Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently described the company’s factories in Berlin and Austin as “giant cash ovens” in an interview with Tesla owners from Tesla’s official club, Silicon Valley, in Austin, Texas. Musk joked: “It must be a giant roaring sound, like the sound of burning money.”
Reuters reports that while speaking to Tesla owners in Silicon Valley, the official club that Tesla recognizes in Austin, Texas, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has called the company’s new factories in Berlin and Austin “giant cash ovens.”
Tesla will relocate its headquarters to Austin in December, and if you visit the facilities today, “There must be a giant roar, that’s the sound of burning money,” he joked.
Factories in Berlin and Austin opened earlier this year, and during the Gigafactory’s launch in Austin in April, Musk hailed the facility as “a new phase in Tesla’s future” as the company plans to make its Model Y vehicles and Cybertruck in a single facility.
But according to Musk, these facilities are now producing “few” vehicles, largely due to battery shortages and bottlenecks in the global supply chain. In the face of a “serious” disruption, Tesla told his fan club “our full attention is just needed to keep the factories running.”
“This factory is losing crazy money right now,” Musk said, looking through the glass windows on the production floor. “We have to make more cars at this factory, not too few.”
Musk noted that many problems caused production cuts. Musk said the tools needed to manufacture cars that use the 2170 battery are “stuck in a port in China and no one can move them.” Musk also added that it will be difficult for the company to produce more structured battery packs and the associated 4680 batteries.
Musk noted that the Berlin factory, which opened in March, faced similar hurdles but was “in a slightly better position” as it focused on 2170 battery cells. Tesla also faced a global semiconductor chip shortage last year and was quarantined due to the coronavirus. “I’m not sure everyone knows how serious the coronavirus shutdowns in China are – and it hasn’t happened yet,” Musk said.
He also pointed out that the rising price of battery ore is a major concern for the company.
Read more about Reuters here.
Source: Breitbart
