Mercedes benchmarked and dismantled a rented Tesla Model X reportedly causing five digit damages - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE]It’s not rare for automakers to buy vehicles from competitors in order to reverse-engineer or benchmark them as part of their R&D effort, but Mercedes-Benz reportedly used a particularly strange and arguably shady way to do it for the Tesla Model X. ... But instead of simply buying one from Tesla or a used one, the automaker reportedly rented one from a Bavarian couple through the car rental company Sixt. According to the German magazine Spiegel (German and paywall), the couple was going on vacation for a few weeks and decided to loan their Model X to the company, which in turn rented it to Daimler, Mercedes-Benz’s parent company. Unknown to the actual owner of the car, Mercedes then proceeded to thoroughly test the electric vehicle and [B]then dismantle it before rebuilding it again and giving it back to Sixt[/B]. According to the company, Mercedes drove the Model X at their test track in Sindelfingen near Stuttgart in Germany and [B]put it through heat and vibration tests[/B]. They also reportedly drove it all the way to Barcelona in Spain. ... Sixt says that this kind of use goes against their rental agreement and while they reportedly compensated the owners, they say that Daimler should pay for the damage incurred on the vehicle, which they estimate to be “in the five digits.”[/QUOTE] [url]https://electrek.co/2017/12/02/mercedes-dismantled-tesla-model-x-weirdest-way-electric-suv/[/url] Bit of a dick move there, Daimler.

Wonder if someone has tweeted this Elon. He likes to use these types of incidents to develop good will with customers. Not saying that in a bad way.

You'd think Mercedes (Daimler) would be a bit more professional than this, good god

Holy christ what an unbelievably horrible company

It's Mercedes, they have so much money? Why not just... Buy one???? Plus, all of Tesla's patents are open and free....

Good ol' German (reverse) engineering. I'm wondering if it was a decision made by a lower level R+D engineer/team in order to source one really quick. They were probably instructed to learn more about the X and didn't want to wait. Surely there's one they could've bought used though? No idea. Also I wanna point out the picture in the source is NOT the car in question. Since some probably won't read that far.

[QUOTE=Savage Octane;52942122]It's Mercedes, they have so much money? Why not just... Buy one???? Plus, all of Tesla's patents are open and free....[/QUOTE] Pettyness probably. Not wanting to give Telsa money.

[QUOTE=geel9;52942119]Holy christ what an unbelievably horrible company[/QUOTE] Yeah one rather minor incident like this surely makes a company horrible. Tesla must suck as considering their working conditions.

-snip- Can we get another source on this besides some biased electric vehicle site? I cannot find any other source so that's a bit weird.

I don't understand the idea that they didn't want to give money to Tesla... Mercedes used to have a strategic partnership with Tesla. Mercedes used to own Tesla shares in a$50 million dollar investment deal that helped early Tesla stay afloat. Tesla provided Mercedes with drive units and batteries for their electric vehicles in exchange for Merc buying a % of Tesla. In 2014 they sold their 4% ownership in Tesla for $780 million. Merc had seats on Tesla's board early on. Merc had unique, unparalleled access to Tesla's resources and inner workings. The two companies benefited from each other. To think Merc would be so petty as to not buy a ~$80,000 car is asinine. This had to have been a mistake.

[QUOTE=darth-veger;52942164]-snip- Can we get another source on this besides some biased electric vehicle site? I cannot find any other source so that's a bit weird.[/QUOTE] from the OP: "According to the German magazine Spiegel (German and paywall)," [url]http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/tesla-daimler-ramponiert-tesla-mietauto-bei-heimlichen-tests-a-1181279.html[/url]

Assuming this isn't fake news, what kind of Damages would have been incurred if they completely put it back together again?

[QUOTE=DoctorSalt;52942186]Assuming this isn't fake news, what kind of Damages would have been incurred if they completely put it back together again?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE]According to the company, Mercedes drove the Model X at their test track in Sindelfingen near Stuttgart in Germany and put it through heat and vibration tests. They also reportedly drove it all the way to Barcelona in Spain.[/QUOTE] Presumably heavy wear on components from harsh testing

[QUOTE=DoctorSalt;52942186]Assuming this isn't fake news, what kind of Damages would have been incurred if they completely put it back together again?[/QUOTE] Tool wear, Accidentally breaking little bits, scratching paint/materials, potentially harming the battery by taking it apart (i'm assuming Merc has engineers that could do this, it's not that difficult) [editline]2nd December 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Elspin;52942190]Presumably heavy wear on components from harsh testing[/QUOTE] This too.

[QUOTE=DoctorSalt;52942186]Assuming this isn't fake news, what kind of Damages would have been incurred if they completely put it back together again?[/QUOTE] Probably not what you're thinking of when you imagine "five digit damages." Teslas are notoriously extremely expensive to repair for various reasons. This is a decent, if a little long winded, video explaining why. [video=youtube;18MItauAgKo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18MItauAgKo[/video]

[QUOTE=OvB;52942178]I don't understand the idea that they didn't want to give money to Tesla... Mercedes used to have a strategic partnership with Tesla. Mercedes used to own Tesla shares in a$50 million dollar investment deal that helped early Tesla stay afloat. Tesla provided Mercedes with drive units and batteries for their electric vehicles in exchange for Merc buying a % of Tesla. In 2014 they sold their 4% ownership in Tesla for $780 million. Merc had seats on Tesla's board early on. Merc had unique, unparalleled access to Tesla's resources and inner workings. The two companies benefited from each other. To think Merc would be so petty as to not buy a ~$80,000 car is asinine. This had to have been a mistake.[/QUOTE] I don't know shit about how many layers Mercedes (or any other manufacturer) has as a company, but if this is true, my money is on a relatively low-level employee, with too much faith in the ability of his workers and a dumb plan that sounds smart.

[QUOTE=shad0w440;52942138]Pettyness probably. Not wanting to give Telsa money.[/QUOTE] I highly doubt that. This almost definitely happened as a result of lower management cutting corners. The entirety of Mercedes didn't take a public vote on how to procure a Tesla and what to do with it.

[QUOTE=Cyke Lon bee;52942235]I highly doubt that. This almost definitely happened as a result of lower management cutting corners. The entirety of Mercedes didn't take a public vote on how to procure a Tesla and what to do with it.[/QUOTE] They should make good on it though and pay for the damages without having to be taken to court.

[QUOTE=smug.gif;52942179]from the OP: "According to the German magazine Spiegel (German and paywall)," [url]http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/tesla-daimler-ramponiert-tesla-mietauto-bei-heimlichen-tests-a-1181279.html[/url][/QUOTE] It's not paywalled for me[URL="https://archive.is/9QqJF"].[/URL] It says just about the same as the OP quote though, since the article is quite short.

[QUOTE=Morgen;52942916]They should make good on it though and pay for the damages without having to be taken to court.[/QUOTE] They'd end up in court either way most likely. The damages are minimal and will most likely be paid, but they do have to deal with Sixt as well, regardless of paying them.