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Tesla To Start Pilot Production of Model 3 This Month (reuters.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the ambitious-goals dept.

According to Reuters, Tesla is planning to "begin test-building its Model 3 sedans on February 20, a move that could allay concerns about the company meeting its target to start production in July." The sources familiar with the matter did not mention how many of the Model 3 vehicles Tesla aims to build in February, though the number is likely to be small to test the assembly system and the quality of vehicle parts. From the report: Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk last year told investors and more than 370,000 customers who put deposits down for a Model 3 that he intended to start building the cars in July 2017. At the time, many analysts and suppliers said the timeline was too ambitious and would be difficult to achieve, pointing to Tesla's history of missing aggressive production targets. If Tesla succeeds in starting pilot production of the sedan at its factory in Fremont, California on Feb. 20, the company would be able to share the news with shareholders two days later when it reports fourth-quarter results and better answer any questions about the Model 3 rollout. Musk had told investors last year that the company could miss the July 2017 startup target if suppliers do not meet deadlines.

8 of 112 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The old adage by Mike+Sheen · · Score: 4, Funny

    Haven't you heard about the new Agile development methodology? It's great! Ship first, then deal with problems via updates as they arise from your annoyed (or dead, as in this case it may be) customers.

  2. Re:The old adage by DrXym · · Score: 2
    You're right, it's definitely true for all cars. Virtually no production vehicle is launched without some form of issue. It's always a good idea to wait a year or two after a product launches for the issues to be shaken out and the recalls to have happened.

    In this case however ~400,000 people appear to have lost their collective minds and preordered a car without knowing all but the most minimal information about it.

  3. Re:It was announced too early by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    I think the question is how many would-be Model 3 purchasers are going to give up and get a Bolt instead.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  4. Re:It was announced too early by ranton · · Score: 4, Informative

    What political reasons?
    (I'm not being facetious, I'd really rather like to know)

    There have been a few people, possibly less than 10 from what I can tell from multiple news sources, who have cancelled their orders because Musk accepted a position on Trump's economic advisory council.

    I think Trump is bad enough to disregard Godwin's Law, but I still want competent business leaders to keep a line of communication open with the man. Criticizing Musk for trying to advise Trump is a Tea Party level of insanity. Then again the Tea Party has sadly had a lot of success, so maybe liberals need to stop relying on only rational responses.

    --
    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  5. Meanwhile, you can buy a Chevy Bolt today... by Bearhouse · · Score: 2

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Stupid name; great car. (and I'm a Ford guy...)

    I'm betting you'll get your Chevy faster than your your Model 3; how long is it going to take to make 370k units?
    Years...even GM (who know a little about mass-producing cars) are only planning to ship 25k units a year, with the possibility of ramping up to 50k units "later".

    Of course, since the Model 3 will end up being more expensive than planned, I'm guessing many of those orders will get cancelled...

    1. Re:Meanwhile, you can buy a Chevy Bolt today... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      On paper the Model 3 sounds very attractive. Self driving option, access to the Tesla charger network, regular software updates... If they can deliver and get the quality under control, it will be a great car.

      Have you driven a Bolt? They aren't releasing it in my country. One thing I have found, having driven just about every EV going, is that most have terrible dashboards. They are basically copies of petrol car dashboards with a few changes for EVs. Only the Leaf and Model S really seem to get it, with the BMW i3 being okay and the Hyundai Ioniq being awful.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  6. Re: The old adage by ranton · · Score: 4, Informative

    Tesla has one of the highest recall rates of any manufacturer.

    That doesn't seem to be true. Through September 2016 Telsa has averaged 936 total recalls per 1,000 vehicles. Porche was the best manufacturer with only 531 recalls, and Volkswagan was the worst with 1805. Of the 18 manfucturers listed in my link, they averaged 1072 recalls, or about 15% higher than Tesla. Toyota for instance had 10% more recalls than Tesla (per car sold) and Ford had 22% more.

    Even though Tesla is only a 10 year old car company, their recall rates are better than companies that have been doing this for 100 years.

    --
    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
  7. Re: It was announced too early by WindBourne · · Score: 2

    Well, not just the liberals, but the far right have not bought telsa because they believe that musk is far left, and not the moderate libertarian that he is. In fact, it has been the GOP that have actively worked to destroy spacex, Tesla, and solar city.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.