Tesla plans to make half-a-million all-electric cars in 2018

But the electric-car company has pulled ahead by two years its plan to ramp up annual production of its three-vehicle lineup - including the Tesla Model S sedan and the Model X crossover - to 500,000 by 2018.

The Model 3 is scheduled to enter production in mid 2017, but Tesla's history of production delays with its Model X - deliveries of the gull wing-doored SUV finally started late past year amid quality control issues and low volume because of the car's complexity - make some analysts skeptical that Tesla can hit such an aggressive production target. Now Musk, with about 400,000 Model 3 orders in hand, is accelerating manufacturing timelines to meet demand - even as the automaker loses two top production executives.

One recent highlight of the production line came at 3 a.m. last Friday - the first Model X free from production flaws crossed the threshold. Still, TSLA states that it is on track to bring its Model 3 cars to market by the end of 2017.

Wall Street already considered the 2020 target of 500,000 electric cars produced per year as a long shot, and with the new target, Tesla would have to commit to a faster growth rate in production compared to Ford in the early 1900s. Also, the company's stock-based compensation costs more than doubled during the quarter to almost $90 million.

Said Musk: "Tesla is hell-bent on becoming the best manufacturer on earth".

To do this, Tesla released a target of no profit for the final quarter of the current year, and added that capital expenditures for the year would increase by around 50 percent than previously expected to $2.25 billion.

The expansion drive will be pursued without two senior executives, vice president for production Greg Reichow and vice president for manufacturing John Ensign, who Tesla confirmed would be leaving the company. Tesla's vice presidents of manufacturing and production recently stepped down.

Revenue rose to United States dollars 1.15 billion from USD 939.9 million.

To fund its expansion, Tesla said it is likely to tap capital markets in the medium term. Analysts were looking for at least 19,500.

"I can't argue with what he has been able to accomplish so far, but we're taking about a complete magnitude change in complexity", Schuster said of Musk. Musk said Wednesday that the company has designed the upcoming Model 3 to be easier to manufacture.

"What I find ironic about a lot of the naysayers is that the very same people will transition from saying, "It was impossible" to saying 'It was obvious, '" he said.

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