Tesla drastically accelerates Model Y delivery timeline — What is happening?

Tesla has accelerated its Model Y delivery timeline and it’s not clear why. Has the automaker managed to accelerate production, or is demand down, or both?

After Tesla restarted production at Fremont factory earlier this month, we reported on Tesla updating its Model Y and Model 3 delivery timelines.

For Model 3, the automaker changed the delivery timeline for new orders from 4-8 weeks to 5-7 weeks.

Model Y didn’t have a timeline before the shutdown since Tesla just started delivering previously reserved vehicles, but it was set to 8-12 weeks for new orders after Tesla restarted production earlier this month.

Now just 2 weeks later, Tesla has drastically reduced the Model Y delivery timeline for new orders to just 4 to 8 weeks in the US:

This is a significant reduction in delivery delay for a brand new model for which Tesla had been accumulating reservations for over a year.

Electrek’s Take

So what’s happening?

We previously reported on Tesla using the factory shutdown to update its Model Y production line in order to accelerate the ramp-up.

I think this is certainly playing a role in accelerating timelines for new orders, but it’s definitely not normal for a new Tesla model to have new orders available within 4 to 8 weeks after only what adds up to barely a month of deliveries.

What I think is happening is that Tesla had its smoothest production ramp of any new vehicle to date on top of having a demand issue with the global pandemic.

I’ve heard from dozens of owners who decided to cancel or delay their Model Y orders due to the economic downturn, and some were also disappointed by how Tesla and Elon Musk handled the shutdown order.

I think demand problems have also led to Tesla’s price cuts last week for every vehicle except Model Y.

Of course, Tesla is not alone in currently having important issues selling cars. Virtually every automaker is seeing a massive downturn in demand.

There’s no doubt that Tesla still has an important backlog of orders for Model Y in other markets, but with Model Y deliveries only happening in the US right now, Tesla is limited in demand, and it is working through its backlog of people still willing to take delivery a lot quicker.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.