Tesla says the average cost of making its electric vehicles has fallen to its lowest point ever, and its most recent release – the Cybertruck – is also delivering a positive operating margin.
The company said in its Q3 earnings report released on Thursday morning (Australian time) that the it now costs the company an average of $US35,100 per vehicle to produce each vehicle, which is quite impressive given the upgraded level of premium trims it offers in its mass-produced models, such as the Model 3, compared to its previous generation model.
The reduced cost has allowed the company to pass on savings to customers, with local Tesla vehicles retailing at all-time low prices – albeit in the face of increased price competition, particularly from Chinese auto makers.
The Tesla earnings report celebrated the building of its 7-millionth EV globally, but also had mixed results, including revenue of $US25.1 billion, which came in slightly below expectations, and net operating income of $US2.2 billion.
The new milestone comes only 6 months after it reported that 6 million vehicles had been produced by its global factories.
Given the push to look into vehicles for the mass market, Tesla also continue to hint that more affordable models would be coming in 2025, despite the failure to unveil one, as had been hoped, at its recent Robot Day.
“We need to make EVs affordable for everyone, including making total cost of ownership per mile competitive with all forms of transportation,” it said in the report. “Preparations remain underway for our offering of new vehicles – including more affordable models – which we will begin launching in the first half of 2025.”
One other key insight to come out of the Q3 report was on its halo vehicle, the Cybertruck, which many in the automotive industry thought would never make it onto the roads.
Less than 12 months after initial customer deliveries of the steel-bodied utilitarian vehicle, the company has hit a positive margin: “Cybertruck production increased sequentially and achieved a positive gross margin for the first time.”
The news comes only days after it was revealed that the Cybertruck became the third best-selling EV in the US, outselling vehicles from every other brand.
One thing worth noting with the Cybertruck deliveries is that every unit so far has been the more expensive foundation series.
As more affordable variants and trims are produced, the cost per unit to produce will come down, helping Tesla increase that positive margin over time.
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.