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Elon Musk Says Tesla’s Delivery Process Is Worse Than ‘Production Hell’

REUTERS/Joe Skipper

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Chris White Tech Reporter
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Sunday night that the electric vehicle maker is moving from production hell to a delivery nightmare as the Silicon Valley company struggles to deliver thousands of vehicles to customers.

“Sorry, we’ve gone from production hell to delivery logistics hell, but this problem is far more tractable. We’re making rapid progress. Should be solved shortly,” Musk said in a tweet in responding to numerous complaints about slow delivery times.

Tesla promised more than a year ago to sell an electric vehicle designed for the everyman, but the backup orders for the Model 3 seriously complicated deliveries. Tesla’s problems are not lost on CEO Elon Musk, who told reporters in July that Tesla will be in “production hell” for at least six months, “maybe longer.”

Tesla delivered the first 30 cars to owners and claims that it will begin rolling out vehicles with 220 miles of range that start at $35,000. The Model 3 version with a 310-mile range has a $44,000 starting price tag, undercutting Musk’s promise to deliver a cheap vehicle to the masses.

The company had more than 500,000 deposits of $1,000 each for the Model 3, according to Musk, who owns more than 20 percent of Tesla.

Moving from “production hell” to a delivery nightmare comes at an inopportune moment for Tesla.

Musk was criticized for smoking weed with comedian Joe Rogan during a Sept. 6 edition of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” a popular podcast that live-streams on YouTube. (RELATED: ‘I Mean, It’s Legal Right?’: Musk Smokes Pot On Camera While Explaining His Twitter Rants)

Musk attempted to clarify his Twitter behavior, which some believe is distracting him from managing production on Tesla’s Model 3 vehicle. He told Rogan that he tries to ignore most negative comments “but every now and again, you get drawn in. It’s not good. You can make mistakes.”

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