
During Friday’s event, Musk showed off an image of a Model 3 production curve graph containing little to no real metrics. Tesla delivered 47,100 cars in the first half of this year, but because the ramp of the Model 3 could be so unpredictable, the company is avoiding giving guidance for car shipments for the second half of the year.

Earlier this month, Tesla said it delivered 22,000 of its electric cars in the second quarter of 2017, down from the over 25,000 it shipped in the first quarter of this year. He has said many times that the company showed “hubris” in over-engineering the Model X and making it so difficult to manufacture.Įven today, Tesla’s deliveries of its Model S and Model X cars tend to be at the lower end of the company’s predictions. Musk has been very open about the early production issues associated with the Model X, including difficulties with funky non-closing doors and problems with seats. The Model S had its share of production bugs through its manufacturing ramp in 2013, which at one point contributed to Musk reportedly considering whether to sell a cash-strapped Tesla to Google. “It’s going to be where we are for at least six months, maybe longer.

“Welcome to production hell,” Musk said, chuckling, to the audience of engineers, designers and factory line workers amassed on Friday night at the back of the factory. He’s now well versed in car manufacturing hurdles and potential delays, thanks to the company’s history of making cars from the first Lotus-based Roadsters, to the much-lauded Model S, to the production-line-plagued Model X. By 2018, Tesla says it will make 500,000 cars a year, up from the almost 80,000 it made last year. It’s a jaw-dropping ramp-up, and far more aggressive than any other automaker would dare to attempt in such a short time frame.

These employees, under the leadership of Musk and his executive team, will be responsible for growing production of the Model 3 from the first 30 cars shown off this weekend, to 5,000 cars per week at some point later this year and 10,000 at some point in 2018.
#Tesla whompy wheel how to#
And there will be thousands more in the Gigafactory outside of Reno, Nevada, figuring out how to crank out large volumes of new batteries that will power the long-range electric vehicle.

Tesla now has over 30,000 of them, including many thousands that will be working long hours in the Fremont factory trying to ramp up production of the Model 3. Musk has spent over a decade envisioning this car as the key to his “master plan” to make electric cars both affordable and thrilling, and an estimated 500,000 customers have already placed reservations for the cars.īut it won’t be the fawning press coverage, with many already comparing the launch of the Model 3 to the launch of the iPhone, that will determine if the rollout of the Model 3 will be a success. It's a car intended for a more mainstream customer, with a base price of $35,000, and it represents a major bet by the 14-year-old Tesla. factory last Friday night - surrounded by thousands of Tesla employees and under the spotlight of cameras and a video live stream - Musk showed off the first 30 of the company’s new Model 3 electric cars, awaiting pickup by customers, including many employees. Electric car company Tesla, and its entrepreneurial billionaire leader Elon Musk, knows how to dazzle an audience.Īt the back of Tesla’s Fremont, Calif.
