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>Strangely enough, startups/Tesla is the last place someone with advanced mechanical engineering knowledge would go. From a quality/feature standpoint, new companies have lower standards. Where an established company would be pushing technology and doing things that no one has done before, new companies are just trying to build a car. It would be a resume hit, because you worked on outdated/low tech.

Seems like the opposite has happened. Tesla, in its desperate attempt to stay alive(3-4 bankruptcy scares thus far) have found a niche where other OEMs didn't have expertise in (EVs) and really gone all out in innovation in areas where other OEMs have dropped the ball. In the car industry if you are a newcomer and you are just trying to "build a car" you are wasting your time/money and you will die. There needs to be a competitive advantage that claws people away from existing OEMs. I'd argue that the reason Tesla is clawing people away from the luxury brands. as well as getting people to move upmarket from the economy brands is the quality and innovation of their product in areas where typical OEM does not prioritize. Things such as software, day to day experience etc.

In terms of internal engineering, there are innovations as well. For example: The superbottle and octopump system utilize software and clever engineering to eliminate a complete coolant loop in the system. This eliminated parts, made the system more efficient and reduced cost. Tesla didn't have the organizational baggage plus they attracted some brilliant and dedicated engineers to make it happen.

There are many more documented examples of this.




>Seems like the opposite has happened

Only for outsiders.

In the industry you realize it's cutting corners and the end customer has a worse product.

There was a short lived perception that Tesla was doing innovation, but as the quality issues came up, it appears as cutting corners.

Tesla has a marketing effect that companies dream of. That was likely what confused industry insiders of innovation. That has been gone since ~2018.




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