The roughly 400 Tesla EVs that were sitting in the parking lot of a shuttered mall outside Saint Louis, Missouri might have been just the tip of the inventory iceberg, as more and more cars are being spotted by savvy internet users.
Thousands more, as it turns out. Besides the initial batch that the internet found sitting at the former Chesterfield Mall, several hundred Tesla-branded EVs are waiting to be delivered at the Quaker Bridge Mall in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, including some Cybertrucks, as seen in the video and Reddit post embedded below.
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Tesla’s demand problem
Faced with an aging product lineup, cooling EV demand, intense competition from other automakers and the CEO’s own antics, Tesla’s sales have fallen off dramatically in recent months—even in strongholds like California.
In Richmond, Virginia, an abandoned apartment complex parking lot is being used to store several more hundred yet-to-be-delivered Tesla EVs, as the Reddit post below claims.
In Germany, hundreds of car haulers travel daily from the American automaker’s Gigafactory Berlin to a former East German military airfield in Neuhardenberg to drop off newly built cars. According to the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung, the storage site is roughly 37 miles from the manufacturing plant in Grunheide and can accommodate up to 5,000 vehicles.
Satellite imagery posted on Google Maps reveals the scale of the inventory situation in Germany, as you can see below. A local resident of the Gusow-Platkov municipality said that they counted “40 car transporters per hour in the village, [so] 300 to 400 trips a day,” according to the Berliner Zeitung.
Tesla uses the former airfield to sort the newly built vehicles and plan their delivery.
This is the story with most, if not all the locations referenced in this story. The parking lots are used by nearby Tesla service centers to store vehicles that would otherwise not have room on their own lots. According to a report from local news station FOX 2 St. Louis, which investigated the Chesterfield Mall situation, there’s a Tesla service center about 2.5 miles away that can only store about 135 cars at any given time, including customer cars.
In the last quarter, Tesla had an excess of 46,561 vehicles that were sitting unsold in inventory. That’s about 10.7% of its total production. By contrast, the company had an excess of approximately 2% for 2023 in its entirety, so it’s clear that these yet-to-be-sold cars have to be stored somewhere. That somewhere are parking lots in all kinds of unassuming places, it seems.
But the issue isn’t just with Tesla. In February, the latest month for which we have access to relevant data, the available inventory of EVs in the U.S., measured in days’ supply, was 136 days, according to Cox Automotive. This figure excludes Tesla and Rivian, which sell their cars directly to consumers. Compare it to the industry average of 78 days’ supply and the picture isn’t exactly rosy.
Nissan had the highest EV inventory in February, with almost 160 days’ supply, followed by BMW and Kia. The lowest was GMC, with 54.6 days’ supply of new EVs at dealers.
Thousands More Teslas Are Piling Up In Parking Lots
In recent months, there has been a notable increase in the number of Tesla vehicles gathering in parking lots across the country. As the electric car manufacturer continues to ramp up production, the resulting overflow of vehicles has led to these parking lots becoming overflow sites for excess inventory.
Tesla, known for its cutting-edge technology and environmentally-friendly electric vehicles, has seen a surge in demand for its products in recent years. The company’s Model 3, in particular, has become a popular choice among consumers looking to make the switch to electric. This surge in demand, combined with production challenges, has led to an influx of Teslas waiting to be delivered to customers.
One such parking lot in California has become a temporary home for hundreds of Tesla vehicles, all waiting to be processed and delivered to their new owners. The scene is reminiscent of a car dealership lot during peak sales season, with row upon row of shiny new Teslas gleaming in the sunshine.
While the sight of so many Teslas may be impressive, it also raises questions about Tesla’s ability to keep up with demand. Some industry analysts have expressed concerns about the company’s production capabilities and logistical challenges that have led to the accumulation of inventory.
Tesla, for its part, has acknowledged the issue and has vowed to address it. In a recent statement, the company outlined plans to increase production and delivery efficiency in order to clear out the backlog of vehicles. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has also stated that the company is working to streamline its production processes and improve delivery timelines.
Despite the challenges, Tesla remains a key player in the electric vehicle market, and the continued demand for its products is a testament to its success. As the company works to overcome its production hurdles, customers can look forward to receiving their Tesla vehicles in a timely manner.
In conclusion, the sight of thousands of Teslas piling up in parking lots may be cause for concern, but it also serves as a reminder of the growing popularity of electric vehicles. With Tesla’s commitment to innovation and sustainability, it is likely that the company will overcome these challenges and continue to lead the way in the electric vehicle industry.