So why Tesla didn't pick Poland for their European factory?

piezoe said:
That's good to know, but I'll not buy another German car until they fix their rodent problem. I would have thought German engineers were bright enough to have figured out how to do that. They've had quite a few years to do it, and they haven't yet! And then there is Volkswagen cheating on emission standards. (Not certain, but I think VW may have been the first to adopt soy.)

To be fair, and we do want to be fair. Nowadays , many manufacturers have this same problem, because they have adopted the same wiring insulation used by the German manufacturers since very early 2000s.

Let's put credit where credit is due however. Although it's very difficult to track down the originator of soy-based wire insulation --- who wants to take credit for creating a problem amounting to million of dollars in law suits? --- the data strongly suggests it was the Germans who were the first to adopt. That great German engineering has bitten us all in the ass! Now their environmentally and rodent friendly "innovation" has spread to practically all manufacturers. Until the manufacturers have the pants sued off of them they'll just pass the problem on to owners and their insurance companies.

https://globalnews.ca/news/1106736/german-cars-serve-as-smorgasbord-for-rodents/

German cars serve as smorgasbord for rodents
by Paula Baker Global News
Posted January 24, 2014 11:58 pm
Updated January 25, 2014 12:07 am
A lot of cars are showing up at the mechanic with chewed wires, thanks to rodents, who are finding their way into the engines and doing some very expensive damage.

According to mechanics, the rodents appear to be turning to German brands of cars in order to satiate their palates.

Global News spoke to one mechanic who showed a BMW X-5 with $6,000 worth of damage, most likely by rats, done to the vehicle’s wiring and upholstery.

“It seems to be getting worse,” said John Siamoutas, a Burnaby Firestone mechanic. “I’m starting to see almost 30 per cent of the cars, I see not chewed wires all the time but evidence that they’re there. There are droppings on the engine.”

The BMW is considered “a bad case” but is one of many that have been brought to the Burnaby auto shop.

Story continues below advertisement

“The population is definitely up,” said Jason Page, Solutions Pest Control Ltd.

Page attributes the increase in rodents this winter due to mild weather, food availability and sunshine.

Exterminators tell Global News that not only has the warmer, dryer weather led to a boom in local rodent population, they’re also being drawn outside by a warm engine or the smell leftover food in vehicles.

According to Siamoutas and his experience, rodents seem to have a penchant for a certain type of import, one that’s particularly expensive.

“I was talking to with an insurance company one time and they said it was something to do with the insulation on the German cars,” Siamoutas explained.

“One particular car i was working was a Mercedes and the whole harness was chewed on the engine side, there’s something with the insulation that coats the wiring that mice/rodents just seem to love.

” It’s chocolate for rodents.”

When it comes down to it, mechanics say safety is a concern, especially when it comes to an airbag that’s become a nest for rodents, making the ‘protective’ feature ineffective.
More...
The Germans are a bright bunch and can build durable vehicles (80s-90s Mercs for instance). They've got a stick up their butt about phasing out vehicles in less than 10 yrs over there. They claim it's for public safety, but I think there's an auto workers incentive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
 
"bitten all of us"? Everyone, nothing, all? Hey, you speak for yourself. Sales numbers show that most people disagree with you and that you represent a tiny minority. Perhaps German cars are not for you. No harm done. There are enough others for each unit of yourself who queue up and wait until German car makers deliver on ordered cars. You should definitely mention that you need a rodent resistant car the next time you walk into a Ford or Dodge dealership. Or you could just clean your interior car more and stop eating that junk food in your car. :D

You claim to be a Porsche owner but suffer from rodent problems. Something does not compute here. Lol.

piezoe said:
That's good to know, but I'll not buy another German car until they fix their rodent problem. I would have thought German engineers were bright enough to have figured out how to do that. They've had quite a few years to do it, and they haven't yet! And then there is Volkswagen cheating on emission standards. (Not certain, but I think VW may have been the first to adopt soy.)

To be fair, and we do want to be fair. Nowadays , many manufacturers have this same problem, because they have adopted the same wiring insulation used by the German manufacturers since very early 2000s.

