It Appears As If All the Protests and Vandalism Have Done Little Harm To Tesla’s New Vehicle Deliveries in America - We Offer You the Data and Our Analysis

Tesla’s global deliveries have dropped in total, and in some markets (not all), the brand has definitely seen some big drops. But what about in the United States? Have the Tesla Takedown protests and the criminal vandalism acts brought Tesla to its knees? Not so much, if Cox Automotive/Kelley Blue Book’s delivery data can be believed. Let’s see the numbers and then examine Q1 in the context of the prior year. 

Cox Automotive/KBB Report - Tesla Deliveries By Model
In its April 9th report, Cox Automotive/KBB offers this chart that provides a line-by-line breakdown of the deliveries of Tesla’s five models. Here’s what it looks like:

As you can see, two of the five models had meaningful increases in deliveries in Q1 2025 by comparison to Q1 of 2024 (the prior year). For some unknown reason, there are still people, companies, or fleets that are buying the Cybertruck. Its deliveries were up a whopping 128.5%, which equated to a total of 6,406 trucks moving off Tesla’s retail lots. Rivian delivered about 1,500 fewer R1T pickups in that same period, so maybe the Rivian shoppers opted to buy a Tesla instead. Or perhaps it was the Ford F-150 buyers who moved Tesla’s way. Ford says that it delivered 556 fewer Lightnings to buyers in Q1. 

The Tesla Model 3 sedan had a banger of a quarter, with deliveries rising massively by both percent and actual units. CBB/Cox shows that Tesla sold an additional 22,000 Model 3 cars in Q1. In total, the Model 3 represented 52,520 units. That would easily put the Model 3 into the top-ten most popular cars in America list. Apparently, shoppers were not afraid to buy Model 3 cars, despite all the outrageous activity.

The S and X are basically done in America, but this is not new information. We reported on this years ago. Nobody wants an X or S here or anywhere on Earth. They have jumped the shark. Sales did decline, but the drop was just 4,000 or so units in total. Barely worth mentioning. In fact, Tesla doesn’t even mention these models in its own delivery reports. 

Now we come to the Tesla Model Y delivery numbers. Yup, a big drop did occur. Cox/KBB says that Tesla delivered about 33,000 fewer of them in Q1 compared to Q1 of 2024. Before we jump to the conclusion that the crazy people screaming at passing Tesla vehicles are the reason this occurred, let’s think for a moment about the Model Y. Didn’t it have a generational change during Q1? Yes, indeed, Tesla did launch the new Model Y, which folks call the Juniper, during Q1. Could that be the reason so many fewer were delivered? We think so. 

During late Q1, I visited the Peabody Tesla retail store in Massachusetts, hoping to see the new Model Y Juniper. However, this location didn’t have any. Not even one to display in the showroom as an example. I was told that just one Mass. Tesla location had a Juniper for shoppers to oggle. I remember thinking to myself,

You’d have to be nuts to buy the old Model Y knowing that the all-new Model Y was literally a few weeks away. Who wants day-old donuts? 

Conclusion - The Theory That Protesters Drove Down Tesla’s U.S. Deliveries Is Weak
It feels to me that Tesla’s deliveries must have been impacted by the protests and criminal vandalism that have been taking place. I’ve seen protests of Tesla (in Concord, MA), and the closest Tesla Supercharger to my home (Littleton, MA) was literally torched. It sure seems obvious that Tesla’s sales must have been devastated by these anti-Tesla, anti-EV, anti-Elon shenanigans. But the data says otherwise. Two of Tesla’s three viable models had growth months in January, February, and March, and Tesla’s overall deliveries were down just 8.6% if Cox/KBB’s estimates are correct. Maybe what we all assume is simply not right?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below. 
 

John Goreham is a credentialed New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools. 

Image Note: Image depicting angry Tesla protesters created using Grok. Chart showing EV deliveries in Q1 2025 courtesy of the Kelley Blue Book EV sales Report. Use this link to find the full report.