Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Musk Alleges Tesla Model 3 Production Has Been Sabotaged, According To CNBC

posted by janrinok on Tuesday June 19 2018, @09:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the corporate-espionage dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has accused a Tesla employee of "quite extensive and damaging sabotage to our operations," according to an email obtained by CNBC. In the all-hands email to Tesla staff, Musk wrote that the employee had made "direct code changes" to the company's production systems, as well as exporting "large amounts" of Tesla's data to unknown third parties.

According to Musk's email, the unnamed employee claimed he had become disgruntled after failing to receive a promotion. However, the Tesla CEO also suggested the alleged saboteur could have been working with short sellers, oil and gas companies—whom he described as "sometimes not super nice"—or "the multitude of big gas/diesel car company competitors." Of this last group, Musk reminded his employees that, since the traditional OEMs have been known to cheat emissions tests, "maybe they're willing to cheat in other ways."

[...] Tesla has faced plenty of criticism about its ongoing troubles in ramping up Model 3 production. But that may have been unwarranted if those problems were due to sabotage. We reached out to Tesla regarding CNBC's story, but the company declined to comment at this time.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Musk Alleges Tesla Model 3 Production Has Been Sabotaged, According To CNBC | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 32 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 20 2018, @12:56PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 20 2018, @12:56PM (#695558)

    Meanwhile, it looks like Chevy Bolt sales are slightly exceeding the production schedule, see https://insideevs.com/chevy-bolt-continues-to-slide-while-volt-gains-ground/ [insideevs.com] This is pretty recent, from June 1, 2018:

    ...
    In March and April, the Chevrolet Volt [plug-in hybrid] barely edged out the Bolt EV in sales. In May it likely has led the Bolt by several hundred units.

    The primary reason Bolt sales are sagging? Inventories have almost completely dried up, due to high demand and a shortened 2018 model year. Chevrolet stopped taking new orders in May and will begin taking orders on the 2019 Bolt in mid-June.

    For confirmation I reached out to Buzz Smith, an EV activist in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and salesperson at Classic Chevrolet. “The last week a 2018 Bolt could be ordered from the factory was last week. Filling the last orders will keep the plant turning out 2018’s for a month or so.” Stated Buzz, adding that “Bolt EV production will be stopped for the model year change for a very short time. (3 days)”

    According to the dates provided, orders placed by May 24th should be filled before 2018 production ends on July 27th. 2019’s will begin production just 3 days later on July 30th. Orders will open for the 2019 model year starting June 14th.

    Bolt deliveries have also resumed in South Korea. Between late March and the beginning of April, approximately 500 units were sold. This has also further strained US inventories of the popular electric hatchback. Throughout May, inventories of the 2018 Bolt hovered around 1,000 units.

    After tracking inventories and considering these additional factors, we believe Volt sales surpassed the Bolt once again in May.

    For the month of May 2018, we estimate U.S. Chevrolet Bolt EV deliveries at 1,125, compared to last May’s 1,566 and last month’s estimated 1,275. Meanwhile, the Volt moved an estimated 1,675 for the month.

    Thankfully, Chevrolet seemed to plan for this Bolt shortfall by bulking up Volt inventories as an alternative. Volt sales are off slightly compared to May 2017’s 1,817, but appear to be trending upward. It seems GM is aware that it’s highly successful, long-range plug-in hybrid may still have some pull with buyers.

    Chevy Malibu sales (to pick just one car line) are still more than an order of magnitude higher than the electric Chevys -- http://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/chevrolet/malibu/chevrolet-malibu-sales-numbers/ [gmauthority.com] has a table of sales by month for anyone interested.