The waiting list for Tesla’s new Model 3 is growing fast.
Tesla said Wednesday it is now averaging more than 1,800 net reservations each day for its cheaper electric car, following an event last week to hand over keys to the first 30 Model 3 vehicles.
“With no advertising, paid endorsements or guerilla [sic] marketing campaigns, Model 3 net reservations have still steadily climbed every month, and have even accelerated further in recent weeks,” the company said in its earnings release Wednesday.
Tesla did not provide an updated figure for its total waiting list. At the event last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the reservation number was over 500,000.
The strong demand is a mixed blessing for Tesla as it continues to grapple with scaling up production to make good on deliveries for its first mass market car.
Tesla said it remains “on track” to hit its production goals. Tesla expects to produce 1,500 Model 3 vehicles in the upcoming third quarter, and reach 5,000 vehicles produced per week by the end of this year.
“We wish we could do all of this faster and get everyone’s Model 3 to them right away,” the company wrote in its earnings report. “It’s important to understand that our production ramp will follow an S-Curve, meaning that it will begin slowly, grow exponentially, then start to tail off once we achieve full production.”
Even without the Model 3, Tesla’s car production is growing fast.
Tesla produced 25,708 vehicles in the second quarter, up 40% from the same period a year earlier. The company said it is actually seeing an increase in orders for its luxury Model S vehicles, despite the launch of a cheaper model.
Tesla posted $2.79 billion in sales for the quarter, more than doubling from a year earlier. Its loss was also smaller than Wall Street expected.
Tesla stock rose 3% in after hours trading Wednesday following the earnings report.
