Leaked Email Shows Elon Musk Demanding "Sub 10 Micron Accuracy” Cybertruck Parts
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Tesla is facing issues with the bare metal construction of the Cybertruck, which Elon Musk warned was as tricky to do as making Lego bricks
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I've told many (usually new) design engineers that they're stupid for asking for 0.001" tolerance on parts when they only need 0.005 "or 0.010". The difference between 0.010" and sub-10 micron is easily a factor of 100 in most parts, ESPECIALLY when you're talking larger steel components like panels on a freaking car.
not just that, he said "all parts". The stitching on the seats, the floor carpets, USB ports, cupholders and the A/C vents have to be more accurate than the width of a human hair too
Unless you are talking about a press fit location or some kind of high precision alignment issue, almost nothing needs anything tighter than .001" and .005 or .010" is perfectly fine for most things. I work with a lot of weldments so if we're within .030" we consider that good enough.
+/- .030 good enough for most skin panels on airplanes.
Gear teeth I believe need to be precision ground to less than a thou for best efficiency and life. But that's not for most things.