The technology and electronic components in the Tesla Model 3 are the car's advantage over its competitors, Sandy Munro, CEO of the manufacturing consulting firm Munro & Associates, told Business Insider.
"When it comes to the heart of the product — the electric motor, the battery, the electronics, and the software — right now, it's impossible to beat Tesla," he said.
Munro has spent three decades tearing apart and examining cars. His observations about Tesla are based on its Model 3 sedan, which he analyzed in 2018. Munro had previously begun teardowns of Tesla's Model S sedan and Model X SUV but didn't finish either because he didn't find any components he considered remarkable enough to warrant a detailed examination.
Read more: Tesla will unveil the Model Y this month — here's everything we know about the vehicle so far
Software is Tesla's greatest strength, Munro said, citing the automaker's over-the-air updates as its most impressive software feature. (He mentioned circuit boards, electric motors, and battery packs as Tesla's other primary strengths.) The automaker has used over-the-air-updates to add new features to its semi-autonomous Autopilot system and improve the Model 3's braking distance.
"There's nobody that's got better software than they do. Nobody," Munro said.
Some Model 3 features — like over-the-air updates, a touchscreen that controls many of the vehicle's settings, and even an unconventional air-conditioning system — have a "bewitching" quality that is rare in an auto industry which focuses on cost rather than delighting customers, Munro said.
"That's the kind of stuff that is lost on the MBA. The MBA can't figure that out. They just think, 'How can we make this cheaper?' That's not how you're going to get customers. Customers, if it's worthwhile, they'll pay the money," Munro said. "That's where a lot of the other companies fall apart. They don't get that."
Tesla's biggest weakness is body construction, Munro said. Some areas of the Model 3 consist of too many parts, like its wheel wells, and the vehicle features multiple kinds of welding techniques, a practice that increases costs without serving a discernible benefit, Munro said. He described Tesla's welding philosophy as "engineering bragging." (Munro said Tesla CEO Elon Musk told him during a phone conversation that he had fired the person responsible for the Model 3's body.)
A Tesla representative told Business Insider that Munro had analyzed a Model 3 that was built in 2017. Since then, an improved production process has led to better body quality for the Model 3, the representative said.
Ultimately, Tesla's weaknesses are fixable, while its strengths are difficult to replicate, Munro said.
"What they did inside is phenomenal and impossible to recreate. What they did on the outside is fixable."
Have a Tesla news tip? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@jkmperu.com.
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