There’s no doubt Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk is a perfectionist. He personably inspects Model S cars rolling off the line in Freemont, California and has set out some exacting standards for each model being pushed out. A customer paying for a new luxury vehicle will demand nothing less.
That’s why we haven’t seen quality issues like Fisker has had with the Karma. The slow ramp up has come at a cost though – models have been trickling out of the plant due to supplier issues. 95 percent of the car is up and ready for full-scale production, but there are about 5 percent of the parts that have some hang ups, causing delays.
For a long time Tesla has committed to 5,000 vehicles delivered by the end of the year. So far it has met every benchmark it has set out for itself. Analysts have questioned if Tesla will be able to meet that though, given the build rate so far. Musk recently gave an interview with Fox Business in which he announced that production is climbing up quite nicely. This week around 80 vehicles have been produced, with 100 bodies built. That is double the previous week’s tally.
If increases keep coming in that manner, reaching the 5,000 mark will definitely be within reach. Musk always said that Model S production will be able to be ramped up very quickly once the first stages have been worked through. So far everything is going exactly to plan.
Owners are reporting excellent build quality as well as real-life range tallies. This kind of positive press is doing a lot to strengthen the company’s reputation. Given Tesla’s ability to over-deliver so, we don’t doubt their ability to pull off the 5,000 unit goal. Who knows? Musk may even try to surprise us and push it a bit beyond that.
