Tesla denies report of further Model 3 production issues

Tesla says it is on track to accomplish its generation focuses for the Model 3, precluding a report from securing further deferrals and quality issues for its most recent and most-reasonable vehicle.

Tesla's issues with battery generation at its Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, are more awful than it had recognized, CNBC detailed prior in the day, refering to some organization representatives.

The issues included Tesla as of late as mid-December expecting to fall back available get together of a few batteries and getting scores of workers from battery provider Panasonic to help with the assignment, CNBC had said. The report additionally asserted that quality-control staff were unpracticed, and that a few batteries were leaving the Gigafactory with a conceivably risky "touching cells" defect.

The report refered to a current Gigafactory build who said that in the mid-December hand-creation furor, laborers were physically "slapping bandoliers together as quick as they could," with the potential for misalignment. A bandolier is a subunit of a Tesla battery.

This report takes after late claims by some new proprietors of Model 3s that "draw and-switch" strategies were utilized and they got less expensive materials than anticipated on a $5,000 premium-inside overhaul.

Tesla shares shut down 2.4 percent on Thursday following the report, however climbed 1.6 percent in broadened exchanging after the organization said it had no further creation misfortunes.

"To be completely evident, we are on track with the past projections for accomplishing expanded Model 3 creation rates that we gave not long ago," a Tesla representative said in a messaged proclamation.

"As has been very much reported, until the point when we achieve full generation, by definition a few components of the creation procedure will be more manual," the representative said.

Not long ago, Tesla deferred a creation focus for the Model 3 for the second time, disillusioning financial specialists even as it guaranteed "significant advance" conquering producing challenges that have hampered the vehicle's rollout.

Tesla at present intends to make around 2,500 Model 3s every week before the finish of the primary quarter, a large portion of the number it had before guaranteed. It hopes to achieve its objective of 5,000 vehicles for every week before the second's over quarter.

Here is Tesla's full articulation about the CNBC report:This is an extremely misinformed and misleading article. To be absolutely clear, we are on track with the previous projections for achieving increased Model 3 production rates that we provided earlier this month. As has been well documented, until we reach full production, by definition some elements of the production process will be more manual. This is something Elon and JB discussed extensively on our Q3 earnings call, and it has no impact on the quality or safety of the batteries we're producing. As noted in our Q4 deliveries release, during the fourth quarter, "we made major progress addressing Model 3 production bottlenecks, with our production rate increasing significantly towards the end of the quarter."

Furthermore, as is often the case in manufacturing, some parts of the production process require the expertise of employees with engineering or manufacturing experience, and others don't. We've created thousands of new high-quality jobs in Nevada in recent years. As we continue to expand Gigafactory 1 and ramp Model 3 production, we've been able to teach new skills to thousands of new employees, many of whom had no manufacturing experience prior to joining Tesla. New hires on the module line receive extensive training, including safety training, and learn about the importance of proper cell-to-cell spacing so they can identify such issues in the production process. More broadly, battery production – and the module line in particular – is overseen by our top engineering talent, and many of Tesla's most senior leadership.

Finally, the implication that Tesla would ever deliver a car with a hazardous battery is absolutely inaccurate, contrary to all evidence, and detached from reality. It is irresponsible to suggest as much based on unnamed, anonymous sources who have provided no such evidence and who obviously do not have a complete understanding of the extensive testing that all batteries in Tesla vehicles are subjected to. As with Model S and Model X, which have well demonstrated safety records, we maintain a rigorous approach to quality and process control for the Model 3 battery. Even more importantly, to our knowledge, there has not been a single safety concern in the field related to Model 3 batteries at any point over the six months of Model 3 production.

As for the assertion about cells touching in Model 3 batteries, this is extremely misleading and displays a complete lack of basic knowledge about how our batteries work. Every battery in a Tesla vehicle has thousands of cells, the vast majority of which are at the same voltage potential as neighboring cells. Hypothetically, even if two cells of the same voltage potential were touching, there would be absolutely zero impact, safety or otherwise – it would be as if two neutral pieces of metal touched. Despite this fact, all Model 3 battery modules' cell positions are measured twice in manufacturing to verify process control and quality of outgoing parts. Conversely, if at any point in the production process cells are touching at different voltage potentials, they cannot be electrically interconnected. Over the course of the production process, we conduct three different tests to ensure the right number of cells are electrically connected in Model 3 modules. Additionally, the long term reliability of cell position is something validated through testing, including shock and vibration, and high temperature and humidity testing, as well as thermal cycling endurance testing throughout design and via sampling in production. All of this testing is designed to prevent touching cells from being installed in any of our vehicles, including Model 3. Finally, the safety aspects of our module design would continue to function even in the presence of touching cells, so the concerns raised are further unfounded.

These false claims are being made even though we have a proven history of making the safest vehicles on the road, with Model S and Model X receiving 5-star safety ratings not only overall but in every subcategory. Although not yet tested by NHTSA, Model 3 has been designed and internally tested to have the same result. Data from NHTSA's testing shows that Model S and Model X have the two lowest probability of injury scores in the history of NHTSA testing. Furthermore, over billions of miles of actual driving, Tesla's vehicles have been roughly five times less likely to experience a fire than a conventional gasoline vehicle. In light of these facts, it's preposterous to suggest that a company as committed to safety as Tesla would allow untested or unsafe batteries to go in our vehicles.