“Smashed:” Record month in store for Tesla sales as seventh ship arrives

Tesla is in store for a record month – and quarter – of electric vehicle sales as it continues the rollout of the Model Y crossover and recommences volume imports of the Model 3 sedan.

In July the EV maker delivered just four cars to local drivers, as Shanghai exports ground to a halt due to Covid shutdowns and an assembly line upgrade. By the end of August it will have shipped at least 2,000 times that amount, possibly more.

The EV maker started delivering the Model Y to customers in early August, after a relatively short two month wait from the opening of its order page.

It was also able to start shipping more Model 3s again, in a bid to clear a massive backload of orders. The Driven understands some Model 3 customers have been waiting for orders placed as far back as January.

It would appear that these customers, if they have not yet received their vehicle, won’t have to wait much longer.

Seventh Tesla ship arrives at Port Kembla

Tesla shipping tracker Vedaprime (his twitter handle) reports that the seventh ship with Tesla electric cars on board arrived in Port Kembla on Sunday. This is a record number of ships so far for the quarter, he said in a tweet.

“The seventh Australian #Tesla ship for this quarter Paglia has arrived at Port Kembla this morning. Many thousands of Tesla have arrived in Australia this quarter. Records have been smashed,” he tweeted.

While official Tesla sales (ie, deliveries) numbers for the month are due to be published in coming days, and it is unlikely that all the cars shipped in August may not be delivered in that month alone.

Nevertheless, The Driven estimates Tesla will report to Vfacts at least 10,000 sales for the quarter, most of which were shipped in August.

If this proves true, it means Tesla is on track for a record quarter by any carmaker delivering electric cars – and could easily have delivered more than half of the number of 17,000 or so electric vehicles sold industry-wide in the whole of 2021.

While it is as yet unknown how many more ships Tesla has planned for Australian deliveries, The Driven understands there have been few if any cars built for the local market at the EV maker’s Shanghai plant in recent weeks.

Instead, vehicles have been made for export to Europe as Tesla’s Berlin factory continues to ramp up production.

Japan Model Y market comes online

Meanwhile, Tesla has now also commenced deliveries of the Model Y in Japan. What this also means for Australia is there will be increased competition for export production on the ground in Shanghai.

A new video shared on Twitter by “automotive industry investment manager” Membo shows a video of numerous Model Y cars being driven off a cargo ship. While the port is not identified, the poster says this is the first shipment from Shanghai to Japan.

China-based Tesla tracker WuWa also reports that Tesla’s exports for the quarter are nearing an end.