The biggest epiphany I had building Tesla is what really matters is the machine that builds the machines—the factory.364
To accelerate a sustainable future, Tesla had to scale up production volume as quickly as possible. That is why Tesla engineering transitioned to focus heavily on designing the machine that makes the machines—turning the factory itself into the product.
A first-principles physics analysis of automotive production suggests that somewhere between a fivefold to tenfold improvement is achievable by version three on a roughly two-year iteration cycle.365
Tesla believes strongly in making things. Apple and Google do not. It’s a philosophical difference. We believe that manufacturing technology is itself subject to a tremendous amount of innovation. In fact, we believe there’s more potential for innovation in manufacturing than in the design of a car—by a long shot. This is just a philosophical difference. Perhaps we are wrong. But we believe in manufacturing, and a company that values manufacturing as highly as we do will attract the best minds in manufacturing.366
Our success or failure will not be because of competition. It will be our capability to make a high-quality product at a price people can afford.367
You’ve got this giant factory, a cybernetic collective with ten thousand things going wrong and you’ve got to solve them all. Fast. If you don’t solve problems fast enough, the factory doesn’t go. A big factory burns a huge amount of money every minute you aren’t making a product.368