Tesla is preparing to build an important batch of Model 3 vehicles with dual motors

Tesla has opened up orders for a wider number of Model 3 reservation holders this week and it looks like the company is shifting to focus on production of the new dual motor and performance version.

We’ve now learned that Tesla is registering an important batch of Model 3 dual motor VINs as it prepares to start volume production.

Earlier this week, Tesla made the starting price of both the dual motor and dual motor performance versions of the Model 3 cheaper.

Along with the change, it appears to have invited virtually all North American Model 3 reservation holders to place their order.

This is going to give Tesla a much better idea of the most popular configurations of the vehicle aside from the cheaper standard battery pack, which is not expected to enter production for another 6 months or so.

For now, Tesla is focusing on higher-margin versions of the vehicle as it aims to become profitable during the second half of the year.

That means that the dual motor and performance versions are getting priority.

We previously reported on Tesla building a few dozens dual motor model 3 vehicles over the last few months, presumably production validation units, but the automaker now seems to be about to build its first major batch of Model 3 vehicles with dual motor.

Today, Tesla registered over 2,000 Model 3 VINs with NHTSA and most of them are dual motor:

#Tesla registered 2,237 new #Model3 VINs. ~99% estimated to be dual motor. Highest VIN is 56240. https://t.co/PyS1QZQUuZ

— Model 3 VINs (@Model3VINs) June 28, 2018

It brings the highest number VIN to 56,240, but it doesn’t mean that Tesla has that many Model 3 vehicles produced.

The company appears to have a significant buffer of Model 3 VINs as it has still been assigning VINs in the 30,000 range to new orders.

Therefore, we can’t really look at the rate of new VIN registrations to predict weekly output anymore, but this particular batch is still interesting because it is the first large one with dual motor powertrains.

As we previously reported, Tesla is shifting priority for its delivery timelines to the performance version with a 2 to 4-month delivery window after confirming the order.

The Long Range battery pack with rear-wheel drive motor, which has so far been the only vehicle in production, is now getting a 3 to 5-month delivery window, like the dual motor version without performance package.