New VIN Registrations Reveal That The RHD Tesla Model 3 Is Coming!
UK Tesla fans unite! New data just provided exclusively to CleanTechnica by a VIN tracker indicates that Tesla is laying the foundation for its right-hand-drive Model 3.
The latest batch of Model 3 vehicle identification numbers (VINs) registered with the NHTSA shows that 2 new right-hand-drive (RHD) VINs, indicated by the 5th digit being an F, were registered. This shows that Tesla is finally starting to put the pieces in place for the launch of the RHD Model 3.
Tesla’s global rollout of the Model 3 to new markets has really only started in recent months, when Tesla started shipping the car into the European and Chinese markets in January. The shipments created a new internet hobby for many as enthusiasts learned everything there is to know about tracking maritime shipments until the first few boats made landfall in Belgium and Tianjin, China.
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Unfortunately for drivers in the UK, they were left out in the cold, with their miles and inches and quid and unique right-hand-drive vehicles. This new information shows that Tesla continues to plod forward on its mission of catalyzing the transition to electric vehicles in markets around the world.
Australian customers are also champing at the bit to get into a Model 3, seeing no love from Tesla since the unveiling of the car back in March of 2016. The Model 3 is tentatively scheduled to arrive in Oz around the middle of the year, which adds credibility to these early RHD VIN registrations.
To date, the highest VIN for a Tesla Model 3 is 321292, revealing just how fast Tesla is churning them out now. The Bloomberg Tesla Model 3 tracker has the current weekly output pegged at 5,600 per week, which is a step change improvement from the ~4,600 they were churning out for the back half of 2018. That translates to a weekly production rate of just over 6,000 Model 3s per week, with the gap consisting of scheduled and unscheduled downtime, holidays, and the like.
In 2019, Tesla has set a goal of achieving a daily production rate of 10,000 for the Model 3, which could include very early production from its Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai. Tesla expects to produce the first Model 3s in Shanghai by the end of the year, with construction of the first phase of the building being complete in the summer.
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