Tesla paused production of its Model 3 electric car for four days last month, a move the company says was made to adjust its equipment so that it could increase production rates of the vehicle.
“Our Model 3 production plan includes periods of planned downtime in both Fremont and Gigafactory 1. These periods are used to improve automation and systematically address bottlenecks in order to increase production rates,” a Tesla spokesperson said in an email to Reuters.
Fremont, Calif., less than an hour southeast of San Francisco, is where the Model 3 is currently being built. The batteries for the vehicles come from “Gigafactory 1,” which is located a few hours away in Sparks, Nev.
Model 3 Production was reportedly suspended at the Fremont facility from February 20 to February 24.
The company says that downtime is normal when it begins to ramp up production of a new vehicle, noting that additional downtime could potentially occur over the next few months.
Tesla has indicated that it is aiming to reach a weekly production rate of 2,500 of the sedans by the end of March and 5,000 by the end of June, Bloomberg reports.