News
Tesla’s Model 3 delivery challenges in Europe are growing pains for a global ramp
The arrival of the cargo ship Glovis Captain on the port of Zeebrugge earlier this week heralded new opportunities and challenges for electric car maker Tesla. The massive vessel is estimated to be carrying around 3,000 Model 3, which are expected to start an electric disruption in Europe’s passenger car market. At the same time, the arrival of the highly-anticipated sedan also means that deliveries to reservation holders in the region are about to begin.
Delivery Logistics Hell, Part 2
In true Tesla fashion, plans were underway to get the recently-arrived Model 3 to customers as quickly as possible. Thus, instead of taking a while before starting handovers to reservation holders in the region, Tesla immediately went to work. Reports from the Tesla community even indicated that they received messages from the carmaker indicating that they could pick up their Model 3 starting Wednesday at the company’s Tilburg facility, shortly after the cars arrived on Zeebrugge.
Soon, social media posts from the Tesla community revealed that the first Model 3 deliveries in Europe were already underway. That said, it did not take long before Tesla became unable to deliver as many vehicles as they estimated. Some reservation holders even went so far as to state that they were advised to pick up their Model 3 the following day. While an additional day is but a drop in the bucket compared to the nearly three-year wait for the electric sedan experienced by reservation holders, Tesla’s inability to deliver as many vehicles as it expected became a great inconvenience nonetheless.
On Wednesday, Elon Musk took to Twitter to apologize for the delivery delay in Europe. In a tweet, Musk explained that Tesla met some “unexpected challenges” with the vehicles coming through the Belgian port. Nevertheless, Musk noted that Model 3 deliveries should start moving on Thursday.
Sorry, many unexpected challenges with cars coming through Zeebrugge first time. Cars will start moving out in volume tomorrow.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2019
Logistics Challenges – Not Sweeter the Second Time
Ultimately, this is yet another case of Tesla miscalculating and shooting itself in the foot in the process. In the case of Europe’s first Model 3 deliveries, reservation holders were expecting their vehicles at a later date to begin with (the reservation holder Musk responded to on Twitter, for example, had a delivery date of 02/16/2019). The earlier delivery estimates, and the succeeding failure to meet said estimates, all transpired under Tesla’s own doing.
That said, Tesla’s journey with the Model 3 to date hints at something positive following the company’s logistics challenges in Europe, considering that the electric car maker faced the same issues in the US last September. During that time, Tesla was just hitting its stride with the production of the electric sedan. Tesla was also going for profitability, which required a record number of vehicle deliveries. Tesla’s deliveries became so backlogged that reservation holders saw their handover dates rescheduled multiple times.
Thanks to @LucWaterlot, some pictures of #glovisCaptain arriving full of #tesla #Model3 in #portofzeebrugge pic.twitter.com/rVxWBkWHNU
— FalconU (@UlricDabe) February 5, 2019
Just like Elon Musk’s recent tweet, the Tesla CEO owned up to Tesla’s challenges then, explaining that the company had gone straight from “production hell” to “delivery logistics hell.” Musk also mentioned later that challenges in logistics are easier to solve than production issues. True to the CEO’s word, Tesla delivered a record number of vehicles in the third quarter, with Q3 2018 handovers totaling 83,500 vehicles including 55,840 Model 3. Ultimately, these deliveries helped the company achieve its first definitively profitable quarter in years. These logistics challenges were completely absent in Q4 2018 as well, when Tesla delivered a total of 90,700 vehicles, including 63,150 Model 3.
Lessons Learned and Experiences Gained
With this in mind, it appears that Tesla’s current challenges in delivering the Model 3 to European customers are something that the company can handle. Tesla’s experience in the United States alone should help the electric car maker gain enough footing to conduct handovers in the region in a manner that is smooth, convenient, and well worth the nearly three-year wait for Model 3 reservation holders.
While Tesla appears to have miscalculated its initial European Model 3 deliveries, the company is in a constant effort to improve its logistics. Elon Musk took particular notice of this issue in the recently held Q4 2018 earnings call, when he was discussing the probability of Q1 2019’s profitability.
“We’re going to get cars to China and Europe and make sure that we have good logistics for the whole delivery process, from factory gate to the customer. That’s obviously pretty far from California to get to Europe and China and make it to, again, our two customers. So, we’re working every aspect of that logistics chain. And I think we’ve — I think it’s going to be good. I would say at this point; I’m optimistic about being profitable in Q1. Not by a lot, but I’m optimistic about being profitable in Q1 and for all quarters going forward,” Musk said.
For the meantime, the beast that is the Tesla Model 3 is still waiting for its chance to fully saturate the European market.
Featured
Tesla Cybercab is coming to Asia this month as US service officially begins
Tesla Asia says Cybercab will be on display in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai this month.
Tesla’s Cybercab is heading to Asia. The official Tesla Asia account posted on X Thursday, inviting Cybercab fans to “Come experience the future of autonomy in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing & Shanghai.” The post went up within hours of Tesla’s own Cybercab milestone in Texas, where the company said Thursday it had begun offering rides in across Austin.
Exact dates and venues for the Asia tour haven’t been released yet, though Tesla Hong Kong replied to the announcement with “Cybercab will be on display in Hong Kong soon,” while Tesla Japan’s response pointed fans to a sign up page for updates. Neither post mentions test rides or a service area, and nothing so far suggests Tesla is launching Robotaxi operations in any of the four cities. Based on how Tesla has run past Cybercab tours, in Europe in late 2024 and at US shopping centers that same December, the Asia stops are almost certainly static displays at Tesla stores or public venues as a means to stimulate buzz for its future driverless ride-hailing service in the big cities.
Cybercab will be on display in Asia this month!
