Tesla starts shipping Model Y truckloads out of the factory

Tesla is starting to ship Model Y electric SUVs by the truckload out of its factory in California ahead of the start of deliveries in a few weeks.

As we reported last week, Tesla started confirming Model Y deliveries to customers in the US.

The automaker has given some customers delivery windows between March 15 and 30 — indicating that deliveries will start during the second half of next month.

On Friday, we reported on Tesla being spotted stockpiling some brand-new Model Y SUVs in the parking lot of its factory ahead of the start of deliveries.

Now we are receiving reports that Tesla is shipping those Model Y vehicles out of the factory by the truckload.

Keerthi Pobbathi sent Electrek a few pictures of a car carrier full of Model Y electric SUVs that he spotted in Milpitas, California, a few miles south of the Tesla Fremont factory:

A dozen more Model Y vehicles were spotted today in Tesla’s parking lot at the factory, and more car carriers are being loaded with electric SUVs.

In March of last year, Tesla unveiled the Model Y, an all-electric crossover based on the Model 3, with up to 300 miles of range.

At the time, the automaker guided deliveries to start in the fall of 2020 for the higher-end versions of the vehicle.

Tesla has made progress faster than anticipated, and it surprised many when it confirmed during its earnings results last month that it already started the production ramp at the Fremont, California, factory:

Model Y production ramp started in January 2020, ahead of schedule.

The automaker confirmed that the first deliveries would happen in March — just a year after unveiling the electric SUV.

Now the first deliveries are expected on March 15, but it’s not clear how much volume Tesla is going to be able to deliver by the end of the quarter.

Some Model Y vehicles are also expected to be used as display and test drive vehicles in Tesla’s stores.

Electrek’s Take

It’s starting to look like Tesla is already going to have some decent volume for the start of deliveries.

We shared a first look at a Model Y production-intent vehicle this weekend, and people were fairly impressed by the fit and finish of the vehicle.

It’s possible that Tesla would be ready to already start ramping up Model Y production closer to the 1,000-unit-per-week goal that Elon set for mid-year.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some of those vehicles start to populate Tesla’s test-drive fleet. Even though Tesla already has a backlog of orders for Model Y, many people don’t want to buy without a test drive, so Tesla is going to want to quickly build that fleet.