Speed UTV

Man, after listening to the presidential address concerning the terror attack, I don’t know what’s worse. Listening to him or buff. Thought he was going to fall asleep during that moment of silence. Geez. 

 
Rockwood said:
They're assembling these at individual component (drivetrain is being assembled part by part) with hand-held tools out of boxes of parts on roller carts with tie down straps square-knotted to them so they can be moved around...  These may be production parts from suppliers, but they still have a lot of logistics before they're at Full-Rate Production.  Sorry to say, but I don't think 1,000 are gonna be built next year... 
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If they're using parallel assembly lines they could be building these at the advertised rates. In the beginning, RG stated they will produce 40 per day. His most recent videos, he's been saying 50 per day. If they're running 3 shifts at the factory, that's only about 2 per hour. If they're running 4 parallel lines, that's only 1 car for every 2 hours per line.

But let's assume you're correct and they don't figure out the best/fastest method. There's 16 months between now and Dec.31 2022, so they only have to produce 3.125 units per day, 20 days/month for the next 16 months to produce 1,000 units by then.

Even if they only hit 1/8th of their production goal, that's 5 units/day, 100 units/month, 1600 units by the end of 2022. Not that I foresee that slow production rate, but that is 60% more than 1,000 units.

 
Sand Shark said:
Almost looks like they are assembling them at his place in N.C.
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His race shop in NC is full of semi trucks, race trailers, SST truck chassis, stacks of replacement SST bodies, trophy trucks, spare parts, a small assembly area where they assembled the first 2 prototypes, etc. That shop doesn't have any spare room anywhere near that large, plus that's a different style building with a different ceiling.

 
Lord of the Dunes said:
If they're using parallel assembly lines they could be building these at the advertised rates. In the beginning, RG stated they will produce 40 per day. His most recent videos, he's been saying 50 per day. If they're running 3 shifts at the factory, that's only about 2 per hour. If they're running 4 parallel lines, that's only 1 car for every 2 hours per line.

But let's assume you're correct and they don't figure out the best/fastest method. There's 16 months between now and Dec.31 2022, so they only have to produce 3.125 units per day, 20 days/month for the next 16 months to produce 1,000 units by then.

Even if they only hit 1/8th of their production goal, that's 5 units/day, 100 units/month, 1600 units by the end of 2022. Not that I foresee that slow production rate, but that is 60% more than 1,000 units.
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The “method” illustrated above is super low volume and high cost. How would they scale with the labor pool? Assume it scales, what about the $40k MSRP?

That vehicle, assembled by hand component by component, even with a crack crew, has hundreds of hours of assembly in it. 

 
Rockwood said:
The “method” illustrated above is super low volume and high cost. How would they scale with the labor pool? Assume it scales, what about the $40k MSRP?

That vehicle, assembled by hand component by component, even with a crack crew, has hundreds of hours of assembly in it. 
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From the videos I've seen on YT, everyone is assembling engines and transmissions by hand, albeit on motorized trolleys between stations. The only real hand assembly on these UTVs would be the engine, trans, front and rear diffs, dash, front and rear suspensions, wiring harness and the roof. The chassis and suspension arms are all CNC cut and bent, then robot welded.

As for the cost... well, I paid $30k for mine, plus delivery, tax and doc fees. If someone pays 40k or 45k in the future, I feel sorry for them, but there's nothing I can do about it. Even at $45k, it is probably still a good value compared to what else is out there, including custom built. 

I'm hoping they figure out more efficient assembly methods as they learn from these early days. To their benefit, they don't have 20 layers of vastly overpaid executive fat adding huge overhead to their operation. Everyone in their org is productive, rather than most auto corporations who have an executive assistant director to the vice president of sanitation operations who earns $1M/yr because he's married to some VP's sister.

 
Lord of the Dunes said:
From the videos I've seen on YT, everyone is assembling engines and transmissions by hand, albeit on motorized trolleys between stations. The only real hand assembly on these UTVs would be the engine, trans, front and rear diffs, dash, front and rear suspensions, wiring harness and the roof. The chassis and suspension arms are all CNC cut and bent, then robot welded.

As for the cost... well, I paid $30k for mine, plus delivery, tax and doc fees. If someone pays 40k or 45k in the future, I feel sorry for them, but there's nothing I can do about it. Even at $45k, it is probably still a good value compared to what else is out there, including custom built. 

I'm hoping they figure out more efficient assembly methods as they learn from these early days. To their benefit, they don't have 20 layers of vastly overpaid executive fat adding huge overhead to their operation. Everyone in their org is productive, rather than most auto corporations who have an executive assistant director to the vice president of sanitation operations who earns $1M/yr because he's married to some VP's sister.
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I get what you’re saying…

But Robby’s words are this is the assembly process. If so, it’ll be 2027 before orders are filled unless he just throws mad duckets at this shiznit. :biggrin:

That, or he’s full of it and they have a bunch of logistics to figure out…

 
Rockwood said:
I get what you’re saying…

But Robby’s words are this is the assembly process. If so, it’ll be 2027 before orders are filled unless he just throws mad duckets at this shiznit. :biggrin:

That, or he’s full of it and they have a bunch of logistics to figure out…
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I think it was 3 weeks ago that RG said they were figuring out the mfg process as they go along. I think he's a fairly smart guy, so I'm hoping he figures out a way to streamline the process.

Actually, I'm not sure how involved he is in the mfg process itself. He said they were being built in the Hisun factory, so other than QC, I have no idea how involved he is in the mfg side. Maybe he'll address that in an upcoming video. 

 
I have been to the Hisun Factory it is the biggest one in China.  HUGE place.  Crazy as hell walking around in there.   Kind of picture a factory in china and I bet you are very close.  If it is Hisun then they have assembly lines for sure.  Full tour at the CF moto factory down the street.  They pop out Vtwin engines pretty quick. Completed units come off the line fairly quickly.  some robots in there but mostly by hand welding.

 
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Look at the Nut below the W in weld, are they using those SAE/METRIC sockets from Lowes?  Damn...13/14 whatever turns it.

 
I'm sure these cars are going to be picked apart by every skeptic which is prob a little unfair, but RG and all the deposit holders should expect it because of what he says in his shows about how bad the other manufactures are and how he is doing it perfect. If they are being put together by Humans there are gonna be flaws. Excited to see one finished and running around.

 
Great post @NIKAL It cracks me up reading all the comments from the latest pictures. People just don't understand the process. I just keep biting my tongue. No need to to get in a keyboard battle. I get how it works and accept the pictures for what they are. And in the end, I know I am getting an "import" budget off-road car. I am part of Jimco's race team. Anyone who doesn't think these are budget cars, I'll take you for a tour of JImco. 

For those of you who will be butt hurt over the "budget car" comment. These are 95% race cars. You cannot get any race car for 40k. You almost couldn't build a competitive class 11 for 40k anymore. 

If 40k is too much for you.....simple, got buy something else and have fun with it! I sold my Alumicraft Prerunner before I put my deposit down on this. I bought a 5k Jeep to use in the meantime. The Jeep is almost as fun to drive as the Alumicraft (almost). The key to life is GO OUT AND HAVE FUN! With whatever it is!!

 
So Robby isnt doing shows cuz he got the rona pretty bad.

Id imagine speed is kind of butt hurt about the folks who got onboard in 2019. We got an RG El Jefe for 34,500

And now its 42,000. Car looks real nice though. Im glad Todd enlightened on the bulk/ diff issue and breaking. We had a RZR totaled for just going over on its side and bending the tabs at the frame. It was in a trailer when it went over too, not even driven

 
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