While there’s no denying that Tesla managed to turn the auto industry on its head, there’s no getting around the fact that every Tesla model ever released has experienced serious production issues. The Model 3, though, was going to be different. At least, that’s what Elon Musk and other Tesla executives promised us in the months leading up to the vehicle’s release. Indeed, Musk articulated that the Model 3’s simple design — relative to the Model S and the Model X — would result in an incredibly streamlined production process.
As it turns out, the Model 3 was beset with production issues from the start. So while Tesla was initially aiming to manufacture 20,000 Model 3 vehicles per month by December of this year, things have since changed considerably. Due to a production bottleneck that Tesla attributed to a “battery module assembly line at Gigafactory 1”, Tesla during the third quarter only managed to deliver 220 vehicles. What’s more, Tesla’s manufacturing goals with respect to the Model 3 were pushed back significantly, with the company last month noting that its new goal is to boost Model 3 production to 5,000 units per week by March of 2018.
That’s quite a delay, but production improvements seem to be happening faster than even Tesla anticipated. According to a new report from Electrek, some Tesla suppliers have seen demand for parts increase to a range that would suggest production is already at 5,000 units per week.
Meanwhile, Teslarati reports that they’re seeing a huge uptick in the number of Model 3 cars observed at Tesla’s delivery center in Fremont.
All in all, this is welcome news for any Model 3 reservation holders, especially given that Tesla should begin delivering Model 3 units to non-employee reservation holders this month.
Tesla’s manufacturing progress notwithstanding, the company still has a long way to go before it’s able to fulfill all outstanding orders. Though Tesla hasn’t given us any precise figures with respect to demand, it’s believed that the cumulative number of Model 3 reservations is currently hovering in the 400,000 range.
