Tesla Found a Way to Fight the Global Chip Shortage (for Electric Vehicles)

Smartphone manufacturers aren’t the only ones facing global chip shortages. Electric car manufacturers like Tesla are also among them. Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently announced new software to support alternative chips.

In an earnings call Monday, Musk said:

We were able to substitute alternative chips, and then write the firmware in a matter of weeks,

It’s not just a matter of swapping out a chip; you also have to rewrite the software.

This new plan is now helping the company to maintain its targets for delivering over 200,000 EVs. The company shared their revenue generated in one quarter where the company made an easy $11.9 billion by following their new strategy.

On the other hand, Daimler and BMW aren’t following what Tesla did to survive. In fact, the lack of chips is forcing them to shut down some of their assembly lines, making low or no profits at all.

Elon Musk also added:

The global chip shortage situation remains quite serious,

For the rest of this year, our growth rate will be determined by the slowest part in our supply chain,

Chips were not the only parts becoming a hurdle for Tesla’s electric vehicles. The company’s CEO said:

A big struggle this quarter was the module that controls the airbags and seatbelts. And obviously you cannot ship a car without those.

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