In its history, Tesla has not been the best at keeping up with its deadlines. For a while, it seemed that this would change as the company prepared to release the Model 3. The company affirmed over and over that it would start deliveries as promised. However, it is speculated that prototypes for the unit are at this point still unfinished, a detail that is both disappointing but not surprising.
As noted by Car And Driver, CEO Elon Musk had promised at the reveal of the Model 3 that the affordable electric car would start on deliveries within the fourth quarter of 2017. It was even confirmed that the design was finished by summer last year. However, the company's most recent 10-K filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission begs to differ.
“We expect that the next performance milestone to be achieved will be the successful completion of the Model 3 Beta Prototype,” the filing said. It then went on to state that an eligible prototype would be determined by its Board of Directors. In other words, the beta prototype might not have yet been completed. It is unclear as to what date the statement covers, because the SEC filing covers December 31, 2016, but has a March 1 date on the specific document filed.
As AutoBlog has reported, there might very well be prototypes already on the road, particularly because Tesla had confirmed that pilot production for the Model 3 would begin on February 20. A prototype would ideally have been chosen from this initial batch. Moreover, the EV company has claimed that it would start mass production of the car by July, which might as well be in the blink of an eye.
In Tesla's investors' note in February, the company again reiterated its July production. It has set goals to produce as much as 5,000 Model 3 unit every week by the end of the year. Eventually, it hopes to produce more than half a million Model 3 units by the end of 2018.
