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Why Tesla Can’t Produce Additional EVs In Volume – Elon Musk
According to an official announcement by Tesla, the much anticipated EV truck, the Tesla Semi, release is being delayed. However, at the same time; it is expected to be delivered to Pepsico this quarter.
The Tesla Semi is an all-electric battery-powered Class 8 semi-truck in development by Tesla, Inc. Two concept vehicles were unveiled in November 2017, and production is planned in 2023.
On Twitter, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk was recently asked about the Tesla Semi.
His answer clearly indicates that if there really will be some deliveries of the Tesla Semi, it cant be produced in high volumes – maybe pre-production or pilot deployment.
The tweet by Musk reads:
“Please don’t read too much into this. As mentioned publicly, Tesla is constrained by chip supply short-term & cell supply long-term.
Not possible to produce additional vehicles in volume until both constraints are addressed.”
Elon Musk also said what the reason behind that two constraints. They are:
- chip supply short-term
- cell supply long-term
According to Tesla boss, both have to be addressed to produce additional vehicles in volume (think vehicles like the Tesla Semi, Tesla Cybertruck, Tesla Roadster and any upcoming new 4680-cell-powered EVs).
The chip supply bottleneck will probably ease with each quarter, so this problem appears to be smaller.
The second problem, however, is the one that will remain with us long term – maybe an entire decade, and it will limit all-electric car expansion in general (for all or most brands).
That would explain also why Tesla has extended the list of its battery supplier from solely/mainly Panasonic to also LG Chem’s LG Energy Solution and CATL, as well as has started its own in-house battery cell development (4680-type).
The demand is forecasted to be so high that all channels must be utilized and external 4680-type cell suppliers are also welcome
