Tesla back on track with vehicle deliveries

Tesla reports that it manufactured 365,923 cars and delivered 343,830 units in the third quarter of this year. This means that the electric car maker is back on track for growth after a weak second quarter. The Grünheide plant is now contributing 2,000 Model Ys per week.

In the previous record quarter Q1/2022, Tesla had built 305,407 vehicles and delivered 310,048 electric cars. In Q2, there was a dip in the statistics curve (258,580 vehicles produced, 254,695 delivered) due to ongoing supply chain issues and the temporary closures of the Shanghai plant. But with the new figures, the company underpins that it has been able to stabilize production and deliveries and push ahead with capacity expansion: Q3/2022 is by far the strongest quarter yet in terms of production and deliveries.

Broken down by model line, Tesla built 19,935 Model S/Xs in Q2 and delivered 18,672 to customers. The two models have not yet resumed international deliveries since the update. The Model 3 and Model Y ergo accounted for 345,988 vehicles built and 325,158 delivered. As of this year, the latter figures also include vehicles from Texas and Grünheide. The output of Giga Texas was reflected in the Q2 figures for the first time, while that of Giga Berlin was reflected in the Q1 figures for the first time. According to a Tesla Twitter message, production capacity in Grünheide reached the 2,000 vehicles per week mark at the end of September.

Incidentally, in the short report on the Q3 figures, Tesla addresses logistics problems with deliveries. Specifically, it is about the usual delivery boom in the last month of each quarter: “As our production volumes continue to grow, it is becoming increasingly challenging to secure vehicle transportation capacity and at a reasonable cost during these peak logistics weeks,” the Californian company wrote. As a result, the company said it began shifting to “a more even regional mix of vehicle builds each week, which led to an increase in cars in transit at the end of the quarter.” These vehicles were ordered and will be delivered to customers once they arrive at their destination.

This explains the rather large discrepancy this time of over 20,000 more vehicles produced than delivered in the third quarter. In the two previous quarters, this difference was more in the range of 4,000 to 5,000 units.

Tesla does not provide a forecast for the current year in its usual brief announcements on production and delivery figures. On October 19, Tesla will present the business figures for the third quarter after the close of the stock market, where a statement on the further course of the year can be expected.

Meanwhile, the US portal electrek reports that the Gigafactory in Nevada, jointly operated by Tesla and Panasonic, is to be expanded. There, the duo manufactures battery cells and packs for Tesla cars. About 30 per cent of the originally announced factory space is in operation. After years without expansion plans, the so-called C section of the building is now slated for expansion. The report cites insiders for the information. The new building complex is to be used for the production of battery cells, it says. However, there is apparently no exact time frame yet.

ir.tesla.com, twitter.com (Grünheide), electrek.co (Nevada)