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Tesla’s Model 3 delivery challenges in Europe are growing pains for a global ramp

(Photo: TeslaStars/Twitter)

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6 years ago

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The arrival of the cargo ship Glovis Captain on the port of Zeebrugge earlier this week heralded new opportunities and challenges for electric car maker Tesla. The massive vessel is estimated to be carrying around 3,000 Model 3, which are expected to start an electric disruption in Europe’s passenger car market. At the same time, the arrival of the highly-anticipated sedan also means that deliveries to reservation holders in the region are about to begin. 

Delivery Logistics Hell, Part 2

In true Tesla fashion, plans were underway to get the recently-arrived Model 3 to customers as quickly as possible. Thus, instead of taking a while before starting handovers to reservation holders in the region, Tesla immediately went to work. Reports from the Tesla community even indicated that they received messages from the carmaker indicating that they could pick up their Model 3 starting Wednesday at the company’s Tilburg facility, shortly after the cars arrived on Zeebrugge.

Soon, social media posts from the Tesla community revealed that the first Model 3 deliveries in Europe were already underway. That said, it did not take long before Tesla became unable to deliver as many vehicles as they estimated. Some reservation holders even went so far as to state that they were advised to pick up their Model 3 the following day. While an additional day is but a drop in the bucket compared to the nearly three-year wait for the electric sedan experienced by reservation holders, Tesla’s inability to deliver as many vehicles as it expected became a great inconvenience nonetheless.

On Wednesday, Elon Musk took to Twitter to apologize for the delivery delay in Europe. In a tweet, Musk explained that Tesla met some “unexpected challenges” with the vehicles coming through the Belgian port. Nevertheless, Musk noted that Model 3 deliveries should start moving on Thursday.

Logistics Challenges – Not Sweeter the Second Time

Ultimately, this is yet another case of Tesla miscalculating and shooting itself in the foot in the process. In the case of Europe’s first Model 3 deliveries, reservation holders were expecting their vehicles at a later date to begin with (the reservation holder Musk responded to on Twitter, for example, had a delivery date of 02/16/2019). The earlier delivery estimates, and the succeeding failure to meet said estimates, all transpired under Tesla’s own doing.

That said, Tesla’s journey with the Model 3 to date hints at something positive following the company’s logistics challenges in Europe, considering that the electric car maker faced the same issues in the US last September. During that time, Tesla was just hitting its stride with the production of the electric sedan. Tesla was also going for profitability, which required a record number of vehicle deliveries. Tesla’s deliveries became so backlogged that reservation holders saw their handover dates rescheduled multiple times.

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Just like Elon Musk’s recent tweet, the Tesla CEO owned up to Tesla’s challenges then, explaining that the company had gone straight from “production hell” to “delivery logistics hell.” Musk also mentioned later that challenges in logistics are easier to solve than production issues. True to the CEO’s word, Tesla delivered a record number of vehicles in the third quarter, with Q3 2018 handovers totaling 83,500 vehicles including 55,840 Model 3. Ultimately, these deliveries helped the company achieve its first definitively profitable quarter in years. These logistics challenges were completely absent in Q4 2018 as well, when Tesla delivered a total of 90,700 vehicles, including 63,150 Model 3.

Lessons Learned and Experiences Gained

With this in mind, it appears that Tesla’s current challenges in delivering the Model 3 to European customers are something that the company can handle. Tesla’s experience in the United States alone should help the electric car maker gain enough footing to conduct handovers in the region in a manner that is smooth, convenient, and well worth the nearly three-year wait for Model 3 reservation holders.

While Tesla appears to have miscalculated its initial European Model 3 deliveries, the company is in a constant effort to improve its logistics. Elon Musk took particular notice of this issue in the recently held Q4 2018 earnings call, when he was discussing the probability of Q1 2019’s profitability.

“We’re going to get cars to China and Europe and make sure that we have good logistics for the whole delivery process, from factory gate to the customer. That’s obviously pretty far from California to get to Europe and China and make it to, again, our two customers. So, we’re working every aspect of that logistics chain. And I think we’ve — I think it’s going to be good. I would say at this point; I’m optimistic about being profitable in Q1. Not by a lot, but I’m optimistic about being profitable in Q1 and for all quarters going forward,” Musk said.

For the meantime, the beast that is the Tesla Model 3 is still waiting for its chance to fully saturate the European market.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, [email protected] or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk hits back at drug use claims, calls publications ‘hypocrites’

Elon Musk showed a clean drug test, dispelling any rumors of drug use that came from unfounded reports from two large media outlets.

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3 hours ago

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June 17, 2025

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Credit: Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded to a report from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, as both publications claimed he was abusing drugs while being involved with President Trump on both the campaign trail and while he was active within the administration after the election.

