pretty good article in Wired today:
Musk, apparently feeling his company isn?t under quite enough pressure, upped the ante during Wednesday?s call, saying he?ll deliver 100,000 cars by the end of 2017 and hit the half-million threshold in 2018.
It?s hard to understate the challenge ahead.
Yes, Tesla has enjoyed tremendous success with the Model S, and the Model X is undeniably cool. But that?s nickel-and-dime stuff compared to what Musk wants to do with the 3. ?It is an amazing achievement to engineer, build and market 50,000 examples of one model in a hotly competitive global market, as Tesla has done,? says Jack Nerad, an analyst with Kelley Blue Book. ?It is a far more difficult assignment to reach the 500,000-unit sales mark with a multi-vehicle line.?
Hitting the benchmarks Musk outlined demands moving like the old-school automakers Musk so joyously ridicules. Tesla must ramp up capacity, develop a reliable supply chain, and finish the enormous Gigafactory battery plant under construction in the desert east of Reno, Nevada.
No less importantly, Musk must kick his habit of blowing deadlines?although he always makes good on his word, he usually does so two years later than promised?and master the logistics of a market segment that operates on a vast scale and small margins.
Tesla Just Made Its Huge Model 3 Challenge Even Huger | WIRED