The pioneering electric car company Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) has suffered a number of public challenges since the beginning of 2018. It’s high profile CEO, Elon Musk, calls the period a production hell. He is known for pulling all-nighters on the factory floor and sleeping in the office.
There are many things plaguing Tesla these days. But the most important thing on Musk’s mind these days is solving the production delays for the new Tesla model 3 sedan.
The model 3 is the first affordable, mass market electric car. The entire business of Tesla hinges on the success of this new car. Last year Musk was quite confident Tesla could make about 5,000 new cars per week by the end of 2017.
However, the reality is far from his expectations. The production pipeline has been experiencing problems which has hindered the company’s output. According to a recent shareholder’s report, there was an average production rate of 830 cars per week in the first quarter of 2018. That’s less than 20% of the goal. In February of 2018 production was even halted for a week.
Excessive Automation at Tesla was a Mistake
As for the cause of the slow production, “excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake,” Elon Musk mentioned in the CBS morning show which gave a sneak peak into what’s goes on in the factory. “We got complacent about some of the things that are in our technology. We’ve put too much new technology into the Model 3 all at once but this should have been staged,” he clarified. High tech doesn’t just go into the cars, but it also builds them. The Tesla plant is widely regarded as the most robotics driven assembly factory in the world.