Tesla delivered 14,370 vehicles in the second quarter, missing its forecast of 17,000 units. The EV firm attributed the miss to an “extreme production ramp” that saw half the production of the quarter in the final four weeks.
Tesla’s deliveries come up short again
According to a statement on Sunday, the electric car giant is now anticipating to deliver about 50,000 cars in the second half of the year, suggesting 79,180 Model X SUVs and Model S sedans for the full year. This will be a little less than its previous range of 80,000 to 90,000.
The U.S.-based electric car maker has had trouble in getting its cars to consumers fast enough to meet its targets even after increasing its production. The company says 5,150 cars are still on their way to clients who ordered them. The automaker said these EVs will be delivered in the first part of the third quarter.
In the second quarter, the automaker delivered 4,625 Model X vehicles and 9,745 Model S vehicles. Tesla’s Model 3, which is the less expensive electric car (starting at $35,000), is scheduled for deliveries to begin in late 2017. This is the second time in a row that the deliveries have come up short. The EV firm blamed the first shortfall of this year to what it called “hubris,” i.e., adding too much tech which led to part shortages for the Model X.
Tesla is hiking production at its Fremont, California, factory with an aim of making 500,000 cars a year by 2018. It is quite an ambitious timeline, and a lot depends on Tesla’s battery factory east of Reno, Nevada.
A rough phase for Tesla
On Thursday, U.S. regulators started a preliminary investigation into a fatal May crash involving a Model S sedan that had Tesla’s “Autopilot” feature engaged. The crash was the first known fatality in more than 130 million miles of Autopilot driving, said the company in a blog post. The EV maker also said that the feature, which is disabled by default in EVs, requires explicit acknowledgment by drivers who enable it. There are at least 70,000 Tesla cars worldwide that have the Autopilot feature.
This fatal crash has brought more attention to the ongoing debate over what kind of guidelines the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) should set in respect to self-driving cars and semi-autonomous cars on U.S. roads.
In addition, the EV firm is facing criticism from all sides after its $2.86 billion all-stock offer to acquire SolarCity last month. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is also chairman and the largest shareholder of SolarCity.
