The internet wants to buy Elon Musk a better couch

In a letter distributed to employees and obtained by Electrek, CEO Elon Musk has explained that an upcoming shutdown will "set us up" for production rates of 3,000-4,000 units per week by next month.

The news comes a day after Tesla temporarily suspended Model 3 output in what the company said was a planned pause in production to tweak and reconfigure the assembly line.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The Model 3 was already proving a problem production-wise, and when one of Tesla's older vehicles was involved in a fatal crash leading to a voluntary recall, it not only augmented the concerns for the Model 3, but led to a downgrading of Tesla's credit status. A total of 34,494 vehicles were produced during the first quarter of 2018 taking all Tesla models into account - including 9,766 Model 3s alone, with the automaker delivering 8,180 Model 3 sedans, 11,730 Model S sedans and 10,070 Model X crossovers during this period.

"Starting today at Giga and tomorrow at Fremont, we will be stopping for three to five days to do a comprehensive set of upgrades".

This is at least the 2nd time since February that Tesla has shut down its production line for the Model 3 at its Fremont, California plant. "This means that we will be adding another shift to general assembly, body and paint", said Musk in the email.

The automatic blog Jalopnik had first published Elon Musk's email on Tuesday and the authencity was confirmed by sources.

Tesla's use of robots to assemble Model 3s has led to more complexity and delays, which Musk acknowledged last week in a tweet: "Excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake". While all of this is supposedly happening, Musk also wants to drive Tesla toward profitability. The company announced Monday that it would be pausing production of the electric auto once again for "planned downtime" while it works to improve automation.

Just last week, billionaire CEO Musk told Gayle King on "CBS This Morning" that the company is determined to fix its manufacturing problems after being stuck in "production hell", much of it relating to the Model 3.