Tesla has finally announced a firmer schedule for the launch of its Model 3 electric car, which is set to take position below that of the Model S. “Our Model 3 programme is on track to start limited vehicle production in July and to steadily ramp production to exceed 5,000 vehicles per week at some point in the fourth quarter and 10,000 vehicles per week at some point in 2018,” Tesla said in an Inside EVs report.
It’s an announcement of a move that should go some way to meet demand for the Model 3; 115,000 pre-orders were received within 24 hours of its unveiling. With the disclosure of the aforementioned production targets, Inside EVs estimates that Tesla is likely to build 25,000 to 35,000 units of the Model 3 this year; CEO Elon Musk foresees an “S curve” to the Model 3’s production rate, with a low initial volume as the manufacturer deals with initial matters.
Tesla’s supply chain and manufacturing are well on their way to “support volume deliveries” in the second half of this year, the company said, and also confirmed that the first Model 3 prototypes were built earlier this month. Tesla hasn’t set a firm date for the debut of the production-ready Model 3, however.
“We expect to invest between $2 billion and $2.5 billion in capital expenditures ahead of the start of Model 3 production,” Tesla said of its operating costs as it heads into Model 3 production. No capital is needed for the Model 3 ramp-up, though that will leave Tesla close to a point where it will soon need to raise funds, therefore it “probably makes sense to raise capital to reduce risk,” the CEO said.
As for the Model S and Model X SUV, Tesla did not give a full-year estimate for sales, instead giving a half-year guidance. “We expect to deliver 47,000 to 50,000 Model S and Model X vehicles combined in the first half of 2017, representing vehicle delivery growth of 61% to 71% compared with the same period last year,” the company said.
GALLERY: Tesla Model 3
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Tesla cannot survive without USA gov subsidy and special policy, from SpaceX to Tesla to SolarCity, all of Musk’s company rely heavily on gov’s favorism.
Everytime he needs to raise more capital, Musk will announce something really crazy or come up with crazy prediction. He will need to raise more capital again, watch Bloomberg for his crazy prediction again. Tesla been bleeding money for 10 years and now that they’ve bought up the almost soon to be bankrupted SolarCity, Tesla will need an even bigger capital.
I am all for electric cars, but Tesla cannot fight the big boys. Their only hope is for Apple to buy them up. Margin is too low, operational cost is too high, competition is too tough.
Just watch bloomberg for another amazing crazy Tesla prediction. With recession on the horizon, can they survive?
They should target middle income earners.
Like create a sister brand to sell affordable EV. Mass produce. Something more practical. Something less luxury.
Anyway they are still new in the industry. Time will tell
Pyramid doesn’t build in one day. Stuffs that Elon Musk doing are shaping the industry, whether in car, power resources or space venture. Bleed another 10 more years, (probably) to generate a large impact return. 10 or 100 more gigafactory before it could change the industrial world. When comes to profit, these companies could just stop pouring monies to any new development or R&D. But then, does it sounds like a revolution company (Tesla) or just another Proton? It’s much different perspective when cronies building Proton which gone nowhere with the result.
Lets hope Tesla Model-3 is a runaway success bcos that will hopefully mean increase production to reduce the cost due to economic of scale.
If possible, Tesla can sell the patent to whoever wants the technology so that the world will be a better place to live due 2 lower pollution.
I put lots of interest in this car until I saw the slapped-on, horizontally standing 15 inch monitor in the middle of the dashboard. don’t get me wrong, I admire model S vertically integrated screen on its dashboard. however horizontally stuck out monitor in model 3 looks cheap and out of place. this is only my personal opinion and preference though.
Still waiting for scientists breakthrough on superconductors R&D and super capacitors tech to replace power storage now rely on Li-Ion batteries, then only electrification of automotive will really succeed.
US has already set their vision to colonised Mars. Once human set foot there, they will need vehicles to take them around. Very sure Tesla will be the only brand of vehicles there for a long time to come. So while Tesla is bleeding now, they will be a force to reckon with in the next 10 years. By then all the other car companies can only sit & hope they can catch up to Tesla. As of now, they are the leader & traditional car companies are lost in the E car world. Most can only product toy like cars that travel flimsy & slowly. E.g. Prius.