Photo by Sean O’Kane / The Verge
Tesla delivered 310,048 vehicles in the first quarter of 2022, despite what Tesla CEO Elon Musk says was an “exceptionally difficult quarter,” citing global supply chain issues and a brief closure at Tesla’s Shanghai factory, as reported by CNBC.
In a press release, Tesla said the Model 3 and Y made up 295,324 of these deliveries, while 14,724 were for the Model S and X. Deliveries increased slightly from the previous quarter’s 308,600 deliveries and outpaced the 184,800 shipments Tesla made in the first quarter, representing a 68 percent year-over-year increase. On the production side of things, Tesla managed to build a total of 305,407 vehicles.
This was an *exceptionally* difficult quarter due to supply chain interruptions & China zero Covid policy.
Outstanding work by Tesla team & key suppliers saved the day.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2022
Last month, Tesla shuttered its Shanghai factory for two days amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, and closed the factory once again last week as Shanghai continues to grapple with a city-wide lockdown. The Shanghai plant is the company’s largest, producing both Model 3s and Model Ys.
Tesla recently opened its first European factory in Berlin, Germany, and is holding a “cyber rodeo” to celebrate the grand opening of its Austin, Texas Gigafactory on April 7th — both of which could help offset production issues caused by the COVID-related lockdowns in Shanghai.