October 18, 2019 |
Tesla Model 3 EV smashes Australian EV sales records
It is believed that in the month of September alone, Tesla delivered more Model 3 EVs in Australia than its entire sales tally of Model S and Model X electric vehicles for 2018, which stood at around 1200.
There is a suggestion that Model 3 sales for the month may have reached 1,500. But even at 1,200, that equates to around 5 % of the monthly sales of all new passenger vehicles in the country, which have been falling like a stone over the past year.
The burst of activity that saw even Tesla chair Robyn Denholm helping out with Model 3 deliveries in Sydney last week meant that more than 200 of the electric vehicles were delivered per day in the last few days of the month.
Social media has been full of posts from admiring customers quoting Tesla delivery staff about the pace of deliveries. Numbers of up to 70 a day in Brisbane, 400 in five days in Sydney, and similar numbers were quoted for Melbourne over the long weekend.
Tesla won’t confirm numbers for any individual country, but a number of between 1,200 and 1,500 for September would rank the Model 3 in the top five of new passenger cars sales in Australia for the month, and in the top 15 for overall vehicle sales.
Although the frenetic pace of the last two weeks will ease, there appears no doubt that by year end, the total Tesla EVs in Australia will be nearly double the estimated 4,000 Model S and X cars that came before the first Model 3 arrived just over a month ago.
Because Tesla does not release official data, gathering numbers is a combination of guesswork, counting boats and VINs (vehicle identification numbers), and picking up what you can from the delivery people.
As The Driven reported more than one week ago, an estimated 2,414 Model 3s arrived in Australia on the first three ships. We have no reason to change that number, although we don’t know the number of Model 3s that arrived on the next three ships.
It is true that most of these deliveries represent pent up demand, many from enthusiasts who put down a deposit more than three years ago. But the mere presence and visibility of these cars is likely to have a snowballing effect, as they have in other countries, as other consumers decide that they want one too.
The advantage Tesla has over its competitors is the ready supply of cars, thanks to the Gigafactory in the US and the new one due to be opened soon in China.
In Australia, overall EV sales had been rising before the arrival of the Model 3, thanks to new EVs from Hyundai, such as the Ioniq and Kona. The success of the Model 3 takes those numbers to a new level.
In addition there is the updated Leaf from Nissan and the I3 from BMW and other brands like VW and Mini are ready to roll out their first electric models.
The impact of EVs on the fossil fuel car market is already apparent. Sales of petrol and diesel cars have been plunging across the board in Australia for the last 18 months.
The industry blames “economic” factors, but ignores surveys and other anecdotal evidence that suggests many people are simply hanging on to their current vehicles for longer because they are waiting to buy an EV they want and can afford.
Fleet buyers are already taking note, aware of new surveys that show that over the lease life of the vehicle, electric is already competitive with petrol and diesel options.
The impact is already being felt in the second-hand market. As Bryce Gaton reports, in the UK the prices of second-hand petrol and diesel cars have fallen, while the price of second-hand EVs has risen. Many analysts have predicted that second hand petrol and diesel cars will lose most of their value in coming years, so what’s the point of buying a new one?
