Australia’s largest-ever Tesla shipment arrives in Port Kembla, NSW

The largest-ever Australian shipment of Tesla electric cars arrived late last week in Port Kembla, NSW, according to well-informed boat tracking service VedaPrime.

It’s estimated the delivery comprised roughly 1500 examples of the Chinese-built Model 3 sedan, which remains the only variant from Tesla currently on offer Down Under.

The Morning Clara vessel – which is registered in Singapore and is currently returning to the Chinese port city of Tianjin according to marinetraffic.com – dispatched the freight.

A smaller batch of vehicles is also believed to have arrived roughly 24 hours later in Fremantle, Western Australia, however it’s unclear how many cars were onboard.

While Tesla does not release its sales data, figures obtained by CarAdvice show the all-electric brand delivered 3430 vehicles to local customers throughout 2020.

Based on those results, the most recent shipment equates to almost six-months worth of stock – more than the US-based brand has ever had to deal with in Australia. Despite the excess supply however, it appears the base price for the Model 3 is unchanged at $62,900 before on-road costs.

VedaPrime estimates suggest the latest shipment brings the total number of Teslas on Australian soil to approximately 15,000.

Last month CarAdvice reported the Tesla Model Y – a much-anticipated mid-size SUV underpinned by the Model 3 platform – is slated to arrive locally in late 2021 or early 2022.

The flagship Model S and Model X, meanwhile, are off-sale until the arrival of facelifted versions late in 2022.

Photo credit: VedaPrime

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