Elon Musk reportedly yelled at Tesla employees near model 3 deadline

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Elon Musk, tense and angry CEO, was barking engineers on the assembly line in Fremont, California. Tesla fired workers from other departments to continue to pull out the Model 3 electric sedans, disrupting the production of the Model S and X lines. And the weekend shifts were mandatory.

Tesla made every effort in the last week of June to reach its goal of producing 5000 Model 3 in a week, according to employees who spoke to Reuters.

If Tesla can do it week after week – and not counting on overtime and extra hands – is another issue, and that weighed on investors Monday, as shares fell 2.3%.

Model S workers were borrowed for model 3

Before the stage of Sunday morning production, Musk went around the Model 3 range, beating its engineers when production 24 hours has slowed or stopped, said a worker. Tesla has built a new line in just two weeks in a huge tent in front of the main factory, an unprecedented move in an industry that takes years to plan its assembly lines. The tented production area accounted for 20% of the 3 model a week.

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"They borrowed people from our line all day to cover their breaks (model 3) so the line would keep moving," said a Model S employee on Sunday.

Due to the emphasis on model 3, the S line is about 800 cars, said the worker.

"They launched the model 3 in front of the S to be painted in order to make sure that they reach their goal of 5,000," said the worker. "The painting department can not handle the volume."

The disruption of Model S and X lines could threaten Tesla's goal of building 100,000 of these vehicles in 2018. Tesla has built 49,489 of these cars in the first half of this year.

Asked about the potential impact of S and X, Tesla said that he also produced 1,913 of these vehicles during the last week of the quarter with his 3s models.

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Tesla reported having built a total of 28,578 Model 3s in the second quarter and 40,989 since the start of production last July.

Some employees worry about burnout

The big push of last week also resulted in a rewrite of the employee's attendance policy. After mandatory shifts were assigned, two workers said Tesla had rescinded a policy promising workers to take notice at least a week before the start of the weekend.

"The manager and the supervisor speak verbally and say," If you do not come, you will be writing, "said one of the workers at Reuters last week.

Some employees said they were not working. are worried that the hectic pace and long hours of work could deplete the workers An employee said that they were told to continue working until they reached their point of daily production, and not at the end of their shifts.

"They said that from tomorrow, get ready to work until 12 o'clock," said the employee of Model S Monday. "It'll be in 12 hours and I feel like it's going to be six days a week."

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To make his figure, Tesla was willing to "spend any type of money," said a Gigafactory worker, stating the new line of battery assemblies transported since the day. Europe via cargo planes to Gigafactory in May.

Tesla Reached Production Target Just After Expiry

On the morning of Sunday, July 1, about five hours after the self-imposed second-quarter deadline, the number 5,000 appeared on a countdown screen. by Tesla. Model 3 Assembly Line Workers Model 3 itself wore a "5000" sign in its front window.

Tesla said Monday that part of its production of Model 3 would be paused as part of the July 4 holiday, and that production will resume Thursday. Tesla plans to build 6,000 models 3 a week by the month of August.

But the worker said he would wait for longer shifts, warning that pushing the assembly line too hard could turn against them.

"He (Musk) will go through a lot of people because people will start to hurt left and right," said the worker.

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"There is only one thing so fast that a person can move."