Tesla is pushing to achieve Model 3 production of 7,000 units per week within 2 weeks

Tesla has been aiming to ramp up Model 3 production during the fourth quarter, but it has been careful not to give clear numbers.

Now, Electrek learns that Tesla is pushing to achieve a Model 3 production capacity of 7,000 units by November 28th.

In an email sent to employees obtained by Electrek, CEO Elon Musk said that he will be walking the entire Model 3 production line, from battery cell production to final assembly, on the 27th and 28th.

He said that all production subsystems need to be able to produce 50 units per hour, which is what he believes is needed for 1,000 vehicles per day, by the end of his second day on the line:

“By the 28th, all Model 3 production subsytems need to be at 50+ UPH steady, which is what’s needed for a true 1000 vehicles per day rate (taking equipment uptime into account). To be clear, this includes all lines for a particular subsystem, so, for example, general assembly UPH would include both GA3 lines plus GA4.”

In the email, Musk asked production workers to reach out to him if they see problems that would stop them from achieving the production rate by this new deadline in order for him to get involve ahead of time.

He added that solving those issues is “extremely important for [Tesla’s] prosperity.”

Musk previously stated that they can ramp up to 7,000 units per week as it only involves doing upgrades to existing lines instead of adding new ones.

Last quarter, Tesla’s production turned out to be the company’s biggest quarter ever, with just over 80,000 vehicles produced, including over 53,000 Model 3s.

According to our numbers, Tesla is currently ahead of those numbers, but it had difficulties maintaining a 5,000-unit per week production rate during the first few weeks of the quarter.

Electrek’s Take

I bet quite a few people on Tesla’s Model 3 production line got nervous when they read that email.

Tesla stopped giving clear deadlines for Model 3 production, but you need one at some point and now November 28th is the latest one.

When you take into account that Tesla “acquired more trucking capacity” in order to deliver more Model 3 by the end of the year, you have to think that the increased production capacity also plays into it.

Tesla’s end-of-the-year delivery push is always crazy, but I think we are going to see the craziest one yet. Good luck Tesla employees.