In context: Tesla still has a substantial backlog of Model 3 pre-orders to wade through and the company's future is by no means guaranteed but it's a step in the right direction nevertheless.
Tesla in the remaining days of the second quarter managed to hit its production goal of 5,000 Model 3 sedans per week, albeit only barely.
The electric automaker on Monday said 5,031 Model 3s rolled off the assembly line in the last seven days of Q2 alongside 1,931 Model S and X vehicles. That brings total Q2 production to 53,339 vehicles, a 55 percent increase over the first quarter, and marks the company's most productive quarter to date.
Tesla said that for the first time, Model 3 production in a quarter (28,578) exceeded combined Model S and X production (24,761) with almost three times as many Model 3s produced in the most recent quarter versus in the first quarter.
CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter in mid-June that the company needed another assembly line to reach the 5K per week Model 3 production goal and that constructing a new building was impossible. Instead, they built a giant tent in just two weeks. According to Musk, it's "way better" than the other general assembly line that cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
The new line was responsible for roughly 20 percent of Model 3s produced last week, Tesla said, and quality from the line is as good as their regular line. Speaking of, the regular line is expected to hit a production rate of 5,000 Model 3s per week soon but isn't quite there yet.
By late next month, Model 3 production is expected to increase to 6,000 units per week.