Consumer Reports recently gave the 2021 Model S a reliability score of 28 out of 100 for two stars in their review. 158,000 Tesla cars have been recalled for faulty flat screens. Just recently, Tesla is recalling 6,000 Model 3 and Model Y cars for loose bolts on brake calipers. (My Model 3 is one of them) This is from a car company that has been building cars for years and uses primarily automated manufacturing. Obviously poor QC from trying to build too many too fast. Automated manufacturing lines are the best for reducing variance (Difference between items on a manufacturing line and adhering closely to design tolerances) that normally results in bad build quality. Initial builds of new models results in poor build quality for a while until the defects are corrected in assembly line processes. Auto QC people suggest not buying a new model when it first comes out to avoid sub design reliability/build quality
Hopefully, Aptera will have a strong handle on production line QC as it is a new car and the assembly line is manual (Highest variance and defect rate for manufacturing processes) Another concern would be to "Rush" production. The staffing outlined in another post on the forum along with the number of units to be produced by that production staffing looks like a situation that may result in "Rush" build defects. This is important to us because of "Right to Repair" There will be no dealer/repair facility for us to take our Apteras to for warranty defect correction, we will have to do it ourselves!
I hope Aptera will not be in such a rush to produce volumes of production cars to the point that build quality suffers. Those with early delivery numbers are most at risk here
As an early model preorder holder, I understood this risk going in. In addition there will be features that are not yet available or qualified, such as the reversing valve for the heat pump, possibly additional air bags, and other things. The folks at Aptera obviously take tremendous pride in their work. While bad days can happen to anyone, the manual nature and slow production rate at the beginning should tend to mitigate the problem of too little time for providing sufficient quality in the early stages. Volume production will happen only when the process is proven.