American electric carmaker Tesla Motor Corporation has set the rollout of its latest sedan, the Tesla Model 3, in the second half of next year.
And it is not going to be an ordinary rollout for the Tesla Model 3 because the company is reportedly eyeing to produce some 200,000 units of the vehicle by next year. Critics believe that it is rather an ambitious projection considering that it is more than that for the American electric carmaker’s Model S and the Model X.
The even more ambitious target is the 500,000 units to be produced in 2018 or the year after the rollout of the Model 3 in the US.
Apparently, the strong pre-order for the Model 3 has prompted Tesla CEO Elon Musk to make the production targets for the electric sedan two years ahead.
More than the demand, however, it is actually the capacity of the $5 billion Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada to produce electric car batteries that have buoyed the optimism of Musk that the production targets are indeed manageable.
In fact, Musk also raised $1.7 billion through a stock offering in the hopes of speeding up battery production which is expected to lower the cost of the batteries for electric vehicles.
Wants to finish ahead of its schedule
Tesla Motors has apparently decided to finish building its massive Tesla Gigafactory ahead of its schedule to meet the demand for the Model 3 and also provide power for new types of vehicles.
As a matter of fact, Tesla has doubled the number of people constructing the Gigafactory which sits on more than 3,000 acres of land near Reno. There are now 1,000 workers working seven days a week on two shifts in an effort of churning out lithium-ion cells before the end of this year, details The Wall Street Journal.
The company has to be ready with cell and pack production well ahead of vehicle production, explains JB Straubel, Tesla chief technical officer, and co-founder. He added that they are now accelerating their construction plans and also hastening the planned ramp up of cell production.
As of the moment, the structure of the Giga factory is about one-sixth of the size of what the final building would come out when completed. Most exterior walls are temporary and also can be relocated.
Among those that have been completed already is a four-storey rectangular portion of the facility, housing 1.9 million square feet of floor space.
Importing batteries from Japan
Tesla is also building battery packs for its battery storage business in that particular portion of the Gigafactory. However, the company is importing battery cells from Panasonic Corporation facilities in Japan. Panasonic has committed up to $1.6 billion to the factory.
Joe Taylor, chief executive of Panasonic North America, said the company is struggling to find qualified workers with manufacturing abilities.
He said that they are running around like crazy in hiring people in order to make sure that Panasonic can handle the cell manufacturing and installation of equipment in the Gigafactory.
To ensure hassle-free operation and production on the Tesla Gigafactory, reports are now rife in saying that SolarCity may provide solar panels to be installed on the roof of the factory.
Incidentally, there are reports now going around that the all-electric Chevy Bolt is more ready compared to the Tesla Model 3, which is actually not a surprise since the Bolt was already partially-released late last year but will be re-launched later this year.
The Model 3, on the other hand, is still set for the second half of 2017 release date, giving the Bolt almost a year of a head start, or two years if the partial unveiling in 2015 is to be factored into the equation as well, reports Forbes.
Tesla does not make a big fuss whenever its Model 3 is being compared to the Chevy Bolt. But the company finally spoke in light of the statement of Jon Bereisa, CEO of Auto Lectrification and former chief engineer of the Chevy Bolt program, who recently said that the Model 3 estimate cost breakdown adds up to the vehicle being unprofitable for Tesla.