations. I'm guessing they will be very spartan as TESLA struggles to reign-in costs for the CT. There is a short video here: https://electrek.co/2023/10/02/tesla-cybertruck-interior-revealed-in-best-video-yet/

Then there is the FORD lightening. If you are a truck owner (and there are a lot out there) you will essentially have the exact same quality you have today with your F-150. Seems like the Lightening "quality" aligns with the quality you would see on the interior and exterior of the ICE F-150. I guess it comes down to how you (as a future SCOUT buyer) define quality in your mind, but great to hear SCOUT is thinking quality first in terms of their launch mentality.

Scout may benefit from a cost and quality perspective by keeping things simple in terms of maybe two trim levels (for example), at least to start. I would think quality for work truck buyers and for daily drivers with perhaps a nicer trim could BOTH be high.

I keep reminding myself that SM is child of VW so there is a wealth of EV already running at VW. No matter the quality or experience-having that foundation is better than just jumping out of the gate as a new EV start up. Hoping this existing knowledge benefits all aspects of the new Scouts-especially the German engineering part of the equation

 

[R1TVT]

I would agree with that sentiment. There could also be an argument for working off a clean sheet of paper of course, but it sounds like best of both worlds for SM!

And remember, with FORD's launch of the Model T you could have your Model T painted in any color you wanted... As long as it was black!

Efficiency and uniformity (off the assembly line) can increase quality AND even impact brand value, by making products more recognizable.