Analyst: Tesla to miss delivery expectations of Model 3 again

Tesla Model 3, the company's so-called affordable electric car, may not make its promise to deliver 5,000 cars a week until 2019.

So says analyst Gene Munster, of Loup Ventures, who believes the Model 3 will have its big year — next year, reports U.S. News & World Report.

Tesla had promised to deliver the "world's best AI" with the Model 3. But Tesla had also promised to roll thousands of cars a week out of its factories by the end of 2017. Just 300 had been delivered by November — even as more than half a million pre-orders were booked, starting in 2016 when people stood in line, overnight, for the rights to even buy one of the cars.

Problems at the Gigafactory — where Tesla's batteries are made — have been one problem, says the company. (Elon Musk, Tesla's founder has described the time as "production hell.") But Tesla has hit other bumps in the road. Musk also postponed a big reveal of a new line of electric trucks which had been scheduled for late October.

Still, many believe Tesla will eventually pull through, with the Model 3 a bit hit. And while the company is reporting earnings this week — along with updates on how many Model 3 cars have been delivered — analysts including Munster consider the car maker's delays no more problematic than growing pains other car companies will have when they start to produce electric and autonomous vehicles as well.