Tesla shares rise after Elon Musk raises Model 3 goal in internal email

CNBC
Updated
An email sent to Tesla employees from Elon Musk says the company will stop production and take steps to produce 6,000 Model 3 cars per week by the end of June.

Tesla (TSLA) shares rose after electric vehicle blog Electrek reported it obtained an email from Tesla CEO Elon Musk that says the company is halting production at its two main factories for several days to upgrade equipment and aims to produce 6,000 Model 3 cars per week by the end of June.

CNBC confirmed the email's authenticity. The shares were higher by 2 percent in premarket trading Wednesday.

The email, reportedly sent to all employees, sounded a strong call to action to get Tesla's auto production numbers up to expectations. It said that Tesla had built 2,250 cars last week — still short of Tesla's previously stated goal of 2,500 per week by the end of Q1. It also said that the improvements from the shutdown would set the company up to build 3,000 to 4,000 per week in May.

The company's factories will move to around-the-clock production, the email reportedly said.

Musk also had harsh words for the company's suppliers and contractors.

Moving forward, he wrote, suppliers must meet high standards for precision on parts or Tesla won't work with them.

"Some parts suppliers will be unwilling or unable to achieve this level of precision. I understand that this will be considered an unreasonable request by some," it said. "That's ok, there are lots of other car companies with much lower standards. They just can't work with Tesla."

He also categorized some contractors' performance as being "worse than a drunken sloth," and said they would all have one week to "demonstrate excellence."

"Any that fail to meet the Tesla standard of excellence will have their contracts ended on Monday," it said.

The email also said all expenditures over $1 million must be approved, and all communication should be as direct as possible throughout the organization, the email said.

"In general, always pick common sense as your guide. If following a 'company rule' is obviously ridiculous in a particular situation, such that it would make for a great Dilbert cartoon, then the rule should change," Musk wrote.

Read the Elektrek report here.

— CNBC's Phil Lebeau contributed to this story.