It turns out a car a week was a little ambitious for Tesla Motors.
The electric-car company admitted it is not hitting its goal of producing one Tesla Roadster, its all-electric sports car, a week in its initial production ramp on its corporate blog. In fact, after the first two months of production, it is only on the verge of coming out with cars six and seven.
"This is by our own doing, as we have identified and addressed some minor supplier issues and teething pains. We expect to get back on pace so have not changed the overall schedule," the company said on its blog.
Things should be improving by the second half of the year, added the company.
The company-designed transmission, dubbed "Powertrain 1.5," will start going into cars by September. The new transmission will allow the cars to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in just under four seconds. Current cars come with a transmission from a third-party supplier and don't provide the same acceleration.
Tesla and the transmission supplier, called Magna, are currently engaged in a lawsuit over the acceleration issue. Early buyers, however, will be able and encouraged to switch to the new transmission free of charge when it becomes available.
By November, Tesla hopes to be putting out 100 cars a month. As a result of the delays the bulk of the 2008 Tesla Roadsters will be shipped toward the end of this year and in early 2009. Tesla plans to sell approximately 600 of this year's Roadsters.
While reviewers have generally applauded the look and feel of the car, skeptics have speculated that the tough part for Tesla will be the mass manufacturing. Assembling, designing, manufacturing, and certifying vehicles is a long, arduous process.
Visionaries in the past, such as Compaq founder Ben Rosen, have tried to take on the world's large car companies, but failed. Tesla has helped revive the concept of electric cars. Since then, however, Nissan, General Motors and others have unfurled plans for all-electric or principally electric cars.
Still, Tesla has managed to book several advance orders for its car, which sells for around $100,000. Customers include George Clooney, Dustin Hoffman and Sergey Brin. Tesla chairman Elon Musk took delivery of the first Roadster back in February.
Tesla's next big challenge will lay in getting out Whitestar, a sedan that will sell in the $60,000 range. Whitestar will come in an all-electric version and as a gas-electric hybrid.
Additionally, the company said that it would open a Menlo Park, Calif., dealership in the heart of Silicon Valley this summer. A New York dealership will open later in 2008, while Chicago, Seattle, Miami and Europe will follow in 2009.
Selling cars in Europe will allow Tesla to get back on the good side of international currency exchanges. Because the car is largely manufactured in Europe, Tesla is paying European salaries and selling the car in dollars.