A bombshell report from the New York Times, published in late May, stated that Musk was regularly using things like ketamine, ecstasy, and psychedelic mushrooms, and also stimulants like Adderall, during his time within the Trump administration.

The reports cited inside sources who claimed the Tesla and SpaceX frontman was using substances during his time with the government.

However, Musk published the results of a recent drug test performed at Fastest Labs of South Austin. They showed ‘Negative’ results across the board:

Musk was not done there.

He went on to say the New York Times “lies as easy as breathing. It’s normal for them.” He also said both the Times and Wall Street Journal reporters should also publish their own drug test results, stating, “They won’t, because those hypocrites are guilty as sin.”

Musk said years ago that he received ketamine prescriptions from doctors to treat depression. He said he had it “years ago and said so on X, so this is not even news.” He also said that ketamine “helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven’t taken it since then.”

Tesla fans and Musk enthusiasts have joked for days now that, if Musk were to be on drugs, other CEOs should also do them, considering his persistence on work-related projects, long hours, and commitment to his job.

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Musk has now proven that there has been no drug use with this test, and it seems as if the reports could have some sort of legal impact, although he has not said he will take any action.

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Tesla’s Grok integration will be more realistic with this cool feature

Tesla is preparing Grok for its first integration into vehicles, but it’s making it more robust than ever, firmware shows.

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4 hours ago

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June 17, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has not yet integrated the AI assistant Grok into its vehicles, but when it does, it will be even more realistic with a new feature that firmware coding shows.

CEO Elon Musk teased a few months back that Grok would be making its way into vehicles in the near future. The implementation has not yet occurred, but we are confident it will be rolling out soon, especially as Tesla has its sights set on a near-term rollout of the Robotaxi platform.

Tesla’s vehicles expected to get Grok voice assistant—but when?

Grok will enable AI assistance for drivers who are both manually operating Tesla vehicles or using the company’s Full Self-Driving suite. It has been widely popular and extremely useful for users on X, Musk’s social media platform.

However, Tesla hacker green has revealed through firmware that the company is planning to roll out Grok into vehicles with personalities, giving it an even more realistic tone that is totally customizable and catered to whatever the driver wants.

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There are also a handful of kids’ versions that will do things like tell stories or play trivia:

The true capabilities of Grok are nearly limitless. Back in January, Musk said on a livestream on X that, “You’ll be able to talk to your Tesla and ask for anything.”

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Grok appears to only be available on AMD-based vehicles, according to other things green found in the firmware. This means that Intel-based Teslas, which are usually older models, will not enable Grok support for right now.

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Tesla dominates Cars.com’s Made in America Index with clean sweep

Tesla continues to dominate Cars.com’s Made in America Index with a clean sweep of the Top 4 spots.

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7 hours ago

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June 17, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has dominated the Cars.com Made-in-America Index with a clean sweep of the top four spots. All four Tesla vehicles that were eligible for the analysis placed in the top four.

The Model 3 overtook the Model Y for first place this year. The all-electric crossover was first in 2024, but the Model 3 managed to overtake its sibling vehicle to claim the top spot in 2025. The Model Y took second, while the Model S took third, and the Model X took fourth.

This is an improvement from last year, as the Model Y took first, but the Model S and Model X placed fourth and ninth, respectively. The Model 3 was not in the Top 10 in 2024.

“Tesla continues to lead, claiming the top four spots and showcasing its commitment to domestic production. About 25% of the more than 400 vehicles on sale in the U.S. made this year’s AMI, and whether a vehicle is No. 1 or No.99, it contributes to the U.S. economy,” Patrick Masterson, lead researcher for the program, said.

More than 400 vehicles were analyzed for this year’s study, with Cars.com officially ranking 117 of them. There were two other EVs in the Top 10, as the Kia EV6 took sixth place, and the Volkswagen ID.4 finished in tenth.

This year’s study reflected major geographic and strategic shifts across the automotive industry. Of the 117 vehicles ranked in the program, they were produced at 36 domestic factories, leaving only 11 total factories that did not yield a car on the list. There are 47 assembly plants in operation in the U.S.

However, there still has not been a vehicle to quite reach the 100 percent domestic parts content, something that is extremely elusive. Masterson says the global supply chain is still extremely crucial to even the most American-built cars on the market.

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The average domestic parts content of the Top 10 cars was 83.4 percent in 2006, but that number has shrunk to 70.3 percent in this year’s rankings.

Some might wonder where cars like the Tesla Cybertruck or Rivian R1T are on the list. However, these vehicles did not qualify because the study only considers cars under a gross weight of 8,500 pounds.

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