Tesla Has Delivered More Than 250,000 EVs, ~55% In The U.S.

Tesla recently closed the books on the third quarter of 2017, which turned out to be the best result in its history.

However, the result was considered as a miss of sorts, as those gains weren't aided in a significant way by the new Model 3; production of the inexpensive EV finished Q3 at just 260 units (as opposed to the ~1,630+ forecast by the CEO a couple months ago).

During the quarter, Tesla estimated it delivered 26,150 EVs; which although being a new record level, was just 4.5% better than a year ago.

If one notes the deliveries on the chart (above), it is easy to spot Q3 as the lowest year-over-year gain for the company since the Model S' introduction in 2012.

As noted, the main problem was the reliance on the Tesla Model 3 to take growth forward (as the Model S and X are clearly nearing their peak sales potential).  The company did note some "production bottlenecks" during the quarter, slowing down results.

"Model 3 production was less than anticipated due to production bottlenecks. Although the vast majority of manufacturing subsystems at both our California car plant and our Nevada Gigafactory are able to operate at high rate, a handful have taken longer to activate than expected."

Production and sales results from now on should grow significantly for subsequent quarters, as the scale of the Model 3 is expected to be at least few times higher than S and X combined - up to a run-rate of 5,000 per week by year's end.

Of the production issues that plagued the model recently, Tesla says they have it under control...more or less.

"It is important to emphasize that there are no fundamental issues with the Model 3 production or supply chain. We understand what needs to be fixed and we are confident of addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near-term."

With 26,150 Model S, Model X and Model 3 (220 total) sales in Q3, Tesla also crossed the all-time mark of 250,000 total deliveries during the quarter - nearly 257,000 without counting the 2,500 Roadsters.

With 100,000 deliveries forecast by the company for 2017, the milestone of 300,000 should be achieved in Q1'2018.

According to our reports, the bulk of Tesla sales have been in the US (both since 2012 and in Q3'2017) - at more than 55% of the total, or ~144,664 deliveries (excluding Roadsters).

This is an important number for US consumers, as the $7,500 federal credit begins to sunset 3-6 months after EV #200,000 is delivered in the US; which at this point looks like Q1 of 2017 - meaning that the $7,500 credit will drop to $3,750 on July 1st, 2018 (through the end of the year).

And here is the cumulative results of combined Tesla Model S/X/3 sales worldwide:

• North America: >153,500 (~8,500 Canada)
• outside North America: >104,000
• Total: ≈257,000