It’s crunch time at Tesla, and there’s no time to waste — not even for showers, CEO Elon Musk shared in a recent interview.
The Silicon Valley exec said he’s starting to feel the pressure when it comes to hitting delivery goals on the Model 3, the company’s more affordable electric car. In an upcoming interview with CBS This Morning, Musk told Gayle King he’s so worried about churning out deliveries, he’s started sleeping on the floor of Tesla’s Bay Area manufacturing plant.
“Sleeping on the factory floor, doing – why are you doing that?” asked King.
Musk has been skewered for missing production goals in the past. Tesla delivered 1,550 Model 3s during the fourth quarter of 2017 — falling well short of the 2,900 investors had anticipated.
Tesla’s stock has fluctuated in the aftermath, with investors betting on, and against, the company pushing out more Model 3s. Since late February, Tesla shares have dropped from roughly $350 a share down to $250, and have since ran back to about $301 a share as of Wednesday afternoon.
Doug Field, Tesla’s head of engineering, urged the company’s manufacturing team to get the last laugh on skeptics. “Let’s make them regret ever betting against us,” said Field in an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg last month. “You will prove a bunch of haters wrong.” Tesla is aiming to manufacture 5,000 Model 3s each week by the end of June.
Of course, Musk appeared to temper optimism, telling CBS’ King that getting out the new Teslas is “production hell,” adding: “It’s worse than I thought.”
Musk’s interview with CBS offers the first glimpse at Model 3 production at the company’s Fremont, California facility. The full interview airs on Friday morning, but here’s a preview:
7 Rad Projects Elon Musk Has Worked On (Photos)
Elon Musk has been at the forefront of Silicon Valley innovation for two decades. The South Africa-born entrepreneur has been linked to a number of high-profile, intriguing ventures... so let's take a look.
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Pay Pal
Musk made his initial fortune thanks to PayPal, which he sold to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. He made a cool $165 million off the deal.
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Tesla Motors
Instead of buying an island and living the high life after the PayPal sell, Musk went to work on getting the world off its dependency on oil. He founded Tesla Motors (now Tesla Inc.) in 2003, taking over an old Toyota-General Motors manufacturing plant in the Bay Area. The slick electric cars can travel 250 miles without a charge and sell for upwards of $100,000. Its "mass" car, the Model 3, is due out in 2018.
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Space X
Perhaps the project most important to Musk is SpaceX. Founded in 2002, the rocket company has worked with NASA on several launches. SpaceX made history when it developed "recycled" rockets that are able to be launched, landed and reused. Even more ambitious, Musk wants to send manned missions to Mars within the next decade... and colonize the red planet.
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Hyperloop
Musk frequently travels back and forth between NorCal and SoCal, and he wants to do it quickly. Enter Hyperloop, where passengers will be put in pods and shot through tubes connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles at speeds of up to 760 miles per hour. Musk sketched the concept in 2013, and it's now being pursued by a group in L.A. full-time.
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Neuralink
Musk is also big on artificial intelligence and hopes to find a way to directly connect humans to machines. That's where his Neuralink comes in. Co-founded by Musk in 2016, the company aims to integrate our minds with AI advancements via chip implants.
Via @nbashaw on Twitter
The Boring Company
The Boring Company aims to alleviate traffic by building an underground network of tunnels. Cars would be able to latch on to giant sleds and zip through tunnels at 125 mph or passengers can take futuristic glass buses if they want.
The Boring Company
SolarCity
Founded by Musk's cousins in 2006, SolarCity is the second-largest provider of solar panels in the USA. Musk owned 22 percent of its shares when Tesla bought-out the company for more than $2.5 billion in 2016.
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The real-life Tony Stark is the poster boy for Silicon Valley entrepreneurship
Elon Musk has been at the forefront of Silicon Valley innovation for two decades. The South Africa-born entrepreneur has been linked to a number of high-profile, intriguing ventures... so let's take a look.