MOTORING NEWS - Tesla Motors halted the Model 3 production lines at its sprawling Fremont factory last week for the second time this year. According to the company, the pause was temporary, expected to last four to five days.
The production shutdown came shortly after Tesla reported first-quarter 2018 production volumes for the Model 3, Model S and Model X.
At the end of March, Model 3 models had just begun to roll off the line at the planned 2 000-plus weekly rate. Tesla affirmed in the quarterly statement it still held to its long-promised goal of 5 000 cars per week production goal and said it would hit the target by the end of the second quarter.
Orders placed in the US on the Tesla website by mid-April, will be delivered by late 2018, according to the company's online ordering information. The company says production of right-hand drives will start in 2019.
The Tesla Model 3 electric car was the top seller in America for the first three months of 2018, but production problems seem to persist, with industry observers and competitors keeping up their scrutiny of the company.
Tesla reported that Model 3 deliveries added up to 8 180 in the first quarter of 2018, increasing from 1 550 cars delivered in the last quarter of 2017. Tesla lists production numbers separately from deliveries and said 9 766 Model 3s were produced in the first three months of the year.
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