Tesla CEO Elon Musk has admitted to CBS News that the company’s excessive embrace of automation in its factories has actually slowed down production. During a tour of Tesla’s Silicon Valley factory, CBS This Morning cohost Gayle King asked Musk if the automated robots the factory embraced has actually been one of the problems with the Model 3 not reaching its production targets. Musk replied, “Yes, they did . . . We had this crazy, complex network of conveyor belts . . . and it was not working, so we got rid of that whole thing.” The CEO later took to Twitter to expand on his comments:
Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2018
Musk has previously bemoaned the “manufacturing hell” the company has been caught in with the Model 3’s production. Now, at least, he knows who, or rather what is to blame.
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