Tesla wait times could blow out to 12 months with orders made in December pushed back to “the second half of 2022”

Tesla wait times could blow out to 12 months, with vehicle production for Australia engulfed by Chinese covid chaos, and the brand now warning customers new vehicles won’t be arriving in our market until “the second half of 2022”.

Tesla – by far Australia’s best-selling EV brand – appears to have somewhat fallen victim to its success in our market, with a perfect storm of a popular Model 3, a surge in EV take-up and the introduction of electric vehicle subsidies in most states and territories combining with production stoppages in China to create ever-growing customer queues.

The brand is assuring customers it will deliver new models based on when they were ordered, and with customers who orders Model 3s as far back as December still waiting, it means new orders likely won’t arrive in Australia before 2023.

The brand is also yet to confirm exactly when in 2022 the deliveries will begin, meaning Tesla wait times could blow out to 12 months for those who ordered late last year.

The news comes in the way of emails sent from Tesla to its Australian customers. EV Central would attempt to clarify timings with Tesla directly, but the company does not frequently reply to media requests, nationally or internationally.

“Due to the ongoing situation in Shanghai our factory is currently operating at a reduced capacity impacting vehicle production for our market,” a form email sent to customers reads. 

“I can see that you placed your order on (customer-specific date), so I understand that you were expecting delivery soon, however we want to assure you that our team are doing everything possible too resume normal operations.

Another email then reads: “We anticipate proaction to return to full scale soon without market to receive vehicles in the second half of 2022.”