It seems that widespread suspicions that Tesla CEO Elon Musk resorted to cutting corners in his pursuit of ramping up Model 3 production to meet his lofty production targets may be valid.
Martin Tripp, the former Tesla engineer who was accused of trying to “sabotage” the company by Musk, is alleging several egregious safety violations that, if true, could destroy what remains of Musk’s tattered credibility.
In an email sent by Meissner Associates, a law firm which has represented whistleblowers to the SEC and which was retained by the whistleblower, Tripp alleged that Tesla made misstatements to investors about placing batteries with holes punctured in them into vehicles to help pad out its Model 3 production numbers in pursuit of Musk’s goal of producing 5,000 Model 3s a week.
Tripp’s claims remind us of some inconsistencies highlighted by Vertical Group’s Gordon Johnson, who pointed out that some of the supposedly “finished” cars had been labeled “factory gated”, meaning they still required additional testing and quality inspections.
Tesla shares dropped on the headline, but have since pared some of their losses:
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