Last month, Reuters reported that production of the upcoming Tesla Model Y will begin before November 2019 at the company's Fremont factory in California according to two unknown sources. That seemed like a very lofty goal, considering the Model 3's never-ending production issues. Unsurprisingly, production of the electric crossover has now slipped to 2020. During Tesla's Q1 2018 conference call today, Musk denied the original report and said that Tesla aims to start producing the Model Y in "early 2020," as reported by Automotive News.

"The Reuters report is based on nothing," Musk said. "We will not be starting production of Model Y next year. I would say it's probably closer to 24 months from now… [early] 2020 is a more likely prospect." He went on to say that a decision about where the model will be built hasn't been made yet, but it won't be made in Fremont because the plant is "jammed to the gills" and "crazy packed." A new factory location could be announced as soon as the next quarter, but no later than Q4 of this year, according to the CEO. Musk also said the Model Y "is going to be a manufacturing revolution".

So far, all we know about the Model Y is that it will be a compact crossover smaller than the Model X with 'Falcon Wing' doors like the current SUV and based on the same platform as the Model 3. During the same call, Musk also revealed Tesla produced 2,270 Model 3s per week last month, far below the 5,000 units per week that Musk believes would bring the company to cash-flow positive. Musk is planning to produce the Model 3 24/7 in the coming months to meet a new ambitious target of 6,000 units per week by the end of June. At the end of the first quarter, there were more than 450,000 reservations for the Model 3.