It's time for Elon Musk to stop making Tesla promises he can't keep
Tesla
Tesla Model 3 production really is hell.
 Elon Musk  Tesla’s founder and CEO   warned us in July as  he  delivered the first 30 all-electric Model 3 cars to buyers who also happened to be employees.
SEE ALSO: Driving a Tesla Model 3 is pretty damn awesome
On Monday   Tesla  reported  it  has produced just 260 Tesla Model 3 cars   its  first mass-market all-electric sedan  in the last quarter. That’s approximately 120 cars a month  a number that would be less distressing if Musk himself hadn’t predicted producing as many as 20 000 Model 3 cars a month by December of this year.
Tesla reported half a million Model 3 pre-orders in late July. At the company’s current production pace   Tesla  Model 3 customer 500 000 might not see her all-electric sedan until the year 2363.
What’s far more likely is that it will be a few years or more before  Tesla  gets through all  its  orders  and those who ordered first will endure the highest level of frustration as their cars will probably be delayed the most. A lot of people in the middle of the product delivery queue could receive their Model 3’s at the same time and  eventually  ordering a Model 3 could be as easy and commonplace as buying a Ford Focus.
Does Musk's tendency to talk production numbers hurt Tesla? Image: lance ulanoff/mashable
There’s been a lot of calamity in the world in the last few months  but  apparently  it’s not the source of the production issues. “…there are no fundamental issues with  the Model 3 production or supply chain  ”  Tesla  said in the release.
 It  might be a while before you see your Model 3. Image: lance ulanoff/mashable
The cause is  Tesla ’s own facilities: “production bottlenecks” at both  its  Fremont production plant and the massive Gigafactory in Nevada.
Considering how much Musk said  Tesla  learned from the production hell it went through with  its  previous  Tesla  models  this is surprising. Musk recalled in July how the Roadster  its first electric car  was the worst. “We went through hell and then actually did a return journey ” Musk said  “We had to redo almost the entire car and recapitalize the company  which sucked.”
There were roughly 30 Model 3's ready to go on July 29.  Tesla  managed to produce another 230 Model 3 cars since then. Image: lance ulanoff/mashable
Doug Field   Tesla ’s VP of Engineering said they designed the Model 3 to move as quickly through production as possible  while maintaining as high production quality as possible.
Where  exactly  those production bottlenecks exist is  since Tesla isn’t saying  anyone’s guess  but it doesn’t take much to slow down a production line like this. As Musk explained in July  “There’s 10 000 unique components in the car and production will move as fast as the slowest one.”
Beyond statements made in the release   Tesla  wouldn't comment on the delays.
No matter where it is  the numbers speak for themselves: 260 Model 3 cars off the production line. Even with an S-Curve  it’s is hard to imagine that in fewer than three months   Tesla  will rocket to 20 000 a month.
Tesla Model 3 production really is hell.
 Elon Musk  Tesla’s founder and CEO   warned us in July as  he  delivered the first 30 all-electric Model 3 cars to buyers who also happened to be employees.
SEE ALSO: Driving a Tesla Model 3 is pretty damn awesome
On Monday   [TGT]reported  [TGT]  has produced just 260 Tesla Model 3 cars   its  first mass-market all-electric sedan  in the last quarter. That’s approximately 120 cars a month  a number that would be less distressing if Musk himself hadn’t predicted producing as many as 20 000 Model 3 cars a month by December of this year.
[TGT] reported half a million Model 3 pre-orders in late July. At [TGT] might not see her all-electric sedan until the year 2363.
What’s far more likely is that it will be a few years or more before  [TGT]gets through all  [TGT]  orders  and those who ordered first will endure the highest level of frustration as their cars will probably be delayed the most. A lot of people in the middle of the product delivery queue could receive [TGT] 3’s at the same time and  eventually  ordering a Model 3 could be as easy and commonplace as buying a Ford Focus.
Does Musk's tendency to talk production numbers hurt [TGT]? Image: lance ulanoff/mashable
There’s been a lot of calamity in the world in the last few months  but  apparently  it’s not the source of the production issues. “…there are no fundamental issues with  the Model 3 production or supply chain  ”  [TGT]said in the release.
 [TGT]  might be a while before you see your Model 3. Image: lance ulanoff/mashable
The cause is  Tesla ’s own facilities: “production bottlenecks” at both  its  Fremont production plant and the massive Gigafactory in Nevada.
Considering how much Musk said  [TGT]learned from the production hell [TGT] went through with  [TGT]  previous  [TGT]models  this is surprising. Musk recalled in July how the Roadster  its first electric car  was the worst. “We went through hell and then actually did a return journey ” Musk said  “We had to redo almost the entire car and recapitalize the company  which sucked.”
There were roughly 30 Model 3's ready to go on July 29.  [TGT]managed to produce another 230 Model 3 cars since then. Image: lance ulanoff/mashable
Doug Field   [TGT] ’s VP of Engineering said they designed the Model 3 to move as quickly through production as possible  while maintaining as high production quality as possible.
Where  exactly  those production bottlenecks exist is  since [TGT] isn’t saying  anyone’s guess  but it doesn’t take much to slow down a production line like this. As Musk explained in July  “There’s 10 000 unique components in the car and production will move as fast as the slowest one.”
Beyond statements made in the release   [TGT]wouldn't comment on the delays.
No matter where [TGT] is  the numbers speak for themselves: 260 Model 3 cars off the production line. Even with an S-Curve  it’s is hard to imagine that in fewer than three months   [TGT]will rocket to 20 000 a month.