Insta
Tesla Has Temporarily Stopped Production Of The Model 3 Car At Its Californian Factory
Swarajya Staff
Apr 17, 2018, 01:52 PM | Updated 01:52 PM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Elon Musk’s Tesla has temporarily halted the production of its Model 3 sedan, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The electric vehicle maker has so far missed several targets in its pursuit of a mass-market car.
The operations at the company's assembly plant at Fremont, California were halted in what was described as a planned shutdown, the daily’s report says. The shutdown is expected to last for a week.
In an official statement, Tesla said it had planned downtime into its production plans “to improve automation and systematically address bottlenecks in order to increase production rates.”
The stoppage of production comes days after Chief Executive Musk said the company had established a sustainable production capacity to make at least 2,000 cars a week.
The temporary disruption, however, will not impact the production of company's other two product lines - Model S and Model X.
In an interview with CBS on 14 April, Musk conceded that relying too much on robotics was a mistake. When asked during the interview if complex robotics involved with the production played a role slowing down the car manufacturing process, Musk replied, "Yes, they did... We had this crazy, complex network of conveyor belts... And it was not working, so we got rid of that whole thing."
Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2018
Musk has thus far claimed that Tesla’s innovative approach to automation in the factory will help his fledgeling company against traditional automakers. That he has now expressed scepticism on completely automated production and plans to pivot to a process involving more human involvement, critics have began to question Tesla’s ability to deliver on its promise of ramping up its production to 5000 cars per week to meet the demand of the huge waiting list of customers who have signed up to buy the Model 3.
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.