Tesla's Model 3 Is Still Out-Built By 70 Other Cars On US Soil

Tesla is finally getting to grips with Model 3 production, but new analysis has revealed just how far off the pace the firm really is.

As Elon Musk’s disruptive EV-maker appeals to shareholders by finally building more than 2000 Model 3s in a single week, industry analysts have pointed out that some 70 other models are being built faster in North American factories.

Tesla has long been accused of underestimating the importance of myriad tiny but crucial elements of car production; elements that the likes of Ford and Honda have long since mastered. Ford is currently building around 1100 Escape SUVs every day in a single factory, while Honda’s Canadian plant in Alliston, Ontario, needs just 3.5 human workers per car produced.

By contrast Tesla is cranking out just 289 Model 3s per day at best, and is paying 35 workers for every car that emerges. These phenomenal inefficiencies are said to be hurting shareholder confidence – and, inevitably, Tesla itself.

Tesla’s aim is to build 5000 Model 3s per week, equivalent to around 714 per day. A Bloomberg business analysis makes some excellent points about how far off the pace Tesla still is. It reads:

“Making a car, of course, requires a lot more than warm bodies. Managing supply chains and workflow is even more critical. The Bayerische Motoren Werke AG complex in Spartanburg, South Carolina, works with 235 different suppliers, and four out of five cars it screws together receive some level of specified customization. Tesla’s new machine, in comparison, comes in just three trims.

“Achieving such precision takes time and practice. Automakers usually go through a preproduction process that can take up to nine months. During this time, engineers calibrate the massive sentient robots’ arms to get the body panels fitting tightly and figure out the minutiae that make the difference between an assembly line running smoothly and stopping frequently.

“Every detail is studied from where the fenders should be stacked to how many bolts should be piled in a rolling tray that accompanies a vehicle down the assembly line. In its haste to produce the Model 3, Tesla skipped this page of the traditional automaker’s playbook.”

Source: Bloomberg