Tesla’s third quarter 2017 update had some positive numbers, but there were some concerns as well. Deliveries in Q3 rose 4.5% year-on-year, and 26,150 units is also 17.7% up on the previous quarter. The total figure included 14,065 units of the Model S and 11,865 of the Model X.
What about the much hyped Model 3? Production of Tesla’s entry-level sedan for the masses started in July, and the Palo Alto-based company produced a total of 260 units in the quarter, delivering just 220 of those, Reuters reports.
Tesla admitted that it is facing production bottlenecks for the Model 3, and is behind an ambitious schedule. “It is important to emphasise that there are no fundamental issues with the Model 3 production or supply chain. We understand what needs to be fixed and we are confident of addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near term,” Tesla said in a statement.
The original plan was “to achieve a rate of 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week by the end of 2017,” according to the EV specialist’s second-quarter financial report. Tesla also previously said that it expects at some point in 2018 to further ramp to a rate of “10,000 Model 3 vehicles per week,” and an annual production rate in excess of 500,000 vehicles.
Tesla said yesterday that a handful of systems at its Fremont plant in California and its battery factory in Reno, Nevada, “have taken longer to activate than expected.”
However, Elon Musk’s company says that it was on track to deliver around 100,000 units of the Model S and X this year. Deliveries of the two models would have been even higher in Q3 – 4,820 units were in transit to customers at the end of quarter and would be added into Q4 figures.
The Model 3 has a bulging order book. Priced from $35,000 (RM148,330), half of the Model S starting price, it has a range of 354 km, and can sprint 0-100 km/h in 5.6 seconds before reaching a top speed of 209 km/h. Another $9,000 (RM38,142) adds a long range battery that pushes range to 499 km and cuts the 0-100 km/h time to 5.1 seconds. Top speed is 225 km/h here.
Model 3 owners will have to pay to use Tesla’s Supercharger network though, whereas the service is free for the first 400 kWh per year with the Model S and Model X. Also, the headline entry price excludes many options.
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Tesla needs to JV/Partner with a well-established car maker to help them to boost their manufacturing efficiency. Tesla must not forget that if there are large amount of sales, there will also be a large amount off after sales service to cater, which I don’t think Tesla can handle looking at the manufacturing process. You don’t expect a car packed with techs to go problemless over some time.
inb4 time for Geely to buy.
inb4 time for Greentech MY to buy.
You right Mister…they need to work with Toyota cos we know how to manufacture car with precision and on time..decades of engineering expertise cant go wrong..its win win..thre is no other way buddy..
Engineering expertise my foot, even simple carpet cannot do it right, suddenly pedal trapped and car accelerates
I think what Tesla is doing right now is more towards the approach used by technology company like Samsung or Apple. They do not see themselves as another car maker, but a technology company. Their manufacturing processes are also remarkably different to other car makers, again using the approach of tech companies. A JV would need the other manufacturer to adhere to Tesla’s unique manufacturing approach.
Samsung comes from traditional manufacturing background & Apple outsources their manufacturing. Tesla is stuck between both but must choose either methodology; get more manufacturing know-how or outsource the whole thing to someone else. Otherwise, they will burn thru more money just to gain manufacturing experience.
If follow basher logic, tesla shoud kolos shop
Lol…that idiot Musk must have realized he cannot build entry level Tesla 3 model at the advertised price without incurring huge losses. This despite the huge subsidy he is getting from the US government.
So he came up with the fake ‘bottleneck’.
The real bottleneck is the material cost of the batteries. There isn’t any technology currently available to make cheap and economically viable batteries for electric cars.
His battery factory not yet running, so need to cover line sikit.
exactly, many dont understand this. Almost all EV cars are sold at a loss. Merc, BMW, Audi, Reno.. all said the same thing, EV is not profitable due to the high battery cost.
if you notice carefully, everytime his companies need to announce any financial reports, he will announce something big, something crazy… fly to mars, colonize mars, hyperloop, rocket to replace planes… etc
EV is not profitable because of battery pricings. If battery pricing are able to mass produce at economies of scale, EV’s price will definitely come down. What the car companies and their Government fears are loss of jobs when they switch to producing EV. For instance, Germany is expected to loose 600k jobs if their big 4 fully switch to EVs. Stopping production of diesel cars are also killing jobs too but they can’t help it because most countries are abandoning diesel now. I own a PHEV, I encourage you guys to give a go. My daily commute per way is only 25km, I charge overnight at home and charge it again at my factory office. Only pumps petrol 3 months once which is RM130 and my electricity bill just increase less than RM100 a month. I will definitely buy the Nissan Leaf with 400km range if it is available in Malaysia and if I have the funds then.