You think we’ve got it bad for poor electric car deliveries during this year…
Spare a thought for the Australians!
Electric vehicle deliveries in Australia all but ground to a halt in July, with a little more than 600 EVs making their way into customer hands during the month.
Delays are like what we’ve been experiencing as a myriad of global forces affected production, and whittled supply down to a minimum.
One amazing stat that jumped out. Tesla delivered just four EVs in July (yes, just four). Which is diabolical.
It’s not been plain sailing for the UK, although not as bad as in Australia.
We’ve been taking to lots of dealerships and vehicle leasing companies and picked up the latest delivery information (up to end of July) for some (not all) of the leading electric car brands.
AUDI:
E-Tron and E-Tron GT seem to be available within 12-16 weeks of order.
BMW:
BMW iX 40 M Sport and iX3 M Sport pro seem to be readily available with stock coming through.
The iX50 M Sport has been extremely popular because of the extended range, with a factory order expected to be around 9-12 month for delivery, unless a cancellation becomes available.
BMW i4 is currently a 12-month delivery time.
MINI:
Delivery time is likely to be January-March 2023. The only real opportunity to secure a MINI sooner is if you manage to source a cancelled order.
TESLA:
Tesla has long been the most reliable brand for delivery timescales but their manufacturing move from China to Germany has seen delays hit.
Delivery timescales for the Model 3 and Model Y seem to range from November 2022 to March 2023 but once an order is placed clients may be brought forward or pushed back.
Most customers have been delayed by 2-3 months but for the lucky ones, their delivery has been brought forward by 1-2 months.
In summary, Tesla is now experiencing many of the issues other brands have been facing, and there is now uncertainty around arrival time.
JAGUAR:
The E-PACE is available in 6-9 month for D200 and p300e hybrid. No other engines are available.
The I-PACE has a circa a 6-month delivery time for all models.
VOLKSWAGON:
Positively, factories in Germany have now moved back to a three-split shift pattern, although not yet at 100 % production this is a good increase from one shift per day.
This now has shown movement in the supply chain, we more cars are now being delivered.
The all-electric ID.3 is seeing around a 12-month delivery time, and ID.4’s are seeing a 6-12 month wait for new orders.
MERCEDES-BENZ:
There are some Mercedes-Benz vehicles around, which is positive. However, Mercedes make stock available on a central system once built, so these are vehicles built to the specification they are and it’s very much a take it or leave it.
Certain trim lines of EQC, EQB, EQA and EQS are the key focus for Mercedes, and some delivery times for these models will be this year.
PORSCHE:
The delivery time for most models is currently 12-24 months.
Models like the Macan are closer to the 12-month timescale.
Taycan and Cayenne Platinum Edition have a slightly quicker delivery of 9-12 month.
SKODA, SEAT and CUPRA:
There are limited amounts of stock becoming available.
The most reliable models with a delivery time of less than 3 months are the SEAT Arona, Skoda Karoq and Cupra Formentor V1.
Most other models (hybrid and electric) are factory orders around a 6–9-month delivery time.
NISSAN, HYUNDAI, and KIA:
Whilst Nissan, Hyundai, and Kia were very reliable, we have recently seen delays and delivery times being pushed out.
They are all low on levels of available stock, but most factory orders are delivered within 6-month, depending on which model and specification you’re looking at.
POLESTAR:
Electric car brand Polestar expects to at least double its UK sales volume by the end of 2022 as the brand continues to win over EV buyers.
In the UK Polestar registrations totalled 2,828 units in the first half of 2022, a 72% increase on the same period in 2021.
Asked if that volume will double by the end of 2022, Goodman said, “that would be a fair assumption” and he “would be very hopeful that that is the case”.
But these volumes have had an adverse effect on delivery timescales, with a Polestar 2 likely to take 6-month.
Which will be the same for their new SUV (Polestar 3), set to go on sale in October 2022, with deliveries likely to start in quarter two 2023.
CONCLUSION:
Suppose what we’re trying to say is that if you want to get your hands on an electric car quickly, there are some options available to you.
But if it’s something a bit different that you want, it’s likely to be a factory order which will take a little longer.
Although, electric car deliveries are easing as we move into the second half of the year, with many manufacturers providing lead times of under 6-month on selected models.
