Big Top: The Future of Tesla Is in a Huge Tent

In an effort to reach its projected output of 5,000 Model 3 cars a week by the end of this month, Tesla has reportedly constructed an assembly line in a giant tent outside their factory using spare parts.

Bloomberg reports that in an effort to reach their projected output of 5,000 Model 3 cars a week by the end of June, Tesla has built a tent the size of two football fields outside of their facility in Fremont, California. The gigantic tent contains a car assembly line constructed using spare parts. It is unclear whether or not the assembly line is fully functional or only performing certain assembly tasks, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk think’s it is “pretty sweet.”

Research firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.’s Max Warburton, who worked benchmarking auto-assembly plants worldwide before becoming a financial analyst, commented on Tesla’s new tent saying: “Words fail me. It’s insanity.”

Tesla has had a long history of failing to meet their production targets. Two years ago Musk claimed that between 100,000 and 200,000 Model 3 cars would be produced in the second half of 2017 — instead, the company produced 9,766 Model 3’s in the first quarter with a weekly output rate of 750 cars. Musk stated on June 16 that a new production line had been constructed inside the tent using spare parts from the company’s main production line. Tesla’s new tent is reportedly surrounded by large trucks to obstruct the view of the makeshift production facility following intense interest from the public.

Jeff Liker, a University of Michigan engineering professor who has published a book on Toyota’s production system stated: “The question is, how much rope Musk will get from customers who have had to wait years for delivery?” Max Warburton commented on the tent saying: “The existing line isn’t functional, it can’t build cars as planned and there isn’t room to get people into workstations to replace the non-functioning robots. So here we have it—build cars manually in the parking lot.”