Tesla delivered 83,500 vehicle in the third quarter, including 55,840 Model 3 sedans.
“With production stabilized, delivery and outbound vehicle logistics were our main challenges” during the third quarter, the company said in a statement. “We made many improvements to these processes throughout the quarter, and plan to make further improvements in [the fourth quarter] so that we can scale successfully.”
Production output was 50% more than the company’s prior all-time high.
The company said 8,048 Model 3 vehicles and 3,776 Model S and X vehicles were in transit to customers at the end of Q3, and will be delivered in early Q4. The overall target of 100,000 Model S and X deliveries in 2018 remains unchanged.
Tesla produced 80,142 total vehicles, including 26,903 Model S and X vehicles combined, and 53,239 Model 3 sedans. Tesla previously set a goal of producing between 50,000 and 55,000 Model 3 sedans during the quarter.
During Q3, Tesla transitioned Model 3 production from entirely rear wheel drive at the beginning of the quarter to almost entirely dual motor during the last few weeks of the quarter. “This added significant complexity, but we successfully executed this transition and ultimately produced more dual motor than rear wheel drive cars in Q3,” Tesla said in a release.
In the last week of the quarter, Tesla produced more than 5,300 Model 3 vehicles, almost all of which were dual motor, meaning that they achieved a production rate of more than 10,000 drive units per week.
“We want to thank the entire Tesla team for executing so well during this challenging ramp up in deliveries,” the company said in a statement. “We also want to thank all of our customers who volunteered to help us with deliveries, and our new customers who are showing their faith in Tesla by purchasing our products in such large numbers. It was beyond inspiring to see the contributions made by the whole Tesla community.”