After months in which news about Tesla has been dominated by its gigafactory and residential battery ventures, focus has returned to the Silicon Valley-based company’s bread and butter – its electric vehicles – after second-quarter sales of its Model S jumped 52 per cent, year-on-year.
The company said on Thursday it had sold a record 11,507 Model S sedans globally for the three months ending June 30 – a larger amount than the 10,000-11,000 forecast by the company in its first quarter earnings release.
The result – which gave Tesla’s shares price a 2 per cent boost in morning trading in the US, to $274.75 – confirms that the company is appealing to a different EV buyer than its competitors, who are mostly experiencing falling sales, against continue low petrol prices, says the Wall Street Journal.
While pricey – the average Tesla sells for around $100,000 based on the company’s financial reports – the company’s success lies in its offer of a comparatively long-range car – up to 270 miles on a charge – with enough room to carry seven passengers, in luxury.
The Model S also boasts an acceleration of 0-to 100km/h, a 17-inch touch screen display that allows web surfing, and the addition of new features to the car through software updates.
The record figures will also give Tesla important momentum ahead of the debut of its Model X sports-utility, tipped for September this year.