Let's put credit where credit is due however. Although it's very difficult to track down the originator of soy-based wire insulation --- who wants to take credit for creating a problem amounting to million of dollars in law suits? --- the data strongly suggests it was the Germans who were the first to adopt. That great German engineering has bitten us all in the ass! Now their environmentally and rodent friendly "innovation" has spread to practically all manufacturers. Until the manufacturers have the pants sued off of them they'll just pass the problem on to owners and their insurance companies.

https://globalnews.ca/news/1106736/german-cars-serve-as-smorgasbord-for-rodents/

German cars serve as smorgasbord for rodents
by Paula Baker Global News
Posted January 24, 2014 11:58 pm
Updated January 25, 2014 12:07 am
A lot of cars are showing up at the mechanic with chewed wires, thanks to rodents, who are finding their way into the engines and doing some very expensive damage.

According to mechanics, the rodents appear to be turning to German brands of cars in order to satiate their palates.

Global News spoke to one mechanic who showed a BMW X-5 with $6,000 worth of damage, most likely by rats, done to the vehicle’s wiring and upholstery.

“It seems to be getting worse,” said John Siamoutas, a Burnaby Firestone mechanic. “I’m starting to see almost 30 per cent of the cars, I see not chewed wires all the time but evidence that they’re there. There are droppings on the engine.”

The BMW is considered “a bad case” but is one of many that have been brought to the Burnaby auto shop.

Story continues below advertisement

“The population is definitely up,” said Jason Page, Solutions Pest Control Ltd.

Page attributes the increase in rodents this winter due to mild weather, food availability and sunshine.

Exterminators tell Global News that not only has the warmer, dryer weather led to a boom in local rodent population, they’re also being drawn outside by a warm engine or the smell leftover food in vehicles.

According to Siamoutas and his experience, rodents seem to have a penchant for a certain type of import, one that’s particularly expensive.

“I was talking to with an insurance company one time and they said it was something to do with the insulation on the German cars,” Siamoutas explained.

“One particular car i was working was a Mercedes and the whole harness was chewed on the engine side, there’s something with the insulation that coats the wiring that mice/rodents just seem to love.

” It’s chocolate for rodents.”

When it comes down to it, mechanics say safety is a concern, especially when it comes to an airbag that’s become a nest for rodents, making the ‘protective’ feature ineffective.
More...
 
That always struck me as odd and overkill. Car inspections are incredibly tough to pass for older cars in Germany. Same as in Japan. It's a cultural choice. Artificially supporting each others' groups. You lose personal freedom but gain in safety (car related deaths and accidents multiple times higher in the US than Germany) beauty (no much of trailer park trash and shitty rotten homes in Germany). No ugly above the ground wired power and communication cables and poles (all underground). It all costs more but it ups the standards and esthetics. A life choice.

Here4money said:
The Germans are a bright bunch and can build durable vehicles (80s-90s Mercs for instance). They've got a stick up their butt about phasing out vehicles in less than 10 yrs over there. They claim it's for public safety, but I think there's an auto workers incentive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
More...
 
Here4money said:
The Germans are a bright bunch and can build durable vehicles (80s-90s Mercs for instance). They've got a stick up their butt about phasing out vehicles in less than 10 yrs over there. They claim it's for public safety, but I think there's an auto workers incentive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
More...
I knew I had made a mistake buying my 2nd hand Porsche when I took it for service a month into ownership as it reached the end of its 50k mileage warranty. There, a guy was visibly upset with the bill he had been given for his 4th year service on a car with less than 2k miles. $2900! I don't know which model he owned but he referenced a few other high end brands he'd owned in the past that didn't cost so much to service, including Ferrari and MBZ.
The service manager was trying to soothe him by detailing the work that had been done, as I listened attentively... oil change, filters replacement, spark plugs...and then she stopped. That's the precise moment I realized I'd become the bitch of a well oiled machine.
The poor guy looked at her in disbelief as he too expected a long list to justify the high service cost. The shop manager, who had been sitting there quietly and probably was having fun watching the attractive but now humiliated service manager get screamed at, decided to intervene and display his technical expertise which she clearly lacked.
Turns out, in order to reach the spark plugs on his car, the engine must be dropped. That's a 4 hours job and thus the justification for the $2900 service charge. It was said in a tone of, dude you bought a Porsche so stop crying and take it like a man.
Within 6 months I had sold my car back to the luxury 2nd hand dealer I had bought it from, took the loss (he was fair) and swore never to buy a Porsche again, unless I was so wealthy that nothing really mattered anymore.
 
piezoe said:
sounds like a wonderful idea but the media thing doesn't work for me. Something available on Amazon, right? Whats it called?
More...

