Tesla pushes back Model 3 delivery timelines

The Model 3 is Tesla’s first mass-market vehicle.Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

• Tesla has pushed back delivery timelines for new orders of the performance and long-range, rear-wheel-drive versions of the Model 3 sedan, Electrek first reported. 
• An archived version of Tesla‘s website from Monday said new orders for the performance and long-range, rear-wheel-drive Model 3 would take one-to-three months.
• As of Wednesday afternoon, the website said delivery for each would take two-to-four months.

Tesla has pushed back delivery timelines for new orders of the performance and long-range, rear-wheel-drive versions of the Model 3 sedan, Electrek first reported. 

An archived version of Tesla’s website from Monday said new orders for the performance and long-range, rear-wheel-drive Model 3 would take one-to-three months. As of Wednesday afternoon, the website said delivery for each would take two-to-four months. The delivery timeline for the long-range, dual-motor version has remained at two-to-four months. 

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, Tesla started allowing all customers to configure and order the performance and long-range versions of the Model 3. Previously, only those who had made a reservation were able to order the vehicle. Tesla began taking reservations for the Model 3 in March 2016.

The Model 3 is Tesla’s first mass-market vehicle, designed to broaden the company’s customer base beyond the luxury segment and increase the rate of electric vehicle adoption. But Tesla struggled to ramp up production after it was launched in July 2017 because of excessive automation at its factories, and the company has not yet started making the vehicle’s $35,000 base model. (Tesla’s website says delivery for the base model will take six to nine months.)

The company twice missed its self-imposed deadline to produce 5,000 Model 3s in a week, but hit that rate at the end of June. On July 2, the company said it had made 5,031 Model 3s during the final week of June and 28,578 during the second quarter, more than it had made in the prior three quarters combined.

As Tesla has increased its rate of vehicle production, Twitter users have described delivery problems resulting from contract issues.

Tesla’s website on Monday.Wayback Machine

On Monday, CEO Elon Musk said in the past year the company has increased vehicle deliveries in the US from around 1,000 per week to around 6,000 per week, which he suggested has been difficult.

“It’s like hitting a square wave,” he said.

Tesla’s website on Wednesday afternoon.Tesla

The vehicle has put a strain on Tesla’s finances, as the company has posted significant losses in the quarters since it was launched. But Musk has said the company will become profitable in the second half of this year. During Tesla’s first-quarter earnings call in May, Musk said the Model 3 would earn around a 20% profit margin by the end of this year and a 25% margin in 2019.

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