Tesla produced a staggering number of Tesla Model 3 electric cars this year so far, according to a report published Tuesday. The news comes as CEO Elon Musk is working overtime to prove short-sell investors wrong and expand the company from a luxury automaker to a more mass market firm.
The Business Insider report claims that Tesla has made 6,000 cars in the month of June, reaching a total of 30,000 cars in the year. It’s a huge figure, and one that suggests Tesla may be on its way to ramping up production past the 2,000 per week reported at the end of the previous quarter in April. These figures are critical for Tesla, as it seeks to mass produce its cheapest ever electric car and fund its expansion. Around 400,000 customers have placed a $1,000 reservation that Tesla needs to convert into cars starting from $35,000, in order to keep operations afloat.
Model 3 production as shown at the Model 3 handover.
Tesla originally planned to reach 5,000 per week as soon as December 2017, just six months after the car entered production. The company missed these targets, and in April Goldman Sachs predicted the company would only produce 1,400 cars per week for that quarter, necessitating a return to the capital markets. Tesla avoided this by reaching 2,000 per week, but the pressure remains to deliver.
The report also sheds light on the tent Tesla has constructed at the Fremont plant. Musk explained on Twitter earlier this week that the firm built the line to reach it’s 5,000-per-week goal. A new building was not possible in that space of time, but the construction team poured concrete and used old scrap metal to get the line up and running in just two weeks. However, the report claims that General Assembly 4 line, as the tent is known, has only produced 100 vehicles so far and it’s unlikely to offer the needed capacity for a while.
Musk is expected to deliver the company’s quarterly production report in just three weeks, which he predicts will “explode” the short seller positions.
The pressure is on.
