IEVS: Sandy Munro EV Conference: Everything You Need To Know

https://insideevs.com/news/356556/video-munro-conference-tesla-model-3/

. . . Essentially, the Munro event provided in-depth engineering comparisons of the Tesla Model 3, Chevrolet Bolt EV, and BMW i3, in addition to an overview of the all-new Jaguar I-Pace.

We had plans to attend the event. However, it sold out and they were out of press passes. Fortunately, we've been in touch with Sean and he produced this excellent video recap with all the details. It includes informative slides from the event, which he explains and discusses at length. . . .

Click to expand...

GRA said:

https://insideevs.com/news/356556/video-munro-conference-tesla-model-3/

. . . Essentially, the Munro event provided in-depth engineering comparisons of the Tesla Model 3, Chevrolet Bolt EV, and BMW i3, in addition to an overview of the all-new Jaguar I-Pace.

We had plans to attend the event. However, it sold out and they were out of press passes. Fortunately, we've been in touch with Sean and he produced this excellent video recap with all the details. It includes informative slides from the event, which he explains and discusses at length. . . .

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Totally boring!

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (V00.1)

• Best $200 engineering conference ever - Munro and Associates shutdown their facility for a day and had at least 25 skilled engineers and technologist presenting, answering technical questions, and all of the tear-down cars and parts open for inspection and photos. Tesla does not sell an illustrated parts breakdown but Munro has one . . . with real parts. Counting the preparation, very skilled Munro staff, and facilities, it probably cost over $500k to produce. The only savings is Munro may have avoided funding staff trips to other conferences (or that might have been part of the plan.) Seat limited to ~100, raw revenue of $20,000 probably only covered the catering and swag. I would go again.
• Focus on Munro consulting services - Munro and Associates has a very deep bench and expertise in manufacturing excellency that continues to grow. They preserve client data but the lessons learned becomes part of their skill set. A Munro consultancy time is pretty steep but well worth it in labor, parts, and quality. You don't have to hire an expensive experienced engineer because you can rent an exceptional engineering team from Munro. Caution, experience can be a double-edged sword (i.e., "You need a fuse box.") But at least their quiet departure doesn't become another 'Financial Times' hit piece over Tesla staff changes.
• Attendees - What a great mix of engineers and technologists. Of course there were some who didn't really understand why they were sent (i.e., to get them OUT of the office.) Others trying to get the Cliff Notes for one of Munro's detailed, $70-100k, reports. My favorites were the 'good ole' boys' who came just to hang out with each other and swap war stories. Sad to say, I skipped the social hour because I had an experiment to finish and being retired, I'm not 'in their network.' I'll have more details about myself in this section.
• Cannonball practice - The 787 711 mile 14:18 (hh:mm) trip up and 693 mile 15:30 return, validated my Tesla long distance driving model. It also revealed insights needed for even longer distance, affordable Tesla driving.

Feel free to post questions and I will maintain a change log in the first post with links to subsections.

Bob Wilson

Change log (YYYY/MM/DD):
2019/06/23 Baseline executive summary
2019/06/24 Updated "Cannonball practice" with metrics and route map
2019/06/30 Updated distance and times from GPS recorded data

Best $200 engineering conference ever

Munro and Associates shutdown their facility for a day and had at least 25 skilled engineers and technologist presenting, answering technical questions, and all of the tear-down cars and parts open for inspection and photos. Tesla does not sell an illustrated parts breakdown but Munro has one . . . with real parts. Counting the preparation, very skilled Munro staff, and facilities, it probably cost over $500k to produce. The only savings is Munro may have avoided funding staff trips to other conferences (or that might have been part of the plan.) Seat limited to ~100, raw revenue of $20,000 probably only covered the catering and swag. I would go again.


My first photo was an attempt to get the URL for the speaker . . . it failed. Regardless, this is the synopsis:

These folks had a 16 year old who wanted a Tesla so they bought one and setup a shuttle service to and from Las Vegas that expanded to six Teslas. Then California sent a note that they could not use 'independent contract' drivers. Their drivers had to be employees so they closed it down.

