Tesla Model Y in Melbourne: Image: Riz Akhtar
Tesla is moving away from using only Port Kembla as its first point of arrival for its electric vehicles, as it gears up for a major influx of Model 3s and Model Ys in coming months.
A new video sighted by The Driven shows hundreds of Model Ys lined up at the Port of Melbourne on the weekend.
It’s the first solid confirmation that Tesla will move to a more decentralised delivery process. As reported by The Driven on Tuesday, the first Model Ys arrived in Australia in early August but had all been offloaded at Port Kembla.
There was no proof at the time of a rumour that some Model Ys (and no doubt Model 3s) would be shipped straight to the Port of Melbourne. Now it appears that one excited customer couldn’t wait to find out, and took it upon themselves to film the cars at dock before sharing it to a forum on Whirlpool.
“My rough estimation there are around 400-500 Teslas, mostly MY,” said the person who shot the video.
Unfortunately, the link to the video has now been removed from social media due to concerns about its legality, because it was shot by drone and may have breached flight restrictions governed by the Civial Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) over port waters.
However, not before it was seen by many others, sparking excitement that new Tesla customers in Victoria would soon receive “that text” with a delivery date.
The EV maker began delivering the first of its globally popular Model Y to local drivers in Sydney on Friday, after hundreds arrived at port south of Sydney.
In 2021, Tesla delivered 12,000 Model 3s to Australian drivers. All in all the EV maker accounts for around half of all EVs sold in Australia.
Though it has not quite pushed over the 5,000 mark to date in 2022 as shutdowns in China and supply chain issues put a hold on local deliveries, it is now expected to catch up quickly and exceed its 2021 deliveries as interest in electric vehicles takes a firmer hold.
And now it appears Tesla will be able to pick up the pace, by offloading cars in the Port of Melbourne as well as in Port Kembla.
This will double the pace of processing at its logistics partners, and negate the need for further costly and time-consuming trucks down the coast to Australia’s next largest capital city.
Keyword: Tesla decentralises deliveries, Model Ys spotted at Port of Melbourne