Tesla quietly secures new facility, but its purpose remains unclear

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Tesla has acquired a new warehouse location in Marysville, Washington, but has yet to announce what the new facility will be used for.

Since its founding, Tesla has been on a mad dash to ramp production. The automaker started with its Fremont, California facility but now assembles vehicles across three countries, with countless others in the works. Now, Tesla has acquired a new property in the United States, further expanding its footprint in its home market.

The new Tesla facility was initially reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal, which identified the freshly constructed warehouse as Tesla’s after an announcement from the construction company and property owner. According to its reporting, the 245,000-square-foot facility will be used for part assembly, though Tesla has yet to verify these claims. The newly leased facility is the first of many to be part of a massive new 5.1 million square foot manufacturing center home to numerous manufacturers on the West Coast of Washington State.

The idea of a small component supplying facility becoming part of Tesla’s production fleet in the United States certainly fits its MO, especially as it looks to expand battery manufacturing in North America to maintain its EV incentives.

Other hypotheses have already emerged regarding what the new facility could be used for, but they range in probability and practicality. Some have estimated the new warehouse could be used as a component or completed vehicle storage area. However, being so far from the nearest Tesla production facility, that seems impractical. Others have wondered if the new facility could work in conjunction with an upcoming Canadian gigafactory, but considering Tesla’s focus on Quebec and Ontario on the other side of the continent, that seems equally unlikely.

This new warehouse location enters an increasingly extensive portfolio of Tesla properties in the United States that have yet to be retrofitted for their intended purpose. Other locations include a roughly 600,000-square-foot facility just outside St. Louis and a 400,000-square-foot facility in Houston.

What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!

Tesla quietly secures new facility, but its purpose remains unclear

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Tesla crushes yet another Supercharger milestone

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Tesla has reached a global Supercharger placement milestone after expanding in key markets, making it easier than ever to charge your Tesla.

For those who have never driven an electric vehicle, one of the primary concerns of EV ownership is access to charging no matter where they would like to go. Now, Tesla has announced that it is one step closer to thoroughly addressing this concern, if it hasn’t already, as it announced on Twitter that it now operates over 5,000 Supercharger sites globally, which is a substantial growth from the last report, just one month ago.

Tesla’s announcement was made from the Tesla Charging Twitter account, which compared the Supercharger Network’s infancy to now.

According to Tesla’s earnings call from just last month, the automaker was operating 4,947 Supercharger sites globally at the end of Q1, indicating that the company has placed at least 53 new stalls since that report was put together. The Q1 earnings deck notes that an average of 9 stalls are installed per site, more than double the industry average. Tesla Supercharger placements grew 33% year-over-year during Q1.

One key area where Tesla has grown substantially over the first half of the year is Japan, where the American automaker is still working to establish a strong demand for its products. Likely influenced by Japanese automakers, Japanese consumers have not gravitated toward EVs as fast as their Western counterparts, even lagging behind the United States, which is far from a leader regarding EV adoption. Luckily, with a continued dedication to charging expansion, this market attitude may finally change.

Tesla Japan announced this morning that the 300th Supercharger had been placed in the country.

Looking to the future, the Supercharger Network has a lot to look forward to. Tesla has announced that it remains dedicated to improving the performance of its route planning system, which will, in turn, improve the load capacity of the world’s largest EV charging network. Furthermore, Tesla is far from done placing chargers, even in its home market of the United States, where it continues to grow its market presence overall.

Beyond these software and expansion improvements, the company is expanding access to other EVs in many notable markets, including the United States (thanks to the Magic Dock) and Europe. Moreover, Tesla is now introducing its fourth-generation Supercharger, which is set to make charging faster and more efficient than ever before.

What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!

Tesla crushes yet another Supercharger milestone

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Tesla extends Model S and Model X order halt to more Asia-Pacific areas

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A few days ago, reports emerged stating that Tesla had halted orders for its two flagship vehicles, the Model S sedan and Model X SUV, in Australia. A look at Tesla’s official website now shows that the halt in orders has been extended to a number of other countries. 

As per Tesla’s official website, the order halt has been extended to countries such as New Zealand, Thailand, and Singapore. As of this weekend, both the Model S sedan and Model X SUV’s official webpages in these countries only have the option to “Get Updates” on the vehicles. 

Also, similar to Australia, the order pages for the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV are still active in Thailand, Singapore, and New Zealand. As noted in a Reuters report, it is unclear why Tesla opted to stop orders of the Model S and Model X in specific Asia-Pacific countries, and the company has not provided a notable explanation for the matter. 

The Tesla Model S and Model X are Tesla’s two flagship vehicles, though they have been in the market for some time now. Today, however, the Model S and Model X’s sales are vastly eclipsed by the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV. 

This was particularly evident in the company’s Q1 2023 vehicle delivery and production report, which indicated that Tesla was able to sell a total of 422,875 from January to March. This was a new record for the company, though this number was comprised of 412,180 Model 3 and Model Y. Deliveries of the Model S and Model X dropped by 38%. 

That being said, Tesla has been aggressively adjusting the prices of its vehicle lineup this year, and during the Q1 2023 earnings call, CEO Elon Musk explained that Tesla could technically sell its cars for little profit today since the vehicles could earn more later, at least when the company achieves autonomy. 

“Tesla is in a uniquely strong strategic position. Because we’re the only ones making cars that, technically, we could sell for zero profit for now and then yield actually tremendous economics in the future through autonomy, no one else can do that. I’m not sure how many people will appreciate the profundity of what I’ve just said, but it is extremely significant,” Musk said.

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Tesla extends Model S and Model X order halt to more Asia-Pacific areas

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