A cell supply shortage is hindering Tesla Semi production

30 March 2021 - 15:15 By Reuters
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A cell supply shortage is making it difficult for Tesla to scale up production of its long-delayed Semi commercial truck.
A cell supply shortage is making it difficult for Tesla to scale up production of its long-delayed Semi commercial truck.
Image: Tesla Inc

Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Tuesday that a cell supply shortage is making it difficult to scale up production of its long-delayed Tesla Semi commercial truck.

“Demand is no problem, but near-term cell supply makes it hard to scale Semi. This limitation will be less onerous next year,” the billionaire entrepreneur said.

Musk's statement was in response to a tweet which referred to a news report about the electric car maker receiving an order for 10 Semi trucks from MHX Leasing LLC.

Major car makers such as Ford Motor, Honda Motor, General Motors and Volkswagen were caught off guard by the chip shortage, forcing many to hold back production even as car demand picked up during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The shortage has cost the global auto industry 130,000 vehicles in lost production, research firm AutoForecast Solutions estimates.

Musk said last month that the Tesla Fremont, California, plant was shut down for two days over “parts shortages”.


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