Hyperdrive
Key to Tesla Battery Manufacturing Is Still in Germany
- New automated module lines for Gigafactory to arrive in March
- Deferred capex ‘dressed up’ year-end cash flow, analyst says
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Tesla Inc. has all the tools to meet its planned Model 3 production rate in the first quarter. The problem is that a key to its future battery manufacturing is still in Germany.
The electric-car maker -- which still plans to make about 2,500 of the cars a week by the end of March -- designed a new automated system for module production at its battery factory near Reno, Nevada. The line is already working at Tesla’s German manufacturing unit Grohmann but needs to be shipped to the U.S. next month to be put to use, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said.