Tesla's new Model 3 assembly line is in a giant tent outside its Fremont factory
- Tesla's new Model 3 assembly line is in a tent, CEO Elon Musk said on Monday.
- Musk posted a photo of the assembly line to Twitter on Saturday and said the line was built in three weeks with "minimal resources."
- On Monday, Musk described the structure housing the assembly line as "a giant tent."
Tesla's new Model 3 assembly line is in a tent, CEO Elon Musk said on Monday.
Musk posted a photo of the assembly line to Twitter on Saturday and said the line was built in three weeks with "minimal resources." On Monday, Musk described the structure housing the assembly line as "a giant tent."
"Needed another general assembly line to reach 5k/week Model 3 production. A new building was impossible, so we built a giant tent in 2 weeks," Musk said on Twitter.
Musk later said the tent was better than the factory where most of Tesla's general vehicle assembly occurs.
"Not sure we actually need a building. This tent is pretty sweet," he said.
"It's actually way better than the factory building. More comfortable & a great view of the mountains," he said in another tweet.
On Monday, Journalist Edward Neidermeyer posted photos of what appeared to be permits for the tent and the equipment inside it on Twitter. The permits give Tesla "temporary approval" for the tent and its equipment for up to six months, according to the photo.
Tesla has plans to build another building to presumably handle the increased capacity required by the Model 3 sedan, Tesla's first mass-market car, according to Ars Technica.
Tesla has struggled to ramp up production for the Model 3 since its launch in July. The company has repeatedly missed production goals for the vehicle, but during Tesla's annual shareholder meeting on June 5, Musk said the company was on track to hit its goal of making 5,000 Model 3s per week by the end of the month.
On Friday, Musk said in an email to employees that the factory was capable of making 500 Model 3s per day and that some parts of the production line could make around 700 Model 3s per day, but said "radical improvements" were needed in parts of the production line.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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