Tesla temporarily halts production of Model 3 for the second time

[midian182]

Elon Musk might be feeling “pretty optimistic” about the current state of Tesla, but that hasn’t stopped the company from temporarily suspending production of its Model 3 sedan at its Fremont, California, plant. This marks the second time that operations have been put on hold since February.

Tesla boss Musk sent a surprise letter to employees announcing the four- to five-day pause, which has been introduced to “improve automation” and deal with bottlenecks on the assembly line. Buzzfeed reports that workers are expected to use vacation days or stay home without pay, though a small number of employees may be offered paid work elsewhere in the factory.

Musk had promised that Tesla would be producing 5000 Model 3 sedans each week by this summer—a claim that’s looking increasingly less likely. The company hasn’t even been able to hit its first quarter end-target of 2500 cars per week; the company was building just 2020 of the vehicles weekly in late March.

"Our Model 3 production plan includes periods of planned downtime in both Fremont and Gigafactory 1," a Tesla spokesperson said in a statement. "These periods are used to improve automation and systematically address bottlenecks in order to increase production rates. This is not unusual and is in fact common in production ramps like this."

Tesla gave the same explanation when it stopped production back in February.

Musk later admitted that part of the Model 3’s production problems was due to “excessive automation.” When asked by CBS if robots had slowed down production instead of increasing it, Musk said: “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

“Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated,” the CEO added.

As well as its production problems and lawsuits from shareholders, Telsa is facing scrutiny over its Autopilot system following the fatal crash of driver who had the feature engaged at the time. Musk will be hoping his April 1 joke about Telsa going bankrupt doesn’t one day become a reality.

Tesla Goes Bankrupt
Palo Alto, California, April 1, 2018 -- Despite intense efforts to raise money, including a last-ditch mass sale of Easter Eggs, we are sad to report that Tesla has gone completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74195-tesla-temporarily-halts-production-model-3-second-time.html

 

[wiyosaya]

Isn't this a surprise. Tesla having problems. Amazing!
/sarcasm

 

[hood6558]

I wonder if anyone has asked Tesla for a refund yet on their $1000 deposit? Maybe thinking the Chevy Bolt would be a better choice, since they'd have support and service at every dealership in the country. Not to mention the fact that there's no long waiting list for the Bolt in the US.

 

[iamcts]

I wonder if anyone has asked Tesla for a refund yet on their $1000 deposit? Maybe thinking the Chevy Bolt would be a better choice, since they'd have support and service at every dealership in the country. Not to mention the fact that there's no long waiting list for the Bolt in the US.

The Bolt isn't that great of a vehicle. I'd rather have the Model 3 if I had to choose between the two.

 

[Evilsushi]

I wonder if anyone has asked Tesla for a refund yet on their $1000 deposit? Maybe thinking the Chevy Bolt would be a better choice, since they'd have support and service at every dealership in the country. Not to mention the fact that there's no long waiting list for the Bolt in the US.

There is a reason no one is lining up for a Bolt, no one wants a Bolt. They want Tesla. Elon Musk is solely responsible for bring EVs into practicality. If it wasn't for him none of the other EVs would have existed. He has created this market. Nobody else can ever say that about EVs. People giving him money for a car that doesn't exist and pushing the stock to fairly unreasonable levels are doing it because they believe in his idea, the car is secondary. This is why the Bolt isn't getting lines, because they have NO VISION. They aren't pushing any boundaries and they are playing it safe with a dull econobox that has no sole and is only there so they can meet fuel economy standards. Musk has risked everything multiple times and pushed the boundary so far forward. Sure he has missed many deadlines, and if this was something mundane I would be upset, but you can't be upset with someone when they do the impossible but are a little late on some artificial deadline.

 

[hood6558]

There is a reason no one is lining up for a Bolt, no one wants a Bolt. They want Tesla. Elon Musk is solely responsible for bring EVs into practicality. If it wasn't for him none of the other EVs would have existed. He has created this market. Nobody else can ever say that about EVs. People giving him money for a car that doesn't exist and pushing the stock to fairly unreasonable levels are doing it because they believe in his idea, the car is secondary. This is why the Bolt isn't getting lines, because they have NO VISION. They aren't pushing any boundaries and they are playing it safe with a dull econobox that has no sole and is only there so they can meet fuel economy standards. Musk has risked everything multiple times and pushed the boundary so far forward. Sure he has missed many deadlines, and if this was something mundane I would be upset, but you can't be upset with someone when they do the impossible but are a little late on some artificial deadline.

I completely agree with you - Musk is a visionary. I was just wondering if any believers were becoming disillusioned enough to jump ship, in these days of instant gratification and snowflake culture. Glad to hear from others who believe in his vision. I worked for a Chevrolet dealer for 12 years as a master technician (1980-1993), and I believed in their cars as an example of decent, serviceable vehicles for people who valued reliability and well-built machines. Now, not so much - they're all like plastic toys that break apart in the slightest fender bender, littering every intersection with acres of broken plastic. I love Tesla's unbeatable crash safety ratings, and hope that one day I can buy one.