Tesla is delivering more cars than ever

Tesla delivered a record number of cars in the first quarter of 2022, absolutely dwarfing the number of vehicles it shipped during the same period last year.

The electric automaker announced it delivered 310,048 vehicles this quarter, while producing 305,407. Model 3 and Model Y Teslas accounted for 95 percent of those deliveries.

In the first quarter of 2021, Tesla delivered 184,800 vehicles and produced 180,338.

That's the most cars the automaker has ever delivered in a quarter, edging out its Q4 2021 results by a couple thousand cars. Still, Tesla's Q1 2022 results are mixed, when compared to analysts' expectations.

The company produced 4,641 fewer cars than it delivered in the quarter, citing "ongoing supply chain challenges and factory shutdowns," and, CNBC reported, analysts expected deliveries of 317,000 vehicles in the quarter. So despite breaking its previous record, there were some relative disappointments.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was not disappointed, however. He responded to a congratulatory tweet about the deliveries on Twitter.

Tweet may have been deleted

"This was an *exceptionally* difficult quarter due to supply chain interruptions & China zero Covid policy," Musk wrote on Twitter. "Outstanding work by Tesla team & key suppliers saved the day."

The increases in production track with Musk's ultimate company for Tesla. Musk has indicated the next phase for the company includes "scaling to extreme size." Selling and shipping a whole bunch of cars certainly helps toward that goal — and Tesla broke its own record last year with nearly a million delivered cars all up in 2021, well beyond analysts' expectations.

It can't hurt that Tesla's $5.5 billion German gigafactory has also finally opened, where the company intends to produce 500,000 electric vehicles per year at this location alone.