Tesla is building second tent at its Fremont factory: report

A tent is seen at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, U.S. June 22, 2018.Reuters/Stephen Lam

• Tesla is reportedly planning on building another gigantic outdoor tent that can help with production of its electric Model 3 sedan and other car models. 
• Tesla has applied with the city of Fremont, California—where its factory is located—for a permit to build a 4,000 square foot outdoor tent.
• In June, Tesla used a giant outdoor tent to reach a second-quarter production goal of 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week.

Tesla is reportedly planning to build another gigantic outdoor tent that can help with production of its compact Model 3 sedan and other car models. 

The electric automaker has applied for a permit to build a 4,000 square foot outdoor tent that will house production of its electric cars, Bloomberg reported.

According to the city of Fremont, California—where the Tesla factory is located— the company submitted an application for the tent on September 20, 2018. 

Bloomberg reports the new tent will be constructed on the south lot of Tesla’s outbound logistics yard. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In June, Tesla revealed it built a number of its Model 3 sedans on a new assembly line that was housed inside of a giant outdoor tent. CEO Elon Musk even posted a photo of the unprecedented assembly line on Twitter and wrote about his unorthodox decision.   

“Needed another general assembly line to reach 5k/week Model 3 production,” Musk said on Twitter. “A new building was impossible, so we built a giant tent in 2 weeks.”

While the decision to assemble cars under a large outdoor tent drew sharp criticism, Tesla reached a second-quarter production goal of 5,000 Model 3 vehicles per week.

Tesla is scheduled to announce its third-quarter production and delivery numbers later this week. CEO Elon Musk recently settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission in a lawsuit that forced him to step-down as Tesla Chairman, but allowed him to remain as CEO after paying $20 million in fines. 

The lawsuit stemmed from Musk’s fateful tweet on August 7, where he stated he was “considering taking Tesla private,” with “funding secured.”

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