New Delivery Record For Tesla In Third Quarter 2022

Elon Musk and Tesla are having an amazing year 2022. The 12 months of the year are on their way to becoming a record; although in the second quarter it broke the streak (due to external issues, that we mentioned in earlier articles, like COVID outbreaks, etc.), between the months of July and September Tesla basically delivered 343,830 units, which is in fact the highest figure in the company history. Three incredible months that can actually come to nothing if we compare them with months yet to come: the company expects a last stretch of the year with a lot of activity, and this has been made known to its dealer networks and to all its workers.

As it normally happens at the end of each quarter, Tesla has offered provisional production and delivery figures. If we go back and do a little review, the company started the year 2022 with great force. From January to March, 310,048 vehicles were delivered, which was the best quarter in the company's history at that point. In the second quarter the figures were not so successful due to the prolonged stoppages at the Shanghai Gigafactory, which meant closing with some 254,695 units finally delivered to customers. However, in the third quarter the rate greatly improved once again, reaching the magic figure of 343,830 vehicles delivered.

Adding the series means that so far this year Tesla has given the keys to 908,573 customers, which more than clearly indicates that this year the company will exceed one million deliveries. Last year the 1 million dream was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, but for this 2022 there are – apparently - no potential issues anymore. The new plants in Austin and Germany have added a good handful of units produced, although most of the heavyweight production continues to be held by the Shanghai and Fremont Gigafactories, as so far their capacities have reached a frenetic manufacturing pace.

As regarding Tesla models themselves, it is clear that the most affordable gamut of the house is in fact pulling the sales: the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y have completed the third quarter with 325,158 deliveries, as compared to only 18,672 Tesla Model S and Model X requested by drivers. A huge difference that means that almost 95% of the new Teslas that are currently circulating around the world basically correspond to the more affordable models. And off course, the factories are giving priority to these units with the intention of breaking a new record for the last quarter.

Tesla in Q3 2022 with 42% YoY growth on track for a 50% full-year growth- let's see where the German Automakers end up pic.twitter.com/e5qb7buLcu— Alex (@alex_avoigt) October 2, 2022

So far the foundations are laid: every year, as it actually became tradition, Tesla accelerates the pace of production and customer deliveries in the last quarter of the year. If the plan works and everything goes well, it would mean that Elon Musk's company will close 2022 with at least 1.2 million – or maybe more - cars delivered, finally surpassing that long-awaited 1 million psychological line. From July to September, more models have been built than delivered, meaning customers can enjoy faster access to their units, which in turn will speed up deliveries.

All images courtesy of Tesla Inc.

Nico Caballero is the VP of Finance of Cogency Power, specializing in solar energy. He also holds a Diploma in Electric Cars from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and enjoys doing research about Tesla and EV batteries. He can be reached at @NicoTorqueNews on Twitter. Nico covers Tesla and electric vehicle latest happenings at Torque News.