Offline until March.
Elon Musk via Twitter
The Tesla Model 3 hasn’t been in production since Feb. 22, according to a Thursday report from Automotive News. The publication, citing sources familiar with the happenings, said Tesla told production workers the Model 3 line would shut down this past Monday and not come back online until March 7. It’s completely unclear what the production stoppage is related to. And it doesn’t necessarily mean something negative occurred.
Tesla does not operate a public relations department to field requests for comment, so we’re likely at the mercy of CEO Elon Musk to make any details public via his favorite form of communication, Twitter. According to the report, workers will be paid for part of the downtime, but the company told employees leading up to the shutdown they should use vacation time to cover the Feb. 28, March 1, 2 and 3.
Any downtime at Tesla’s sole US factory is likely a tough pill to swallow for the automaker’s executives. Musk continues to charge forward with ambitious goals to increase deliveries in an effort to boost real profit. Tesla has largely remained profitable due to the sale of emissions credits to other automakers. One day, automakers won’t all need to knock on Tesla’s door to buy their way out of emissions-related fines, as Musk himself has mentioned in the past.
Watch this:
Why Tesla enjoys a huge lead in the electric car market
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