1. Tesla Reliability Challenges and Opportunities
Jiliang Zhang
Reliability, Tesla Motors
January 5, 2015
Tesla Reliability

2. Fast Forwarding!
Video
Tesla Reliability

3. Accelerate the world’s transition to electric vehicles
Our Mission
Accelerate the world’s transition to electric vehicles
Automotive technology company
Technology potential to change the world
Tesla Reliability

4. Tesla Reliability Program
Fast Forwarding!
What do we want?
One of the best and innovative reliability program in the world in 2 years!
Make Reliability program works for business!
Tesla Reliability

5. Tesla Reliability

6. Challenge 1 – High Reliability Requirement
People’s life on the line
Competition
See who is there
Who gets there first?
Or who is the last one standing?
This or that?
Car Ranking
Lawsuit/Litigation (Lemon Law)
Customer satisfaction
Tesla Reliability

7. Challenge 2 – Short Product Development Cycle
No sufficient testing time
No sufficient upfront reliability study
Difficult for reliability growth
Tesla Reliability

8. Challenge 3 – Technology Lover!
Grandpa Loves It!
Lower technology maturity
More risk taker
More electronics and software
Tesla Reliability

9. Challenge 4 – Less Experienced
We don’t know what to do
– Really?
We need talent!
Tesla Reliability

10. Advantage 1 – We Are Automotive!
Management support!
Employees who cares about customers
Automotive reliability standard and practice
Tesla Reliability

11. Advantage 2 – No Boundary
Creativity
Easy adaption of the best practice
Less “Why change?”
Tesla Reliability

12. Advantage 3 – Best People and Team
We are group of young, easy-going, fun-loving, and hard working people
Tesla Reliability

13. Advantage 4 – Management Leadership
Tesla Reliability

14. Advantage 5 – Unique Business Model
Direct sale
Tesla own service centers
Direct Data and Interactions with Customers
Tesla Reliability

15. Advantage 6 – You Got to Fix It!
Much more accurate data!
More information on symptom, description, diagnosis, corrective action, part replaced, “root cause”, etc.
Tesla Reliability

16. Advantage 7 – Big Data Big data that can be retrieved remotely
Product environment, usage, and vehicle conditioning
Tesla Reliability

17. Advantage 8 – Data/Statistics Driven
DATA = Do Act Till A (hit, damage, injury, etc.)
Tesla Reliability

18. Advantage 8 – Data/Statistical Driven (Cont’d)
8 Advantages
>>
4 Challenges
Tesla Reliability

19. Tesla Unique Reliability Program
Cost effective
Right Reliability
Reliability Program
Design-for-Reliability
Field Data Driven
Life Cycle Management
Supplier Reliability
Team Culture
Fun
2-year time to deliver ~80% traditionally 5-year reliability work
Tesla Reliability

20. Reliability Goal Setting and Allocation
Reference Vehicle
Repair Rate
New Vehicle
Repair Rate Goal
Reliability Breakdown Structure
System
Repair Rate Goal
Reference Vehicle
Field Data
Subsystem
Repair Rate Goal
Convert to Subsystem Reliability
Allocation Algorithm
Conversion Algorithm
Key Part
Repair Rate Goal
Convert to Key Part Reliability
Tesla Reliability
Individual Test
Reliability Goal

21. Prior Knowledge Based Reliability Test Design
Tesla Reliability

22. Usage Based Reliability Test Design
Required Reliability & Confidence
Distributional
Usage
Reliability Analysis & Risk Assessment against Goal
Use Mode
Test Design
Test Result
Stress
Acceleration Equation
Tesla Reliability

23. Field Reliability Analysis
Service Center Repair
Data Analysis (not limited to Weibull analysis)
Automatic Report, Ranking, and Early Warning
Reliability Database
MRB FA
Review
Engineering Deep Dive
Corrective Actions (Service & Engineering)
Damage Calculation & Prediction
Proactive Maintenance
Vehicle Embedded Data
Tesla Reliability

24. Future Directions
Failure mode based test versus customer usage based test
Accelerated test versus HALT
New test types
Supplier reliability program and management
Further field data leverage into product development
Other
Tesla Reliability

25. Q&A
Tesla Reliability