The first few shipments of the Tesla Model 3 all-electric sedan to Europe have seen this battery electric vehicle (BEV) become the best seller in many of the countries where it made landfall.
It was only in early February when the first Model 3s were first shipped to Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Spain from the United States. This early and Model 3 is already the best selling electric vehicle (EV) in Norway, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Tesla delivered only a few hundred Model 3s to Norway last month but boosted shipments significantly in March. Tesla reported that in the first week of March, over a thousand new Model 3s were registered in Norway, or three times more than any other car.
A shipment of more than 1,000 Model 3s is expected in Norway during the next few days and this BEV will become the best-selling car in the country by a huge margin.
Model 3 has had the same success in Germany. Tesla shipped about 1,000 Model 3s last month and increased its sales by 500 percent.
The Model 3 is now the best selling EV in the Netherlands despite only 472 Model 3s being delivered in February. It easily best competitors like the Hyundai Kona EV and Kia Niro EV, as well as longtime bestsellers such as the Nissan Leaf.
France and Spain, which are markets where EVs haven't done that well, are also going great guns for the Model 3.
The first Model 3s made it to Europe a year and a half after customers in the U.S. started receiving their first Tesla Model 3.
Customers in The Netherlands and Belgium were the first to get their Model 3s, with Germany following shortly thereafter. Customers have taken delivery of their Model 3s in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, and Austria.
As of this January, some 14,000 Model 3s have been preordered across Europe. Model 3 preorders first opened in March 2016 after the initial reveal of the car. By April, Tesla had 325,000 preorders worldwide. Tesla made its first deliveries of the Model 3 in the U.S. in July 2017.
Problems in boosting production in 2018 meant European customers couldn't start receiving their cars until February.
European customers are only able to order the all-wheel-drive and performance versions of the Model 4. They still have no access to the cheaper rear-wheel-drive model available in the U.S.
