This week saw a bunch of Tesla news. Here’s an overview of what transpired.

35,000 electric cars in 2014

First, the company reported its financial results for the third quarter of the year (July-September). Despite a longer-than-expected factory shutdown in July to retool and add equipment, the company shipped a record 7,785 Model S electric cars. They also broke their single-day deliveries record, with 907 deliveries during the same 24-hour period. The company is on track to ramp up production to 2,000 EV per week by the end of 2015, and the recently introduced dual-motor ‘D’ models and the Autopilot feature has unsurprisingly further increased demand («we are confident of a 50% increase in both net orders and deliveries for Model S alone in 2015,» Musk wrote in the shareholder letter).

The company expects to end 2014 with 35,000 vehicles produced. That’s about 50% more than in 2013. Talk about fast growth!

Tesla/Screen capture

Safety first!

Another good piece of news for Tesla: The Model S electric sedan has received a perfect 5-star safety rating from the NCAP in Europe. The company is obviously very proud of this. They write: «Model S is the only car this year to have achieved both a 5-star Euro NCAP rating and 5 stars in every NHTSA subcategory, including frontal impact, side impact, and rollover. Only two other cars have earned the same recognition since 2011 (when NHTSA introduced its latest rating scheme).»

Tesla explains why it’s important that the Model S has received top ratings on both methodologies, which test for different things:

The reason so few models achieve 5-star ratings in both Europe and the U.S. is that each program places emphasis on different safety aspects in the assessment process. NHTSA emphasizes structural and restraint safety, with a deep focus on how well the vehicle can withstand and absorb the energy of an impact while protecting its occupants. It is also primarily concerned with adult occupants. On the other hand, Euro NCAP assesses a wider range of scenarios, including tests for child and pedestrian safety. Unlike for NHTSA, active safety is also an important part of Euro NCAP’s 5-star requirement. Every year, the European organization raises the standard for a 5-star rating to account for technological advances in the industry.

The dual 5-star ratings for Model S validate our holistic approach to safety. We have been engineering passive and active safety systems in parallel, so the car is structurally sound and is also designed to intelligently anticipate and react to potentially dangerous situations. (source)

Youtube/Screen capture

Here’s the video of the NCAP crash tests:

And here’s the US-equivalent tests by the NHTSA from back in 2013 (Tesla also got the maximum 5-star score for those):

Model X slightly delayed

In the shareholder letter, Elon Musk wrote that the Model X would be delayed by a few months, with a new expected release date of Q3 of 2015. This will no doubt disappoint those who have made a reservation, but remember, patience is a virtue!

© Tesla Motors

Via Tesla, Tesla