Tesla has reported its figures of 201,250 vehicles delivered in the second quarter of 2021. While this may have fallen short of investors’ expectations, it’s a record number, pushing Tesla shares up by 1.5% on Friday last week.
Tesla produced 206,421 vehicles in total during the quarter, including 204,081 Model 3 and Y mid-range automobiles. There were 2,340 Model S and X EVs made. Tesla achieved a new record in the second quarter, delivering 184,800 cars and producing 180,338 cars.
Tesla does not report on production in China vs the United States, nor does it break out deliveries by area or model. Model 3 and Y vehicles are now being produced at the company's Shanghai plant and its Fremont, California factory.
Parts shortages and price increases afflicted Tesla in the second quarter, as they did all automakers. Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, claimed in a tweet that the company had taken some design decisions in part to deal with increased costs, and that Tesla's price increases were due to industry-wide supply chain price pressure. In particular, raw materials.
During the second quarter, Tesla started shipping its higher-end Model S electric vehicles. Tesla kicked begun sales of the 2021 Model S Plaid, a tri-motor version of its flagship sedan advertised as the fastest production car ever manufactured, with a spectacular event at its test track in Fremont.
On June 11, Tesla’s Technoking said ″should be at several hundred cars per week soon,” but would not be producing thousands of Model S vehicles per week until next quarter.
Tesla also lost several executives during the second quarter, including former longstanding acting general counsel Al Prescott in April and both deputy general counsel Lynn Miller and former president of automotive and heavy transportation Jerome Guillen in June.
The China Recall
Tesla was also in the news for doing something it normally refuses to do in most of the globe, with the exception of China: recalling cars.
According to many reports, Tesla is recalling 285,000 Model 3 and Model Y cars in the United States due to drivers mistakenly activating cruise control. The question of whether activating the system differs from how it is done in any other 3 or Y anywhere else in the world was not generally discussed.
This is the first time that this issue is reported and quite strange to understand how it’s even possible to accidently engage cruise control in a Model 3. But somehow the Chinese officials feel this is a valid issue. As a result, the recall.
Tesla's attitude to this issue is strikingly different from how the firm has handled calls for safety recalls in the United States. Instead of the usual bullish, aggressive denial that occurs when US safety regulators get involved, a meek acceptance, an apology for "any inconvenience this may cause to our car owners," and a promise to "strictly follow national regulations and keep improving our safety protection" has been substituted.
Speaking of recalls…
The Porsche Taycan is the new EV sports car designed by Porsche. But it's had a few issues recently, the most serious of which is that it's being recalled due to the risk of abrupt power outage. This isn't a good situation.
Apparently, 9 Taycan drivers in the US reported stalling, with the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration defining the issue as "loss of motive power while in motion at any speed." Following the problem, 6 vehicles were unable to restart.
Paradoxically, the 12-volt battery used to power ancillaries is thought to be the issue, as its failure might shut down the entire electrical system. Porsche claims that a simple software update will resolve the issue. While one would think it could be a bit more complex than that, we will simply wait and see if a software fix is that simple.
