Tesla Other-Model Deliveries Drop After Record Second Quarter
The electric-vehicle maker delivered 486,532 cars in the third quarter as Model 3/Y volume rose and energy storage held near 13.7 GWh.
Tesla (TSLA) delivered 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter of 2026, a sequential increase of about 1.3% from 480,126 in the second quarter, as Model 3/Y volume rose and other-model deliveries fell.
The electric-vehicle maker produced 464,391 vehicles, up about 2.8% from 451,758 in the prior quarter. Model 3/Y accounted for 478,237 of the deliveries, with 457,387 produced. Those figures were close to the second-quarter totals the company had already posted as a record for the period.
Other-model deliveries declined to 8,295 from 12,364, a sequential drop of about 33%. Other-model production fell to 7,004 from 8,822. Operating-lease accounting applied to 1% of total deliveries and 4% of other-model deliveries.
Energy storage deployments edged up to 13.7 GWh from 13.5 GWh. In the second-quarter update, Tesla said the Energy Storage business had returned to growth, posting its second-best quarterly deployment number and record deployments on a trailing twelve-month basis.
The company will post third-quarter financial results after market close on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, and hold a question-and-answer webcast that day at 4:30 p.m. Central Time. Net income and cash flow will be announced with the rest of the financial performance. Vehicle deliveries and storage deployments represent only two measures of financial performance and should not be relied on as an indicator of quarterly results, which depend on average selling price, cost of sales, foreign-exchange movements and other factors to be disclosed in the 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026.
The second-quarter update described a strong period for core vehicle, energy and services businesses as well as manufacturing, infrastructure and AI initiatives. GAAP operating income was $0.4 billion, GAAP net income $1.1 billion and non-GAAP net income $1.2 billion in that quarter. Tesla generated over $100 billion in revenue on a trailing twelve-month basis for the first time.
Cybercab began production at Gigafactory Texas, and Tesla Semi remained on track for production this year at the company’s new Nevada factory. Progress continued on battery pack capacity expansion, described as the main limiting factor to near-term vehicle production volume increase. Megafactory Texas was nearing completion, with start of production planned for the year. Site selection, preparation, construction and equipment procurement progressed for solar and semiconductor manufacturing.
FSD (Supervised) penetration continued to grow, with more customers opting for subscription at the time of vehicle purchase. Robotaxi rollout continued in the U.S. and was live in seven major metros. Construction at the Fremont Factory for Optimus began after the Model S and X lines were decommissioned, with anticipated production later in the year.
Tesla is in its largest and most exciting period of investment, and scaling will be non-linear as it focuses on long-term value creation. The third-quarter production, delivery and deployment figures stand as the operating snapshot ahead of the October 21 financial update, with Model 3/Y still the bulk of the fleet and other models a smaller share of both deliveries and production.