Keen on Tesla's 'cheap' Model 3? Get ready to wait a little longer

Tesla will fall short of its new Model 3 production quota after the electric car giant conceded it was months behind schedule.

The company wanted to roll 5,000 cars a week off the line by the end of the year, but factory glitches have ensured that figure will not be met until March 2018.

The problem arose in Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada, where the battery modules are built. Tesla is redesigning parts of the production process to ramp up the pace.

Founder and CEO Elon Musk said the delays had him "depressed for three or four weeks." Musk threw blame at a subcontractor who "really dropped the ball."

About 500,000 Model 3 cars have been ordered worldwide, but only 260 were built in the third quarter. Musk and financial chief Deepak Ahuja said in a letter to shareholders that it was hard to prepare for production problems.

"The nature of the manufacturing challenges during a ramp such as this makes it difficult to predict exactly how long it will take for all bottlenecks to be clear or when new ones appear. There can be large forward jumps from one week to the next."

Tesla's problems do not stop at Model 3 production either, with the company posting a record quarterly loss of £468m. It shelled out $1.42bn in the third quarter to upgrade its factories.

Tesla is marketing the Model 3 for its affordability with a starting price of $35,000 USD (£26,500). The Model S starts at £64,700 and the Model X at £70,500.

It was not all doom and gloom for Musk's company, however. Tesla's third quarter report shows they are producing a record number of Model S and Model X cars.

Musk feared that buyers would be holding out for the affordable Model 3 instead of purchasing the already available S and X models. Figures show, however, that orders have hit a record high.

Tesla estimates about 100,000 Model S and Model X cars will be delivered in 2017. Preorders for the Model 3 are estimated to total about 500,000.

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