Tesla Motors held its annual meeting on Tuesday, and management had plenty to talk about but few surprises. The Model X, the company’s energy storage systems and the departure of the chief financial officer were among the highlights.
Tesla Model X coming soon
One of the tidbits of information was the three- to four-month timeline for the first deliveries of the Model X. This is about what most analysts had expected, as it places the first Model X crossovers in the hands of buyers in the fourth quarter. It’s also in line with what management said most recently on the Model X, although the first deliveries have been pushed back more than once.
Perhaps the most spectacular features of the Model X is those falcon-winged doors, which make it possible to open the vehicle’s doors even in tight parking spots. At least 20,000 drivers have apparently thought those doors were a good idea, as they’ve put down deposits to order one.
According to Fortune‘s Kirsten Korosec, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said they want to make sure they’re nothing “gimmicky” about those falcon-winged doors or the fact that the Model X can seat seven people. Instead, he said they want to make sure that the vehicle offers significant improvements in sports utility vehicles.
Good news about Tesla’s Powerwall
Unsurprisingly, Tesla management also gave an update on its energy storage systems. Not long after they made the Powerwall and Powerpack systems available for purchased, Musk announced that they were sold out through the middle of next year. After receiving initial feedback to the energy storage systems, Tesla has almost doubled the power capacity of the Powerall system.
There’s been a lot of speculation about how big of a revenue stream energy storage will become for the EV manufacturer. Stifel analyst James Albertine said he was “comforted” to hear that Tesla expects nearly 80% of its storage business to be made up of utility customers. Depending on longer term demand for the units, Tesla may boost capacity plans for its gigafactory in order to keep up with demand.
He said this is good news because he thinks the dynamics of supply and demand will be “less complicated” when dealing with commercial customers rather than residential customers. After all, Tesla wouldn’t need to sell as many commercial units as it would residential units in order to make the business profitable.
Other bits of good news from Tesla’s meeting
Tesla management also stated that the Model S was North America’s best-selling luxury sedan during the first quarter. They have set an ambitious of 55,000 deliveries this year and expect to sustain a year over year growth rate of greater than 50% over the next several years. Albertine thinks the 5,500 first quarter sales number is notable because the automaker doesn’t yet have much exposure in Canada and hasn’t begun selling in Mexico yet.
Stifel has a Buy rating and $40 per share price target on Tesla. As of this writing, shares of Tesla Motors were up 0.23% at $251.25 per share.
