Daily Times

Tesla is speeding up the production rate on its most affordable electric vehicle, hitting CEO Elon Musk’s goal for the final week of the second quarter even as questions linger about the company’s ability to hit that pace consistently.

The automaker said Monday it had made 5,031 Model 3 vehicles in the last seven days of June, achieving Musk’s goal of 5,000 a week.

But the true test is whether Tesla can maintain that rate. Musk has established a pattern of pressing his Fremont, California, assembly plant aggressively to hit production goals toward the end of the company’s fiscal quarters. Tesla is under pressure to accelerate its vehicle production to boost revenue and thus offset big losses.

The company took the unusual step of erecting a tent at its factory site to add a second assembly line to meet its goals. That one accounted for about 1,000 Model 3 vehicles in the last week of the quarter.

Still, investors cheered Monday’s report, driving up Tesla shares 4 percent to $356.54 in morning trading.

Overall, the company made 28,578 Model 3 vehicles and 24,761 Model S or Model X vehicles.

The company’s Model 3 production rate tripled from the first quarter to the second quarter.

“We did it!” Musk, who had seized oversight of the assembly process, wrote to employees in an email. “What an incredible job by an amazing team.”

Tesla said it would register sales of only 18,440 Model 3s for the quarter, since it counts them as sold only when they are delivered to the customer.

“The last 12 months were some of the most difficult in Tesla’s history, and we are incredibly proud of the whole Tesla team for achieving the 5,000 unit Model 3 production rate,” Tesla said in a statement. “It was not easy, but it was definitely worth it.”

Published in Daily Times, July 3^rd 2018.