Tesla Model 3: Battery Pack Issues Will Not Affect New Model
The Tesla Model 3 is unlikely to experience delays in deliveries that were due to production issues with the battery packs. The company revealed last Monday that deliveries of its Model S and Model X were lighter than expected with only 22,000 units delivered.
Of these, 12,000 were Tesla Model S, with the remainder being Model X. Tesla says that the low numbers were due to severe production shortfall of 100 kWh battery packs which were made with new technologies in new production lines.
Production of the largest battery pack for all electric cars was off by nearly 40 percent. However, this was later corrected and any issues related to the delay have been ironed out.
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Still, Tesla stated that they expect delivery numbers for the second half of 2017 to beat those of the first half. This is mainly due to the arrival of their latest mass-market model set to begin production this month.
The Tesla Model 3 could be the reason for this quarter's slump in delivery with the company putting the majority of its efforts into the new model. But what are the chances that the same production issues will not plague their new model?
For one, the company plans to start a small production run and scale it over time. Lessons from the production shortfall of the 100 kWh battery packs are also likely to result in a much more accurate forecast of production numbers.
If there is anything to be gleaned from battery debacle this quarter, it's that the company's most expensive vehicles could face a very high demand. With electric cars sales numbers steadily increasing thanks in part to the effort of Elon Musk, Tesla could find itself in the middle of a gold mine, assuming that everything goes smoothly.
The Tesla Model 3 is currently priced at $35,000 and is set to begin production this July.
