Tesla used aircraft to airlift battery production equipment from Europe to increase Model 3 production capacity.

Tesla began delivering Model 3 to users last July, according to foreign media reports, but its capacity has so far fallen short of its target.

Tesla used aircraft to airlift battery production equipment from Europe to increase Model 3 production capacity.

In order to increase the battery capacity that is crucial for the increase in the capacity of the Model 3, two sources revealed that Tesla did not hesitate to spend money and used six aircraft to fly robots and related equipment from Europe to Nevada.

It is worth noting that the volume of equipment related to the automotive production line is large, and it is not only expensive but also risky to use aircraft to transport related equipment. Therefore, it is very rare to use aircraft to transport related equipment in the automotive industry. The common practice of car manufacturers is to start installing the relevant equipment a few months or a year before the new production line is put into production, and the transportation of the equipment may be earlier.

Tesla's move against industry normality and its costly use of air transportation to transport equipment may still be related to its eagerness to increase the capacity of the Model 3, which has so far failed to meet its target.

The two sources, who said Tesla was using aircraft to transport mode-3 battery-making equipment, also said the equipment it was transporting would arrive at a super battery plant in Reno, Nevada, this week.

The source also said that, as usual, Tesla's use of robots and other equipment from the European battery production line by plane was also in a hurry, but there were no financial obstacles.

Although the equipment will arrive at the super battery plant this week, it is unclear when this batch of equipment will be put into production, because the robot will need to make corresponding corrections before it can be put into production to adapt to the characteristics of the material and the factory temperature, humidity and other environments. Sources also said that Tesla's manager's estimate of this is not sufficient.

Tesla is currently working to increase the weekly production of Model 3 to 5,000 vehicles by the end of the second quarter, but Tesla has emphasized that this airlift battery production equipment has nothing to do with the weekly production of Model 35,000 vehicles. Without these devices, they can also increase weekly production to 5,000 vehicles.

In addition to using six aircraft to airlift the Model 3 battery production line robots and other equipment from Europe, Tesla is also increasing the capacity of the Model 3 batteries in other ways to ensure the increase in the capacity of the Model 3.

The company's German engineering engineer, Grohmann, is rebuilding its battery line at the Tesla super battery plant in Reno, Nevada, and will be more automated after completion, sources said.

Tesla Model 3's battery line was originally outsourced, but Musk had a lot of complaints about the production line they built. At the analyst meeting in November last year, Musk first disclosed plans to reconstruct the battery line.

Mr Musk has also told investors that the new battery line will boost their capacity. However, Tesla had previously lacked continuity in the operation of the factory, and Musk's production capacity targets were also affected and could not be achieved as scheduled.

In addition, sources also said that in the face of production capacity pressure, the use of new production lines to increase production capacity, Tesla will put pressure on cash spending. Tesla reported earlier this month that it held $2,666 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, leaving only 10 months of cash at a quarterly daily loss of $8,718,000.

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