author: Jacky Ho

Tesla will begin around-the-clock production at its Fremont, Calif., assembly plant as it tries to ramp up Model 3 output to 6,000 units a week by the end of June, according to an internal company email. "As part of the drive towards 6k, all Model 3 production at Fremont will move to 24/7 operations. This means that we will be adding another shift to general assembly, body and paint," Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote in the email obtained by Electrek. The news comes a day after Tesla temporarily suspended Model 3 output in what the company said was a planned pause in production to tweak and reconfigure the assembly line. Elon Musk said that the assembly process for the Model 3 relied too much on automation. The Tesla Model 3 The shutdown of the assembly line was meant to improve automation and systematically address bottlenecks to increase production, a normal move by car companies, Tesla said on Monday. "We will be stopping for three to five days to do a comprehensive set of upgrades. This should set us up for Model 3 production of 3,000 to 4,000 per week next month," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a letter to employees, Electrek reported Tuesday. "Another set of upgrades starting in late May should be enough to unlock production capacity of 6,000 Model 3 vehicles per week by the end of June," Musk added in the letter, according to Electrek. Between the Fremont plant and its battery factory, Tesla will be adding about 400 people per week for several weeks, Musk wrote. The company had previously said it was targeting 5,000 a week by around the end of the second quarter. Tesla has received over 500,000 orders for its more affordable Model 3 electric sedan. Unless Tesla can solve its production bottlenecks with the Model 3, people may be waiting several more years before they get their car. In addition, to maintain Elon Musk's goal of 6,000 units per week, it appears that Tesla's new around-the-clock schedule will continue for the rest of the year. According to Bloomberg's Tesla Tracker , the current estimated weekly production rate is 2,866.