Tesla denies Model 3 issues

The report by CNBC stated that Tesla employees are warning of more delays, citing inexperienced workers and technology problems in its Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. Tesla employees say the company was making batteries for its Model 3 vehicles partly by hand as recently as mid-December. According to current engineers and ex-Tesla employees who worked at the Gigafactory in recent months, Tesla is having to "borrow" scores of employees from Panasonic, which is a partner in the Gigafactory and supplies lithium-ion battery cells, to help with this manual assembly. Employees also said that quality control workers were not experienced, and two said that some batteries are leaving the factory with a potentially serious defect, a claim that Tesla vigorously denies. A Tesla spokesperson told CNBC: "Until we reach full production, by definition some elements of the production process will be more manual. This is something Elon Musk and JB Straubel discussed extensively on our Q3 earnings call, and it has no impact on the quality or safety of the batteries we're producing." Tesla currently plans to make about 2,500 Model 3s per week by the end of the first quarter, half the number it had earlier promised. It expects to reach its goal of 5,000 vehicles per week by the end of the second quarter.