Tesla’s orders in the United States are surging as soaring gasoline prices prompt more people to switch to electric vehicles. However, that won’t have a major impact on its deliveries, as the automaker’s capacity remains constrained.
Crude oil is currently over $100 a barrel, with the average gasoline price at US gas stations at $4.25 a gallon, and even as high as $5 a gallon in some areas. This will affect almost every industry, so much so that many people will have to change their gas budgets.
Many people who can afford to buy a new car are now turning to electric vehicles. People are calculating the cost of buying and owning a car and realizing that electric cars are actually cheaper than gasoline cars.
Tesla is the largest electric vehicle brand in the United States, accounting for about 80 percent of the country’s electric vehicle market. Unsurprisingly, the company is starting to feel the benefits of increased orders from skyrocketing gasoline prices.
Tesla has seen a surge in orders in several U.S. regions this week, people familiar with the matter said. In parts of the region that are particularly affected by gasoline prices, Tesla’s orders this week were up 100% from last week, sources familiar with Tesla’s order rate said.
However, the surge in orders won’t affect Tesla’s performance in the short term, as the company has a backlog of orders and capacity constraints. In the U.S., Tesla won’t deliver new Model 3 orders until July 2022 and Model Y orders in September 2022.
It may help later this year when production and deliveries begin at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas, U.S., but the delivery timeline is currently expected to be extended.
Statistics from professional institutions show that Tesla occupies the top three positions in the electric vehicle registration data in January 2022, with Model Y, Model 3 and Model S all topping the list. In January, Model Y and Model 3 accounted for more than 60% of total U.S. electric vehicle registrations.
Other automakers are also expected to see increased demand for their electric vehicles, such as Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and Volkswagen’s ID.4, but these vehicles are also in limited supply and have similarly long wait times for deliveries.