Tesla once produced only about 10 cars a week, not long ago.
Resolved true The record shows it happened or was so.
Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?
Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.
What would count as true or false
The claim is that at some earlier point in Tesla's history, its production rate was only about 10 cars a week. 'Not long ago' is rhetorical and loosely satisfied by any point in the company's history, given Tesla was founded in 2003. TRUE: records or credible reporting show Tesla producing roughly 5 to 20 cars a week for some sustained period, for example during the Roadster era or the early Model S ramp. MOSTLY TRUE: the lowest documented sustained rate was somewhat outside that band (for example about 20 to 30 a week) but still very small. MOSTLY FALSE: Tesla's lowest documented sustained production rate was far higher than 10 a week. FALSE: the evidence shows Tesla never had a period of production anywhere near that low.
Set before the research began.
Evidence (4)
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E1 Tesla Motors Receives $40 Million Financing Commitment | Tesla Investor Relations Tesla, Inc. (Investor Relations) · 2 November 2008 Own record
“Tesla has delivered more than 50 Roadsters to customers so far and is now in regular production at a rate of ten cars per week, rising to thirty cars per week early next year.”
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E2 Tesla readies new transmission, ramping production - Engadget Engadget · 10 September 2008
“Tesla says that it will now ramp production to 10 Roadsters per week, hitting 20 per week within a few months, and 40 per week by early 2009.”
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E3 Tesla shares rise as company says production grew San Diego Union-Tribune · 5 November 2012
“The company said it transitioned to a mass-production car company during the quarter, growing from making five cars per week to 100 cars per week.”
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E4 Tesla Roadster (first generation) - Wikipedia Wikipedia
“By February 11, 2009, 200 Roadsters had been produced.”
Reasoning
Tesla's November 2008 press release says the company was "in regular production at a rate of ten cars per week" on the Roadster (E1). Independent reporting from September 2008 matches it: Engadget reported Tesla ramping Roadster production to 10 a week (E2). The San Diego Union-Tribune separately reported that in 2012 Tesla grew from making five cars a week to 100 a week during the quarter (E3). Together these show Tesla, by its own account, in regular production at about 10 cars a week in 2008 (E1), and making five cars a week at the start of a 2012 quarter (E3), both within the criteria's 5-to-20-a-week band for TRUE.
Cite this claim
Elon Musk, “Tesla once produced only about 10 cars a week, not long ago.” (said 24 January 2024). Verdict: resolved true. Reliability API, claim c_32e363942eed, method 0.1.0+c876030c, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_32e363942eed
This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.
Reply to this claim
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Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.