Originally published on CleanTechnica.
As people all across the world ramp up their holiday shopping in preparation for the big day next week (yeah, Christmas is next week, time is running out!), Tesla appears to be celebrating as well, by wrapping up Model Xs in delivery vehicles and preparing to get them out to the eager folks on the waitlist.
Zach broke the story earlier today that Model X Signature Series deliveries were starting, and just a few hours after the article went live, a source inside Tesla confirmed to me that this is indeed the case.
To really kick up the excitement, my source was able to confirm some of the details of production volumes, sharing that “every other car off the line is the X.” Based on an expected total production capacity of 2,000 vehicles per week by 2016 (stated on the 2nd quarter Tesla conference call), that could mean 1,000 Xs a week. More realistically, production is still ramping up (which slows things down), and Elon expected an average of 1,600–1,800 vehicles a week in 2016 as a whole due to the various limitations that can come up and keep the company from hitting its max production capacity.
Even 1,600 total vehicles a week, though, would mean ~800 Model Xs a week, and that would match well with Tesla’s goal (stated on the 3rd quarter conference call) of producing hundreds of Xs a week by the end of the year.
This is fantastic news, as it indicates that regardless of what is actually being delivered to customers, the X is rolling off the lines at the same rate as the full-production Model S. Not only is this exciting news for those eager folks on the waitlist, but it bodes well for the year to come. The Tesla Model X is a revolutionary SUV and, based on the current waiting list, demand is backed up for at least the first year, if not longer. With production ramped up to full speed, the doubters can be silenced, the waiters can stop waiting and start driving… and the rest of us will have yet another amazing piece of clean energy–powered future tech on the roads to drool over.
800 a week is still just about a full year to clear the deposited reservations.