Tesla is well on its way to having a record sales quarter, and is currently delivering a thousand cars per day on average this month, Electrek reported on Friday, despite many missed deadlines and sales figures for previous quarters.
The push comes US incentives for buying electric vehicles are set to drop again at the end of June. In order to break its record Tesla would need to ship 33,000 Teslas during the month of June in it's North American market.
Tesla is likely to reach that Target as it already has 7,000 cars on order to be delivered in the next 7 days-and Electrek expects there to be last minute orders as buyers of the EVs rush to get in under the wire before the $3,750 federal tax credit for the vehicles drops to just $1875. It's not just the sales order that needs to be placed by the end of the quarter to qualify for the current credit—delivery must be taken by the end of the month. The credits, which are likely responsible for a boost in last minute sales leading up to the credit deadline, are set to phase out completely by the end of the year.
Buyers may have more confidence in buying a Tesla after it fared better than its peers when it comes to holding its value over time. While EVs are depreciating much faster than the average for all cars, one notable exception—Tesla--hold values better than their gas-powered rivals, according to automotive research firm and car search engine iSeeCars.com.
While the electric vehicle credits are set to halve starting in July, lawmakers have proposed legislation to expand the credit called the Driving America Forward Act, which would grant each automaker $7,000 for another 400,000 autos sold. It also may hurt current sales if potential buyers gamble and hold out for a bigger credit.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
