Tesla’s production woes are well known at this point, but the problems have been improving in recent months. The company is hoping to capitalize on those gains by announcing a series of changes which promise to further streamline production.
In a tweet, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company’s models will now be available in five primary colors. Obsidian Black and Metallic Silver have been taken “off menu”, but they will still be available upon request. However, the colors will cost additional money.
While the change sounds minor, Musk said the modified color palette will help to “simplify manufacturing.” The increased prices for the special colors should also help the automaker bring in some extra cash.
Moving 2 of 7 Tesla colors off menu on Wednesday to simplify manufacturing. Obsidian Black & Metallic Silver will still be available as special request, but at higher price.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 11, 2018
A Tesla spokesperson expanded on the changes when reached by Reuters. They told the news agency “We occasionally adjust pricing and available options to best reflect the value of our products and to streamline our manufacturing operations. The adjustments made today are the latest example of that.”
Besides the color changes, the spokesperson said the dual-motor all-wheel drive option on the Tesla Model 3 will now cost $6,000 (£4,610 / €5,178). This is a $1,000 (£768 / €863) increase, but the system increases the top speed by 5 mph (8 km/h) and reduces the 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) time by 0.6 seconds compared to the rear-wheel drive variant which starts at $49,000 (£37,651 / €42,280).
As for the production issues, Tesla finally achieved their target of building 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week back in June. In the latest second quarter update, Tesla said it aimed to produce 6,000 Model 3 vehicles per week by late August and was working “as fast as we can” to increase production to 10,000 units a week. However, the company doesn’t believe they will be able to achieve that goal until next year.