The Market And Energy Page, T+11 -- February 1, 2018 -- Models S+X Sales Way Down; Model 3 Sales Really Disappoint -- Aren't We Supposed To See 5,000 Units/Week Being Delivered?

From Bloomberg: US consumer comfort highest since 2001 on optimism for economy. Didn't President Trump tell us that just the other night? Since 2001? Let's see, finally are the two "lost decades" -- the Bush decade, and the Obama decade -- behind us? We can only hope.

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Let's See If That Optimism Extends To January Car Sales

Numbers will be reported over the next couple of days.

Someone is getting a head start on Tesla over at SeekingAlpha.

• Model S+X estimated to show huge sequential quarterly declines
• Model 3 estimated progress leaves a bit to be desired
• If the numbers are correct, Q1 off to tough start

Since it is the first of the month, we now have third-party automotive sales estimates starting to trickle in. Unfortunately for Tesla, that isn't a good thing this time around, as January deliveries seem to be disappointing. As EV competition gets ready to soar, the situation gets more perilous for the company as we approach next week's quarterly earnings report.

Let me start with the Model 3, which is probably what most really care about at the moment. In its January 2018 plug-in scorecard, InsideEvs estimated 1,875 deliveries for Tesla's newest model. That's up a bit more than 800 units over the December level of 1,060 units, but as the InsideEvs scorecard says, the January number was "not as high as projected or expected" (their statement in the scorecard linked above). While the chart below does show growth rising at a sharp pace month-to-month, the Model 3 remains well behind its original schedule.

EV sales are tracked here.

Oh, my goodness, model S+X way down -- total of the two, down to 1,500 for the month of January. Down slightly year-over-year (January sales) but absolutely slumped month-over-month.

Model 3, self-reported deliveries: 1,875 -- weren't we supposed to be up to 5,000/week by now, or 20,000/month? But Elon Musk is selling a lot of flame throwers. Tesla sold 1,060 Model 3 vehicles in December, 2017, so they almost doubled output. Tesla shares? The religious cult is hardly concerned: down barely a percent.

Perhaps a bigger story: Nissan Leaf sales have plummeted. It looks like GM (Chevrolet Bolt / Volt) has the EV mojo right now.

Nissan, even worse than I thought:

• $30K, stripped down model (but upwards of $40K if one wants the best version)
• 151-mile range -- great for commuters, nothing else
• 8 hours required for full charge