1.
2. Fremont was only going to by 10k per week after adding more equipment. The original install was expected to by ~5k per week, when they reached that they would parallel the bottlenecks. The ramp took longer than expected and the trade situation changed. Additionally, they saw the ability to get the original line to > 5k and possibly 8k without much additional cost. The ramp delay also pushed things closer to the Y release which could impact 3 sales. Net result was to move forward on GF3 making 3s instead of taking up more space in Fremont and potentially investing more in equipment than they would get in return (if previously line do 7-8 k, and you add new line, it could make other sections the bottle neck so your amortized cost is less good).
Had they expanded 3 in Fremont, they would not have a place for Y now.
3. Tesla did not 5 billion in the bank at the time, they raised ~$2.4 billion in May of this year, ~5 months after groundbreaking on GF3 and ~7 months after buying the lease.
There is a limit to steady state 3 demand, so overcapacity to meet short term demand is not a good option.
Fremont was not the issue...battery supply was. So no reason to ramp production to make more cars when you don't have batteries for them. So demand was not an issue. Now they also are going to make Y at Fremont, so likely no extra space for 3 production there.
