Tesla Skips a Step, Goes Straight to 'Early Release' Model 3s

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

After deciding that its analytic tools are top-notch and will tell it everything it needs to know, Tesla is skipping the “beta” phase of the Model 3’s development cycle.

In a conference call to investors last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the automaker doesn’t need to bother with that crop of pre-production models. Early release model 3s built on the company’s production assembly line — not specialty one-offs built in a corner of the shop — should be rolling by this week or next, he said.

Last month, Tesla halted production at its Fremont, California assembly plant to prepare for the Model 3. Starting February 20th, the plant went dark to upgrade its paint shop. There’s the tightest of timelines in play for the automaker’s upcoming “affordable” electric sedan, with deliveries scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.

By skipping this step, Tesla boosts its chances of meeting the production target date. Another benefit is money saved. There’s also a chance, or so Musk says, that consumers can expect the final product to be much more glitch-free than the problem-plagued early Model S and X. Thank the enhanced computerized scrutiny for that.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that a last-minute realization of a problem with those nearly-ready models could leave the company scrambling. With well over 300,000 reservations to fill from the get go, Tesla no doubt hopes for the rosier scenario.

[Source: Gas2] [Image: Tesla]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Jkross22 Jkross22 on Mar 20, 2017

    This is normal in an environment where publicly traded companies are graded on quarterly performance.

    • See 1 previous
    • Jkross22 Jkross22 on Mar 21, 2017

      @baggins Wow, I had no idea suggesting that companies live and die by quarterly earnings means I'm parroting something. Are you part of the Teslarati?

  • SuperCarEnthusiast SuperCarEnthusiast on Mar 21, 2017

    Tesla cars can get over the air updates for it software so the "beta" is not skipped it just transferred to the buyer!

  • BklynPete BklynPete on Mar 21, 2017

    This is going to end well.

  • Art Vandelay Art Vandelay on Mar 22, 2017

    Meh. I'll just buy an Alfa. At least then I can say "sure it is unreliable, but it has a Ferrari engine" and I'll get to use terms like "good mechanical noise" instead of "reboot"

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