On Sunday, auto blog Electrek reported that there were more than 3,300 Model 3 vehicles sitting in Tesla's US inventory, according to an unnamed source familiar with the matter. The source added that, although Tesla has been working to sell every last vehicle before the end of December 31, when the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit for the company's customers expires, it has still built up an inventory.
Ars contacted Tesla to confirm this information, but we did not receive an immediate response.
Tesla sold its 200,000th electric vehicle in Q2 2018, leaving the company with two remaining quarters to sell vehicles that would receive the full tax credit. Starting January 1, all newly delivered Teslas will only qualify for a $3,750 Federal Tax Credit.
Early last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the company would cover the full tax credit for customers whose Teslas arrived after the December 31 deadline, if the customer was promised a pre-January 1 delivery date. CNBC reported that the company was pushing to deliver vehicles before the deadline to people who had ordered Teslas as late as December 20. Presumably, all those vehicles are in transit to their respective owners.
Tesla has also pushed to connect last-minute buyers with vehicles, releasing test drive vehicles and display vehicles at a reduced price. On Monday afternoon, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted, "US $7500 tax credit drops in half at midnight!" He added a link to a list of US Tesla stores that would remain open until then.
Some of the inventoried vehicles may be sold today, but sources speaking to Electrek indicated that it would likely not be possible for the car maker to draw down its entire inventory in one day.
The configurations of the Model 3s sitting in Tesla's inventory are unknown. Still, many customers may be waiting for the promised $35,000 Model 3, which was dropped from the company's website over the summer as Tesla focused on churning out higher-end Model 3s.
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Ars Technica
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