Production of the Tesla Model 3 will hit 5,000 units a week after a bottleneck was resolved, it has emerged.
In a leaked email from CEO Elon Musk to workers around 2 weeks ago, the signs for the Model 3 are upbeat.
Electrek web portal obtained the email about the battery module bottleneck at Gigafactory 1.
It states: “As with all manufacturing, Model 3 production can only go as fast as the slowest part of the entire supply chain and production process.”
It said the battery module line ‘for months’ had been the main production bottleneck.
“After deploying multiple semi-automated lines and improving our original lines,” it added. “we have largely overcome this bottleneck.
“Consequently, we now expect to reach a module production rate of 5,000 car sets per week even before we install the new automated line designed and built by Tesla in Germany.
“Still, once installed, this new automated module line should significantly lower manufacturing costs. Our automation team in Germany is currently focusing on further capacity expansion where needed.”
Tesla has warned of more possible downtime and will reduce total output during the quarter.
“We continue to target Model 3 production of approximately 5,000 per week in about two months, although our prior experience has demonstrated the difficulty of accurately forecasting specific production rates at specific points in time because of the exponential nature of the ramp.
“In order to achieve this production rate, we plan to take additional days of downtime during Q2, just like we did in Q1.
“We have already done this several times during the Model 3 ramp, including once in the third week of April to fix several small, known constraints, enabling higher levels of output.
“Just before taking this latest downtime, we produced 2,270 Model 3 and 2,024 Model S and Model X vehicles in the prior seven days, which was a new record for us.
“Furthermore, in the just over two weeks between the beginning of April and the planned downtime, we had produced 4,750 Model 3 vehicles, which was already about half the production of the entire prior quarter.”
The automaker reiterated plans to achieve 10,000 units per week, but without a stated timeline.
Related infographic
Infographic via Loud Noisy Car
