Tesla posted blockbuster manufacturing and supply figures within the first half of 2023. However manufacturing would possibly decelerate in Q3, as CEO Elon Musk urged throughout the Q2 earnings name final week. And the primary indicators of this slowdown have emerged on the Fremont manufacturing unit in California.
Regardless that Tesla maintains a goal of 1.8 million deliveries this yr, manufacturing unit upgrades will trigger summer time shutdowns, stated Musk. The corporate is presumably upgrading the manufacturing traces for the refreshed Mannequin 3, additionally unofficially often known as Undertaking Highland – we’ve seen a number of spy pictures of the prototypes round California lately.
Rumors urged that the up to date Mannequin 3 can be manufactured at Gigafactory Shanghai, however a Chinese language digital newspaper reported that Tesla China denied these claims. If that’s the case, we’d prefer to preserve our eyes on the Fremont manufacturing unit as a result of that’s the one different facility that manufactures the electrical sedan, aside from Gigafactory Shanghai.
Drone footage of the Fremont facility shared by a YouTuber additionally signifies that operations have slowed down. Logistics tons seem abandoned, and entrances to these tons appear to be shut, whereas haulers are nowhere in sight, as per Teslarati. There’s minimal exercise within the casting and manufacturing sections as properly.
At present, Tesla is constructing the pre-production Cybertruck for validation and certification. The model expects low-volume manufacturing to start out in the direction of the tip of this yr, whereas manufacturing will scale up at the start of 2024. It’s potential that Tesla may very well be retooling the Fremont manufacturing unit for the electrical truck as properly.
Studies surfaced in Might 2023 that the corporate would demolish a number of gear, instruments, and utilities, on the Fremont manufacturing unit. Tesla hasn’t confirmed any of the aforementioned speculations.
The Mannequin 3 bought like hotcakes within the US in 2022, bested solely by its crossover sibling, the Mannequin Y. Within the first half of 2023, mixed gross sales of the Mannequin 3 and Mannequin Y have shattered Tesla’s personal data.