Tesla dropped new car braking test in final days of production goal

Marco della Cava | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption New Tesla: Does it really come without a steering wheel? The new Tesla Model Y may not have a steering wheel.

SAN FRANCISCO – Tesla dropped a standard new-car braking test it saw as unnecessary as it pushed to make an elusive production target for its Model 3 sedans last week.

The so-called "brake and roll" test was halted early on June 26, according to Business Insider.

“I can't even figure out a good reason to ever bypass this,” Dave Sullivan, manager of product analysis for AutoPacific, said in an email to USA TODAY. “For a company that is under such immense scrutiny for safety, there is zero reason to bypass anything related to brakes now.”

Tesla, based south of San Francisco in Palo Alto, California, has faced scrutiny for a series of accidents involving its Autopilot system, which handles some of the driving chores but requires driver oversight.

Tesla spokesman Dave Arnold said the stopped test was redundant because the company drives every Model 3 on its test track, where it checks brakes, alignment and other aspects of the car that would impact its overall safety.

“Every car we build goes through rigorous quality checks and must meet exacting specifications, including brake tests," Arnold said in a statement. "There are no exceptions.”

Investors were buoyed by the news earlier in the week that CEO Elon Musk had hit his long-promised output of 5,000 Model E's – the $35,000-and-up Model 3 is considered critical to the company's financial success – by Musk's second-quarter deadline. But some analysts warned that the level, which included Tesla setting up a tent for additional production, wasn't sustainable.

CFRA Research downgraded Tesla stock to "sell."

In a note Tuesday, GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives called the brake and roll news "a potential gut punch to the bulls that now worry about sustainability and speed bumps ahead on the Model 3 front."

Ives still rates the stock a buy with a $375 target due largely to the recent positive news about Model 3. But, he said, "the knee jerk reaction from the Street’s perspective is clearly a concern that neutralizes some of the long awaited good news from reaching the key 5,000 per week goal."

Model 3 production isn't the only worry facing Musk. Tesla's stock dive comes as Tesla, and other automakers stare down a looming 25 percent product price hike in China as part of the Trump administration's ongoing trade war.

Contributing: Nathan Bomey

Follow USA TODAY technology and culture writer @marcodellacava.