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Two years after the US, deliveries of the Tesla Model Y electric SUV have finally begun in Australia – alongside the first mass shipment of Model 3 sedans in several months.
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The first 2022 Tesla Model Y electric SUVs have been delivered to customers in Australia – two years after the US – after a four-month stock shortage amid lockdowns in China.
The first customer Model Ys arrived in Australia at the end of July, and were delivered to Tesla buyers across the country from late last week – two months after orders opened in early June 2022.
It’s unclear exactly how many Model Y SUVs – as well as Model 3 sedans – are soon to be delivered in Australia, however the volume of photos and reports on Tesla social media forums suggests deliveries are in the hundreds, if not approaching the thousands.
The first Tesla Model Ys reaching customers are circa-$70,000 rear-wheel-drive base models, with the $100,000-plus drive-away Performance version slated to reach customers late this year or early next, if release timelines given in June hold true.
Included in these shipments are a number of Tesla Model 3 electric sedans – the first shipment of customer examples to Australia since June, and the first big batch since the first few months of 2022.
Figures published in monthly VFACTS new-car sales reports – collated by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) – have hit the brakes as a result, reporting 3097 cars as sold in March, but 52 in April, 12 in May, 172 in June, and four in July.
As reported previously, this is a result of COVID-19 lockdowns in China earlier in 2022, which brought Tesla’s Shanghai factory to a halt in March, followed by a crawl through much of April.
The Shanghai Tesla factory was recently upgraded to boost its production capacity – occurring from early July for the Model Y, and late July for the Model 3 – with up to 14,000 Model Ys and 7700 Model 3s now reportedly able to be built each week for global markets.
With Model Y and Model 3 deliveries ramping up, Tesla sales figures published by the FCAI are expected to post a significant increase for August, once data is made public early in September.
A new Tesla order placed today is estimated to lead to delivery between February and May next year, according to the company’s website – the same estimate listed since April for the Model 3, and mid-June for the Model Y.
That’s a departure from the nine months prior to June, when wait times for new Model 3 orders blew out from “one to three weeks” in October 2021, to eight to 12 weeks in November, five to seven months in February 2022, and six to nine months in March.
Prices of the Model 3 start from $65,500 plus on-road costs (and order/delivery fees) for an entry-level rear-wheel-drive model, or $72,300 plus on-road and order/delivery costs for a rear-drive Model Y.
Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines as a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.
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