Tesla has often congratulated itself on not suffering as much as other manufacturers from the shortage of chips. In reality, the firm of Elon Musk did indeed have to modify its cars… without telling its customers.
A decision which is surprising, especially since it is at the level of an important organ of the cars that the modification took place. Thus, Tesla removed one of the two electronic steering rack control units. It is CNBC which reveals these changes that the manufacturer has made without warning its customers. The latter have also received their car, since tens of thousands of vehicles concerned are already in circulation.
This part removal involves Model 3s and Model Ys. Tesla has delivered them to customers in China, Australia, the UK, Germany and other countries in Europe.
There is however no fear to have, the box in question was a technical redundancy for the basic functions of the vehicle. However, this absence could be paid for the day Tesla updates these cars for level 3 autonomous driving. Conversely, the removal of this component is completely transparent for cars with level 2 semi-autonomous system. C This is the case with cars with adaptive cruise control and Autopilot as it works today. But for an update to a level 3, the models concerned will have to go back to the factory. Tesla not having communicated on the subject, it is at this point that the situation could become somewhat complicated.
An ever-increasing production rate
And if Tesla has decided to do without a semiconductor for certain models, it is also because the firm does not want to release the pressure on its production. While it came close to delivering one million cars in 2021, it does intend to explode the counters in 2022.
From now on, it is on the side of the Gigafactory Shanghai that the milestone of one million vehicles could be reached. Last year, Tesla’s Chinese factory was responsible for almost 50% of the manufacturer’s global production with 450,000 units assembled.
Tesla will invest 1.2 billion yuan, or 160 million euros, to optimize its production lines in Shanghai. This extension of the factory should be completed in April. It will concern the press, bodywork, painting and assembly parts.
At the same time, the manufacturer will recruit 4,000 employees in China, to reach 19,000 workers on the site. Thanks to these reinforcements, Tesla wants to exceed one million cars on this site alone in 2022.