Tesla car deliveries hit speed bump, storage business 'growing like wildfire'

It’s official: Tesla’s delivery numbers for Q4 2025 hit a bit of a speed bump.

The electric vehicle (EV) giant reported 495,570 deliveries, falling short of Wall Street’s 506,763 expectations (and even further below the rosiest guesses at around 512,000).

In 2024, the company delivered 1.789 million vehicles, slipping below 2023’s 1.810 million.

Production wasn’t quite on target either.

In Q4, Tesla produced approximately 459,000 vehicles, delivered over 495,000 vehicles and deployed 11.0 GWh of energy storage products – “a record for both deliveries and deployments,” the company said in a statement.

Best-sellers

Breaking it down, the ever-popular Model 3/Y lineup carried the load with 471,930 deliveries.

Meanwhile, other models — mainly the much-anticipated Cybertruck—mustered 23,640, which some say is where the real shortfall lies.

Shares

Before the report, Tesla shares were humming along at $409.60 in the premarket but hit the brakes hard, sliding to $387 after the numbers were revealed.

2025 bounce?

Still, Elon Musk is revving up for a bounce-back, promising 20–30 per cent sales growth by end-December 2025, thanks to the rollout of lower-cost models.

Some skeptics speculate this move would dent the company's margins; other industry officials point to more competition leading greater EV adoption, safer (self-driving) vehicles, and a bump in battery sales.

For now, Tesla investors seem to have their eyes on shinier objects — like robo-taxis, AI, and robotics.

Deliveries may have lost a bit of their allure, but for those crunching the numbers, this slip is still hard to ignore.

But Tesla has another ace up its sleeve.

Tesla’s best-kept secret?

It’s not the cars.

Its fastest-growing superstar isn’t rolling on four wheels — it’s shining bright and storing power.

The company’s lesser-known energy generation and storage business went full throttle in Q3, pulling off a jaw-dropping 31 per cent gross profit margin.

In sum, energy storage deployments for 2024 were 31.4 GWh.

Not too shabby for a side hustle: Tesla’s stationary energy storage business could be shipping 100GWh a year.

In Q3 2024, Tesla reported just under $2.4 billion in revenue from its energy business for the quarter, versus $1.6 billion in the same quarter of last year.   

Meanwhile, the overall gross margin from battery storage hit an impressive 19.8 per cent, leaving analysts’ 16.8 per cent estimate in the dust.

And good thing, too, because Tesla’s bread-and-butter car revenue has hit cruise control, creeping up by just 1 per cent over the past year.

More than just a car company

Lately, Tesla has been introducing itself as “more than just a car company.”

From robotaxis to humanoid robots, the futuristic buzzwords are endless.

But let’s be real — none of that has driven this quarter’s numbers. What has?

The energy division, meanwhile, skyrocketed to over 50 per cent growth, outperforming every other part of the business.

If Tesla’s cars are the sizzle, its energy solutions might just be the steak.

Tesla will post its financial results for the Q2 2024 after market close on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. 

So EV watchers: buckle up. The Tesla ride never lacks for drama.