Come experience the future of autonomy in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing & Shanghai. pic.twitter.com/wGmmEastfX— Tesla Asia (@Tesla_Asia) September 4, 2026
The timing lines up with Tesla’s only prior Cybercab appearance in the region, a booth at the China International Import Expo in Shanghai last November, which Teslarati covered at the time. At that event, Tesla’s regional general manager for Shanghai framed the car as evidence of the company’s broader mission, a message Tesla has since formalized in its Master Plan Part IV, which states that “autonomous vehicles have the capacity to dramatically improve the affordability, availability and safety of transportation while reducing pollution, particularly in our increasingly dense global cities.” The same document is where Tesla lays out its “sustainable abundance” framing for Cybercab and Optimus alike, describing the two as the hardware behind an AI driven push to cut the cost of transportation and labor at scale.
Whether Cybercab actually operates as a robotaxi anywhere in Asia remains an open question, considering China has already pushed an autonomous ride-hailing market that’s run on homegrown players like Baidu’s Apollo Go and Pony AI. For now, the four city tour reads as a marketing push timed to Austin’s momentum.
Lifestyle
Tesla Cybertruck targets job site crews with new Tailgate Utility Track and Bed Gear Box accessory
Tesla launched a $350 tailgate track and a $985 lockable Bed Gear Box for Cybertruck.
Tesla’s Cybertruck team added two more items to the Tesla Shop, targeting job site crews and owners who use the truck bed for actual work rather than just showing it off. The official Cybertruck X account posted the Tailgate Utility Track and the Bed Gear Box within minutes of each other, part of a five item batch that also included a reflective jacket, a spray paint hat and an updated reflective tee.
The Tailgate Utility Track runs $350 and turns the folded down tailgate into another mounting surface. It’s a single aluminum track with a T-slot for sliding accessories and two L-track attachment points, plus two load stops included in the box. The pitch is straightforward: strap down oversized cargo, like lumber or a cooler, that hangs off the back of the bed without it sliding out mid-drive. It bolts onto the existing tailgate and works on every Cybertruck trim.
Tailgate Utility Trackhttps://t.co/PCAYXlFBvS pic.twitter.com/sCV2NVxf1W
— Cybertruck (@cybertruck) September 3, 2026
The Bed Gear Box costs $985 and is a different kind of accessory. It’s a lockable aluminum storage box, 55.78 inches long, 19.8 inches wide and 7.79 inches tall, that mounts to the bed’s L-track rails and comes with two internal bins for smaller items. According to Tesla, at just over 57 pounds empty, it’s meant to stay in place rather than come in and out with each trip, giving owners a factory-fit alternative to loose totes for tools, recovery gear or emergency supplies. Tesla’s listing notes that Long Range and Dual Motor AWD Cybertrucks need the L-Tracks accessory installed separately before the Gear Box will mount, since L-tracks come standard only on certain configurations.
Tesla Cybertruck bed gear box accessory
Both accessories lean on the idea Tesla has been building toward since Elon Musk first described the Cybertruck’s third-party attachment strategy at the 2023 shareholder meeting, when he said the truck would ship with mounting points so outside companies, and Tesla itself, could keep adding gear without redesigning the bed. That’s the same L-track backbone underneath the tailgate shield and jumpseats Tesla launched last year, and the off-road armor package that arrived through the same X account in 2025.
Owners looking to round out the rest of the L-track ecosystem, cargo dividers, MOLLE panels, bed racks and similar gear, can find a wider range of options through our Cybertruck accessories collection.
Update: Tesla has announced Cybercab will enter the public fleet on Friday, September 4 at 5 p.m. CT. The article and headline have been updated to reflect this.
Tesla Cybercab rides will officially open to the public in Austin, Texas, on Friday, September 4 at 5 p.m. CT, as the company confirmed on Thursday following its launch event that the two-seater would be available in the company’s Robotaxi fleet.
Cybercab is Tesla’s first vehicle completely void of any manual controls. It has no steering wheel and no pedals, and it will utilize Tesla’s Full Self-Driving fleet to operate. The first rides have already happened, as those at the event were able to hail a Cybercab to any location within the company’s geofence in Austin.
Tesla’s $25K car is the Cybercab with no steering wheel or pedals
The addition of Cybercab to the public Robotaxi fleet is a major statement in Tesla’s trek to launch fully autonomous driving. For years, critics have complained about the need for drivers to continuously supervise the vehicle.
With Cybercab, there are no manual controls in the cockpit other than to control the seat, the center screen, and the climate. The vehicle is fully geared toward being a living room on wheels in a sense: equipped with Starlink V5 satellites, CEO Elon Musk said the vehicle would enable 4K live video, gaming, and other entertainment options during travel.
Cybercab is basically a super comfortable lounge on wheels with a great TV and epic sound https://t.co/X1aWKoJdJV
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 3, 2026
Musk noted that Cybercab is “designed and built for maximally efficient autonomous operation.”
Tesla continues to push the envelope on autonomy, and over the next several months, the company could start selling Cybercab units to the public.
The company opened up a public interest form on its website to gauge demand, and many have already submitted requests to purchase a fleet of Cybercab units for their own personal ride-hailing side hustle.
The launch of Cybercab in this area marks a major accomplishment for Tesla, as it also announced that it has reached 1 million unsupervised autonomous miles since launching driverless rides on the Robotaxi fleet.
Things are moving along at a fine pace, and although we have waited for this for some time, the day has finally come when Tesla is offering self-driving rides of some kind to the public.
Tesla Cybercab is coming to Asia this month as US service officially begins
Tesla Cybertruck targets job site crews with new Tailgate Utility Track and Bed Gear Box accessory
