Tesla appears to be working through its automation woes.
Over automation was blamed for plunging Tesla into “production hell” with its Model 3 sedan, but the electric automaker appears to now have most of those kinks worked out. Tesla revealed this week that its Model 3 body line is almost entirely automated.
In April Tesla CEO Elon Musk admitted that “excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake,” but it was really more an issue of implementing excessive automation too quickly; there were quite literally too many moving parts to get working in concert all at once, resulting in production bottlenecks for the Model 3.
However, it sounds as if Tesla has solved most of its automation woes — the company is now relying on robots almost exclusively for the Model 3’s body line at its Fremont, California production plant.
“Tesla says the Model 3 body line is now 95 percent automated, including the transfer, loading, and welding of parts,” Bloomberg reported after a recent visit to the Tesla factory.
According to the same report, Tesla is also heavily relying on robots for quality control. The automaker currently has 47 robots positioned along the assembly line measuring 1,900 different points of the Model 3 to ensure each unit matches design specs. Those robots are likely the reason Tesla claimed in late April that it had improved the Model 3’s panel gaps by 40 percent.
Tesla is aiming to build 5,000 units of the Model 3 per week by the end of June, with better integration of its automated processes paramount to that goal.
Tesla appears to be working through its automation woes.
Over automation was blamed for plunging Tesla into "production hell" with its Model 3 sedan, but the electric automaker appears to now have most of those kinks worked out. Tesla revealed this week that its Model 3 body line is almost entirely automated.
In April Tesla CEO Elon Musk admitted that "excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake," but it was really more an issue of implementing excessive automation too quickly; there were quite literally too many moving parts to get working in concert all at once, resulting in production bottlenecks for the Model 3.
However, it sounds as if Tesla has solved most of its automation woes — the company is now relying on robots almost exclusively for the Model 3's body line at its Fremont, California production plant.
"Tesla says the Model 3 body line is now 95 percent automated, including the transfer, loading, and welding of parts," Bloomberg reported after a recent visit to the Tesla factory.
According to the same report, Tesla is also heavily relying on robots for quality control. The automaker currently has 47 robots positioned along the assembly line measuring 1,900 different points of the Model 3 to ensure each unit matches design specs. Those robots are likely the reason Tesla claimed in late April that it had improved the Model 3's panel gaps by 40 percent.
Tesla is aiming to build 5,000 units of the Model 3 per week by the end of June, with better integration of its automated processes paramount to that goal.
