Since January, Tesla Motors' new Model 3 electric vehicle (EV) has become the best-selling electric car in the U.S.
This week the company released its production numbers for the first quarter of 2018, delivering 8,180 Model 3 EVs in the first three months of the year. This compares to 6,468 deliveries for Toyota Motor Corporation’s Prius Prime plug-in hybrid and 4,375 for GM’s Chevy Bolt, Bloomberg reports.
The Model 3 has a driving range of about 220 miles and is the cheapest in Tesla’s portfolio, starting at $35,000 before incentives. The Model 3 is the smaller version of Tesla’s Model S EV, the company’s flagship sedan.
Tesla plans to ramp up its production of the Model 3 throughout 2018, reaching 5,000 units per week by the second quarter to ultimately produce more than 10,000 units per week by year-end. Given that Tesla has averaged less than 3,000 units per month in the first three months of the year, the company will need to improve its manufacturing process in order to meet these goals handed out by CEO Elon Musk in 2017.
Bloomberg says it has been tracking the Model 3 production using vehicle identification numbers (VINs) with its final estimate just 5 percent less than Tesla’s reported numbers. Bloomberg believes this means that Tesla may be exaggerating its production capabilities to reach its goal by the end of the year.
That said, Tesla reported earlier this week it was able to push out 2,020 cars during the final seven days of March and that it will produce 2,000 units in the coming week as well.