They changed the business model to Tesla rental. Then Tesla changed the terms and conditions so 'Uber' and other commercial services could not use the SuperChargers . . . he confessed that he caused that change. He has a new scheme based on the $0.58/mi IRS rule but anticipates that rule also getting closed. I'm not so sure he has a good business model.

Oh BOY! Hands on TOYS!!!

Not a show for the non-technical or the "HOLD MY BEER! WATCH THIS!!" crowd.

How did Munro get a Tesla induction motor rotor?



Hands do get lubricants and stuff on them so you need paper towels.



The best illustrated parts breakdown is at Munro and associates:









They also have the BMW i3 BEV. I have the BMW i3-REx that has the engine:


Bob Wilson

Focus on Munro consulting services

Munro and Associates has a very deep bench and expertise in manufacturing excellency that continues to grow. They preserve client data but the lessons learned becomes part of their skill set. A Munro consultancy time is pretty steep but well worth it in labor, parts, and quality. You don't have to hire an expensive experienced engineer because you can rent an exceptional engineering team from Munro. Caution, experience can be a double-edged sword (i.e., "You need a fuse box.") But at least their quiet departure doesn't become another 'Financial Times' hit piece over staff changes.

Non-denominational, they have broad engineering expertise. Cars are just one subset. For example, this appears to be a pump and filter for a slurry with chunks. As the intake passed up, the solid matter falls into the inner cylinder to take a different path. My first guess is part of a waste water treatment plant.


This gives an example of the quality of engineering analysis found at Munro:












Sandy Munro spoke on Autoline After Hours about meeting Dr. Edward Demming when Sandy worked at Ford. Demming gave him some wise words that led Sandy to making "Munro and Associates." Yet during the formal program, Sandy didn't 'Lord' this over us. But like me, he is a true "Quality Warrior." I would pickup the bar bill to spend an evening with Sandy. I just didn't have the time for the social hour.

Munro and Associates have good collection of design-to-cost and program management tools. They even teach how to put together what we called in GE, a "War Room." This is great for those who recognize the need. But these classical tools can easily be abused which means the buyer MUST HAVE A CLUE. You can't buy the character and commitment needed to successfully use them.

Bob Wilson

Attendees

What a great mix of engineers and technologists. Of course there were some who didn't really understand why they were sent (i.e., to get them OUT of the office.) Others trying to get the Cliff Notes for one of Munro's detailed, $70-100k, reports. My favorites were the 'good ole' boys' who came just to hang out with each other and swap war stories. Sad to say, I skipped the social hour because I had an experiment to finish and being retired, I'm not 'in their network.' I'll have more details about myself in this section.


This guest speaker didn't show up with hardcopy of his presentation. Although I admire his goals, I have little confidence in his business practices. You should never build a business on screwing someone else and he is no friend to Tesla. I would need private time with him to discuss a better approach, a 'win-win.' Right now, he is 'I win and Tesla loses.'

The first attendee I tried to chat with mentioned getting a Hummer and 'cold effects.' These are common EV hostile opinions. So I mentioned rumors of an EV Hummer but suggested it would just be a Tahoe with boxy fendors, raised, and knobby tires. I didn't mention that pre-bankruptcy, GM required the word "hybrid" embedded in the paint scheme and killing an excellent CUV hybrid I got to test drive in the snow.

About the cold, I shared that when we had a cold snap in Dixie with temperatures down to 16F, I drove my 2003 Prius to Georgia and back. I found the decrease in MPG paralleled with the temperature defined, air density. I added that both our BMW i3-REx and Tesla have a pre-conditioning that keeps the battery at an optimum temperature. Our EVs are like small huts connected to the grid for power needed to maintain a friendly temperature. He seemed impressed when I shared that I drove 786.8 mi to the conference and only $24.92 in SuperCharger costs.

