Tesla delays all-electric semi truck release due to Model 3 ‘bottlenecks,’ Hurricane Maria

The electric automaker will focus on solving current production issues with its Model 3 car, along with Hurricane Maria relief efforts in Puerto Rico, before releasing its long-awaited semi truck, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet last week.    Electric automobile manufacturer Tesla has delayed the release of the company’s all-electric semi truck to focus on current “bottlenecks” in production of its Model 3 car and to “increase battery production for Puerto Rico,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet late last week.
   Musk said on Friday the Tesla semi truck would be unveiled on Nov. 16, a three-week setback from the Oct. 26 release date announced via Twitter in September and originally back in April.
   The setback is mainly due to difficulties in building the 1,500 Model 3s Musk announced would be shipped in the third quarter of 2017. Instead, Musk revealed last week that Tesla would only be shipping 260, according to multiple media sources. Tesla said that the trouble was primarily with production bottlenecks, and they already “understand the underlying issues and are confident of addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near-term.” 
   According to Business Insider, the company also skipped a beta stage of production in order to launch the Model 3 ahead of schedule this year.
   “Even if Tesla had hit its goal of 1,500 Model 3s in September, it would still be a long way from the levels of production needed to meet demand,” Business Insider reported. “The low numbers, which the company chalked up to production ‘bottlenecks,’ suggest that the ramp to just pre-mass-production is taking longer than expected.”
   Puerto Rico, which lost 90 percent of its power due to Hurricane Maria, is high on Musk’s priority list. In a Twitter conversation between Musk and the governor of Puerto Rico, it was apparent that the governor was also interested in having Tesla assist in rebuilding Puerto Rico’s electrical system, which took heavy damage from winds and flooding.