Tesla Inc nearly produced 5,000 Model 3 electric sedans in the last week of its second quarter, with the final car rolling off the assembly line on Sunday morning. The 5,000th car finished final quality checks at the Fremont, California factory and was ready to go around 5 a.m. PDT (1200 GMT), one person said. It was not clear if Tesla could maintain that level of production for a longer period of time.
Tesla had a goal of producing 5,000 Model 3s per week before the close of the second quarter on Saturday to demonstrate it could mass produce the battery-powered sedan. Elon Musk tweeted- “7000 cars, 7 days”, which is a cumulative number of Model 3, Model S and Model X.
7000 cars, 7 days♥️ Tesla Team ♥️— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2018
Production of the Model 3 has been plagued by a number of issues, including problems with an over-reliance on automation on its assembly lines, battery issues and other bottlenecks. "It was pretty hectic," said one worker who described the atmosphere as "all hands on deck."
Another worker speaking after the 5,000th car was made described the factory as a "mass celebration." Tesla is likely to announce production and delivery numbers for the quarter later this week, and investors will watch to see whether the company can keep up its end-of-quarter production speed.
Despite touting the Model 3 as a $35,000 vehicle, Tesla has yet to begin building that basic version and instead is currently building a higher-priced version. It is not clear how many of the orders are for the higher-priced versions.
In early June, Musk said it was "quite likely" that Tesla could deliver 5,000 Model 3s per week by the end of quarter. At the time, Tesla was producing 3,500 of the vehicles per week, he said. As the end of June approached, workers told Reuters that the company was building fewer than its 5,000-per week goal.
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