Teslas are the most popular electric vehicles in Australia, and the most abundant – even if some customers have been waiting for many months for their deliveries.
The wait list, however, appears to be shrinking, with the stock of brand-new Tesla EVs finally appearing in Tesla’s Australian inventory.
Today, I look at where these EVs are, the prices being asked by Tesla and some of the reasons why the most popular EVs are back in stock.
Tesla Model 3 back in stock, but where?
Earlier in November, I wrote about Tesla inventory coming back for many of the Model 3 and Model Y EVs, but just not in Australia. Now though, the stock of the Tesla Model 3 has started to appear in Australia.
Western Australia has seen three brand-new Tesla Model 3 come up on Tesla’s WA inventory list.
These EVs are available in three colours, so not just the most common white. They are all RWD models which are also priced at the same prices (excluding taxes & fees) as a new Tesla Model 3:
- 2022 Tesla Model 3 RWD, Deep Blue Metallic Paint, $69,875
- 2022 Tesla Model 3 RWD, Midnight Silver Metallic Paint, $69,875
- 2022 Tesla Model 3 RWD, Pearl White Paint, 19’’ Sport Wheels, $70,575
Finance rates, inflation & choice part of more stock
Tesla builds EVs after a customer places an order for one. All of these stocked Tesla Model 3s were ordered back in February with expected delivery in a couple of months.
The lower finance rates customers locked in have expired and with rising interest rates, it might not have made financial sense to complete the order. Those orders have then been cancelled and have appeared in stock for others to purchase.
Inflation is also playing a role since the prices were lower at the time original customer orders were placed. Now energy costs and the cost of living are going up all around Australia.
There is now also the availability of more affordable ground-up EV models which were not available to customers earlier in the year. EVs like the BYD Atto3 are gaining popularity and are more than $20,000 cheaper than the stocked Tesla models.
For some customers, it might make more sense with changing circumstances to make the switch to an EV like the BYD Atto3 today and maybe a Tesla down the track.
Keeping these points in mind, we can expect stocked Tesla inventory on the east coast of the country in the coming months as well.
With rising demand for EVs and with lowering wait time with an EV in inventory like those in Western Australia, more people might be tempted to make the switch to EVs sooner.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.