With the exception of the old guys who'd worked together in the past, the 'youngsters' were sensitive about talking with others. I sensed they were almost paranoid about what they worked on and afraid talk with strangers. There was very little user involvement so I recommend the following:

• Tags should show 'nickname' and 'organization'

For example, this is mine:

I'm "Bob" but they listed me by the formal, "Robert." Also, there is nothing showing I'm "Retired" which means I'm safe to talk with. The other icons do nothing to introduce me to strangers, a problem at this event. Notice I'm in old school engineering dress, pocket pen and glasses. When I asked about parking, their mentioned bringing a coat and I though 'do they want me in a shirt, tie, and business dress?' So I showed up in my last Dilbert shirt and changed in the parking lot to my normal dress.

So here is the swag bag thoughtfully labeled "BOB" but so too were all the others.

I didn't unwrap the pen (SWAG pens are notoriously unreliable) and also left the mini engineering log book in the wrapper because I brought:

My own clipboard with the data sheet for my drive up. Not shown, are the three Tesla charging pages I left with the Munro staff about optimum long distance travel.

I asked one of the Munro senior managers about how they got the HP numbers for the different cars. He said, 'We outsource that to local suppliers.' We then chatted about the EPA "Test Car Database" and I joked about how at Oklahoma State we used to say 'Engineering is pre-business.' In fact, Munro is not in the operations business but the 'how to build' business.

If I'd stayed for the social hour, I might have found the other four who drove there in Teslas. We could have gotten together so I could show them how I 'campout in the car' and discuss about using an RV park for L2 charging or taking an overnight nap.

Bob Wilson

Cannonball practice

The 787 711 mile 14:18 (hh:mm) trip up and 693 mile 15:30 return, validated my Tesla long distance driving model. It also revealed insights needed for even longer distance, affordable Tesla driving. So I had:

1. Hardcopy of ticket.
2. Annotated drive-up map with key metrics finished in the hotel room.
3. Model charts showing the optimum strategy (I gave to the staff team at the electronics table.)

So this is what I had on my clipboard:

The drive up I planned to use the Toledo SuperCharger. But as I got closer to Detroit, my fear of 'downtown traffic' led to an ad hoc change to take a western route. It turns out to have been a mistake.

Once in Detroit, I saw wide, broad, multilane roads without much traffic. Then I realized Detroit has been depopulated. The Dixie factories have replaced the Detroit factories so we have traffic jams on our recently paved, country roads. Meanwhile, the aging but relatively wide, multi-lane, Detroit streets are like turnpikes compared to traffic jams in Dixie.

On the return trip, I took "Telegraph Road" and made great time at ~50 mph. Shorter, it was a great way to get home:

It would have been a faster trip home except I used the Tesla trip planner on one leg.

The Tesla trip planner had a maximum charge at one SuperCharger . . . the slowest and most expensive approach. But it was late and I needed a nap. I set the iPhone alarm for a 1 hour charge and crawled in the back where the seats were down and stretched out on a pad for a nap. Another plan would have been to attend the social hour and take a nap in the Munro parking lot. But I would have been 2-3 hours late instead of 30 minutes. I won't use the Tesla trip planner again.

The Supercharger model uses the charging characteristics of my Standard Range Plus Model 3 to calculate block-to-block speed and costs:


Too frequent charger sessions are cheap but slows the trip because of the battery ramp-up. Too long on the charger and the taper delays getting back on the road and the cost goes up substantially:


This chart shows the overall flow:


So on the return trip, here is the route map and real world SuperCharger costs and speed:



Driving back using Navigate on AutoPilot, I came across a truck with an almost painful, bright light on the cab, front bumper:

My first thought was it was to discourage tailgaters but if so, way wrong. The easiest way to avoid the blinding light is to follow the truck at the closest distance so the trailer blocks the light. But when I eventually passed the truck, I saw it was also a roadway aid as well as keeping passing traffic from pulling in too soon. Anti-tailgating was probably not on the menu. BTW, there is NHTSA regulations about not having 'blinding lights' aimed at following traffic.

Bob Wilson

Very nice to see your posts Bob.
What is your opinion on Munro analysis without functional data ? To me (to use an analogy) it always reads like an anatomy lesson without any physiology.