Elon Musk reveals Tesla Model Y production ramp-up problem in leaked email

Elon Musk has confirmed that Tesla is facing some Model Y production issues in a new leaked email to employees.

Due to the pandemic, Tesla had to shut down its Fremont factory at a really bad time — just as they were starting to ramp up Model Y production.

They started back up last month, but it is expected to take a while to go back to pre-shutdown production capacity.

In a new email sent to production employees, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla is having some production “challenges” with Model Y:

It is extremely important for us to ramp up Model Y production and minimize rectification needs. I want you to know that it really makes a difference to Tesla right now.

Rectifications would refer to things Tesla needs to fix on cars that already went through the regular production process.

Musk mentioned general assembly as a problem area that needs attention:

Model Y, especially GA (stands for General Assembly), is the top priority for both production and manufacturing engineering. GA4 (stands for General Assembly Line 4) is also top priority for facility improvements. For those working in GA4, thank you for bearing with tough conditions. Will get better fast. I will be walking the line personally every week.

GA4 is Tesla’s now-famous assembly line inside a “tent” next to the factory.

It is the production line that enabled Tesla to reach a Model 3 production capacity of 5,000 units per week, which was a massive milestone for Tesla.

The CEO added that Tesla is doing “reasonably well” with the production of its other vehicles:

We are doing reasonably well with S, X, and 3, but there are production and supply chain ramp challenges with Model Y, as is always the case with new products.

It’s currently unclear how many vehicles Tesla is currently producing per week.

Here’s Musk’s email to employees in full:

Subject: Model Y production

It is extremely important for us to ramp up Model Y production and minimize rectification needs. I want you to know that it really makes a difference to Tesla right now.

Model Y, especially GA (stands for General Assembly), is the top priority for both production and manufacturing engineering. GA4 (stands for General Assembly Line 4) is also top priority for facility improvements. For those working in GA4, thank you for bearing with tough conditions. Will get better fast. I will be walking the line personally every week.

We are doing reasonably well with S, X, and 3, but there are production and supply chain ramp challenges with Model Y, as is always the case with new products.

Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.

Thanks,

Elon

Electrek’s Take

Production ramp-ups always have issues.

To be honest, if it wasn’t for the pandemic, it looked like Model Y was Tesla’s best production ramp ever.

This email feels more like a general update to the troops, which is strange since Elon generally sends emails company-wide or production-wide when there are important problems to fix.

It looks like Tesla clearly has some issues with the general assembly of the Model Y — leading to more work after the cars go through the line, but they do seem like reasonable problems to fix.