Tesla make a record number of cars despite ‘exceptionally difficult’ conditions, says Elon Musk

Electric car maker Tesla produced a record 305,407 vehicles and delivered 310,048 of them to buyers in the first quarter of 2022. 

The quarter displays Tesla's accelerating production and delivery capacity, with numbers up from 184,800 and 180,338 in the same quarter last year.   

Most of Tesla's output was the more affordable Model 3 and upmarket SUV Model Y that arrived in 2020. The company this quarter produced 291,189 of these models and delivered 295,324 of them, according to Tesla press release. It also produced 14,218 Model S and Model X electric vehicles and delivered 14,724 of them. 

Tesla hit the milestone despite what Tesla chief Elon Musk described as an “exceptionally difficult” quarter because of supply chain interruptions and China's zero Covid-19 policy: Shanghai's 26 million population is in lockdown again due to rising Covid-19 cases in China's commercial capital. 

Tesla's Shanghai plant is used for Model 3 and Model Y production. In 2020, Musk said the Shanghai factory could produce 150,000 Model 3 cars per year compared to its Fremont, California factory, which then could produce 400,000 units per year. 

Per Reuters, Musk was seen last week dancing at the inauguration of the Berlin Gigafactory while he oversaw Tesla's first deliveries of German-made Tesla's to 30 clients. The Model Y vehicles were configured with the Performance option, which cost 63,990 euros ($70,500). The vehicles have a single-charge range of a 514 km (320 miles), according to Tesla.

Tesla said it had hired 3,500 workers at the plan but expected to hire 12,000 in total in Berlin. The company estimates it can produce 500,000 cars a year in Berlin — more than Volkswagen's estimated 450,000 electric vehicle annual global sales. Tesla will likely import batteries from China for the German-made Model Y, according to Reuters. Musk expects battery output capacity to be the main obstacle over the next year.