Having an adblocker on might have caused you not being able to see the Amazon link. Here are some details about the product.
JT Eaton 750 Top Gun All Weather Rodenticide Bait Block Bromethalin Neurological Bait with Stop-Feed Action and Bitrex, For Mice and Rats (Pail of 128)
List Price: $50.49 Details
Price: $39.96 ($0.31 / Baits) & FREE Returns
You Save: $10.53 (21%)
  • Neurological bait which works on both mice and rats and prevents feeding after a lethal dose is consumed
  • 128-blocks with an average time of death of 1-2-days with the "stop-feed" action
  • Secondary Toxicity is less likely because rodents have eaten only one lethal dose.
  • Active ingredient is bromethalin and also contains bitrex which deters consumption by children
  • Because of the Stop Feed action, rodents consume as little as 1/8 the amount of a some anticoagulant baits.
More...
 
So the only lesson learned is that you are not affluent enough to afford a Porsche. I don't know where you live but where I live it gets down to - 20 to - 30 degrees C. I would never buy a German car here for that reason alone. German cars were designed and built for driving German distances and in temperate European climate. Perhaps not the best choice in Florida or Arizona or the Great North. If you must own a Porsche in such climate or drive tens of thousands of miles a year then perhaps a German car is not the suitable choice. Germans drive their cars less than hundred miles on average, some even just on weekends and commute during the week. They wash their car every weekend, they maintain their cars in pristine condition, the cars there just don't get abused or driven in extreme conditions. So, I can see how they are more prone to repairs in extreme condition or use cases. Re repair costs it's the responsibility of every car owner to do research on reliability and affordability BEFORE a car purchase not after.

VicBee said:
I knew I had made a mistake buying my 2nd hand Porsche when I took it for service a month into ownership as it reached the end of its 50k mileage warranty. There, a guy was visibly upset with the bill he had been given for his 4th year service on a car with less than 2k miles. $2900! I don't know which model he owned but he referenced a few other high end brands he'd owned in the past that didn't cost so much to service, including Ferrari and MBZ.
The service manager was trying to soothe him by detailing the work that had been done, as I listened attentively... oil change, filters replacement, spark plugs...and then she stopped. That's the precise moment I realized I'd become the bitch of a well oiled machine.
The poor guy looked at her in disbelief as he too expected a long list to justify the high service cost. The shop manager, who had been sitting there quietly and probably was having fun watching the attractive but now humiliated service manager get screamed at, decided to intervene and display his technical expertise which she clearly lacked.
Turns out, in order to reach the spark plugs on his car, the engine must be dropped. That's a 4 hours job and thus the justification for the $2900 service charge. It was said in a tone of, dude you bought a Porsche so stop crying and take it like a man.
Within 6 months I had sold my car back to the luxury 2nd hand dealer I had bought it from, took the loss (he was fair) and swore never to buy a Porsche again, unless I was so wealthy that nothing really mattered anymore.
More...
 
It is all about making profits. You just need to find a good place to make profits. Tesla is doing good in the stock markets and maybe whatever discussion you are coming up with has another side. If we have to talk about job security, I would rather say the staff and the workers there might be happy if we for once look at the performance of the company.
 
So a factory opening needs a permit first. Who knew?

https://www.businessinsider.co.za/tesla-berlin-gigafactory-delays-july-opening-date-2021-7

Since beginning work on the sprawling plant in early 2020, Tesla has faced setback after setback over issues like environmental impact and permitting. It all means that Tesla is way behind schedule in opening up the factory, the cornerstone of its European strategy where it plans to churn out half a million cars annually.

Elon Musk vs. German bureaucracy
Tesla has hit one bureaucratic slowdown after another since it broke ground in the small town of Grünheide, near Berlin.


In December, Tesla was forced to temporarily stop constructing parts of the plant after it failed to pay a €100 million deposit on time. In June, it had to resubmit permit applications to account for a battery-production facility. The public now has until August 16 to review the documents and file any objections, according to the Brandenburg State Office for the Environment.

This whole time, Tesla has been building the factory under a series of provisional permits - at its own financial risk - as it waits for full approval from the environmental authority in Brandenburg. Theoretically, it would have to dismantle the plant if the project isn't given the green light, and it's unclear when Tesla will get full authorisation.

Tesla has gotten fed up with the delays. In April, the company sent a letter to the Brandenburg state government complaining about the "irritating" approval process that had begun 16 months earlier, Bloomberg reported.
 
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