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Nov 6, 2017

11/06/2017: Making cars is hard

Tesla has had a tough couple of weeks. On Friday, the carmaker updated its customer reservation website to tell people that delivery of the mass-market Model 3 would be several months late, at best. And in an earnings call last Wednesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk went into great detail about software issues, robot calibration and battery assembly, and said the company is currently in the ninth level of hell. Part of the problem is that making cars is really hard, and Tesla is still more of a software company. But some argue that having a tech-first mentality could benefit Tesla in the long run because it will be able to make changes faster.  

11/06/2017: Making cars is hard
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

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Tesla has had a tough couple of weeks. On Friday, the carmaker updated its customer reservation website to tell people that delivery of the mass-market Model 3 would be several months late, at best. And in an earnings call last Wednesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk went into great detail about software issues, robot calibration and battery assembly, and said the company is currently in the ninth level of hell. Part of the problem is that making cars is really hard, and Tesla is still more of a software company. But some argue that having a tech-first mentality could benefit Tesla in the long run because it will be able to make changes faster.