Thanks to some number-crunching from Zachary Shahan at CleanTechnica, we now have a much clearer estimate of the leaders in US EV sales for year-to-date 2018. As of June, the Tesla Model 3 seems to be leading the field with a total of 24,620 for the first six months of the year. The Model S follows with 13,960 and the Model X close on its heels with 13,240. The next nearest pure EV competitor is GM’s Chevy Bolt with 7,858 cars during the period.
Now, there’s a big difference between production, sales and delivery numbers. Everything that’s produced typically gets sold, but a sale is only counted as official if the vehicle has been delivered or the money has been paid in full. From that perspective, we still don’t know how many monthly deliveries Tesla has made because it keeps those cards close to its chest; it only releases quarterly delivery numbers.
That being said, earlier this month Tesla released its official production numbers for Q2 2018. They showed 28,578 units of Model 3 produced during the quarter, which is more than the combined production of Models S and X – 24,761 units.
The key figure here is that Tesla has achieved its goal of producing 5,000 Model 3s a week as at the end of June. Whether or not that’s a sustainable level of production remains to be seen, but that gives the Model 3 an annualized run rate (52 weeks) of 260,000. Assuming a 450,000+ reservation level, Tesla should be able to fulfill all current reservations in less than two years – possibly faster as production eventually ramps up even further.
More big news: On Monday, July 9, it was reported that Tesla will soon stop taking reservations, but has opened up its Model 3 “online configurator” to anyone who wants to order a car. The price of a pre-order is $3,500 and is non-refundable.
That means Tesla has opened up the floodgates to some immediate funding that will help keep Model 3 production on track without sacrifices having to be made on the Model S and X lines. More importantly, it will help lubricate movement on other projects like the Tesla Semi and a new crossover SUV. Meanwhile, it will help Tesla stay on top of the EV sales charts for the foreseeable future.
