Musk says worker sabotaged Tesla plant operations
In scrambling to increase production of its Model 3 electric car, Tesla has run into trouble with robots and automated machinery, a need for more workers and a shortage of battery packs — all fairly typical issues in starting up an auto plant.
Now CEO Elon Musk suspects a more unusual problem may be at play: sabotage.
In an email sent to employees late Sunday night, Musk said a disgruntled worker had broken into the company’s computer systems in an attempt to disrupt manufacturing.
“I was dismayed to learn this weekend about a Tesla employee who had conducted quite extensive and damaging sabotage to our operations,” he wrote. “This included making direct code changes to the Tesla Manufacturing Operating System under false usernames and exporting large amounts of highly sensitive Tesla data to unknown third parties.”
The email was first reported by CNBC. A Tesla spokesman declined to discuss the content of Musk’s emails. It was not clear whether the operations in question were at its assembly plant in Fremont, its battery plant near Reno, or elsewhere.
Tesla shares were down almost 5 percent Tuesday, closing at $352.55.
Musk said the employee, who was not identified in the email, had admitted trying to damage the manufacturing system, and was unhappy with the company after being passed over for a promotion.
In a separate email to employees Monday, also reported by CNBC, Musk said a minor fire had broken out on the assembly line at its Fremont plant, halting production for several hours. He said it “could be just a random event” but added that it was “hard to explain” and urged employees to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity inside the company.
Musk has also been lashing out recently against short sellers betting against the company’s stock, saying on Twitter over the weekend that “they have about three weeks before their short position explodes.”
The recent disruption comes as Tesla is racing to streamline operations on the assembly line that produces the Model 3, a midsize mass-market model that Musk is counting on to drive revenue higher, stabilize Tesla’s finances and enable the company to begin generating profits.
He has said Tesla will make money in the second half of the year if it is able to produce 5,000 or more Model 3s a week, a level he predicted Tesla would reach by the end of this month. At the company’s shareholder meeting this month, Musk said the company had increased its output to about 3,500 Model 3s a week, up from around 2,000 a week in early May.