You may have to wait even longer for your Tesla.
Demand for electric vehicles is soaring across the globe and, while that’s great news for the world’s automakers, it comes with its own set of challenges. In Europe, for example, Volkswagen has a backlog of 300,000 orders for EVs, and the company is essentially sold out for the rest of 2022. Mercedes-Benz has a similar issue with its EQ range.
But even the biggest player in the EV segment is affected by the spate of difficulties facing the industry. At the Financial Times’ Future of the Car Summit, Elon Musk said Tesla is dealing with supply chain issues that may threaten its ability to manufacture cars and meet customer demand.
The world’s richest individual spoke candidly, noting that he is positive the company will be able to shift all the units it produces but expressed concern over the long wait times customers are currently encountering. “Currently, the lead time for ordering a Tesla is ridiculously long…our problem is not demand, it is production.”
This has led Musk to mull over the possibility of placing a hold on future Tesla orders. “Demand is now exceeding production to a ridiculous degree. We are actually probably going to limit or just stop taking orders for anything beyond a certain period of time because some of the timing is more than a year away,” he said.
Perusing Tesla’s website, you’ll note that a brand new Model S, if ordered today, could take as long as eight months to arrive. The more expensive Model S Plaid has a slightly shorter wait time, at just three months. Hopefully, the company’s new Gigafactory in Berlin (and Texas) will help assuage the production woes. The German facility is only expected to start manufacturing vehicles later this year, though.
This will undoubtedly put a dent in Tesla’s future goals. The brand has previously said it hopes to dominate EV production in the near future, hoping to build 20 million vehicles by 2030. By then, we’re expecting the supply chain issues to be a thing of the past (along with the chip crisis) but a whole new set of problems could arise by then.
As legacy automakers get their footing in the EV sphere, companies such as Ford and General Motors will pose a real threat to Tesla which, until now, has dominated the sector. We’re not too sure what this means for future products, but we’re guessing the Cybertruck and Roadster will be put on the back-burner in order for Tesla to honor its current backlog. There is evidence to suggest the latter may arrive next year, though.
