Tesla more than doubled its Q3 net profit to $3.3 billion, thanks to increased vehicle deliveries and profit growth in other parts of the business, Kallanish reports.

The company’s net profit rose 103% on-year from $1.6 billion in Q3 2021, while revenues rose 56% to a record $21.5 billion. Vehicle deliveries increased 54% and deliveries by 42%; solar deployment rose 13%; and energy storage deployment reached a new all-time record at 2,100 megawatt-hours, after a 62% increase.

The strong performance was also impacted by headwinds such as higher raw material, commodity, logistics, warranty and expedite costs; negative foreign exchange impact of around $250 million; and inefficiencies in the production ramp-up at Giga Texas, Giga Berlin, and of 4680 cells.

As previously disclosed, Tesla’s significant delivery volumes in the final weeks of each quarter have led to transportation capacity becoming more expensive and difficult to secure. To remedy that and improve cost per vehicle, the company has started transitioning to a smoother delivery pace, spreading out deliveries to avoid a peak at the end of the quarter. Q4 is traditionally a high-delivery quarter for the EV pioneer, so the measure will be fully tested then.

In its outlook, the company says logistics volatility and supply chain bottlenecks remain immediate challenges, although improving, and that demand remains strong.

“We continue to believe that battery supply chain constraints will be the main limiting factor to EV market growth in the medium and long terms. Despite these challenges, we expect to continue to deliver every vehicle produced while maintaining strong operating margins,” it says.

Tesla’s automotive gross profit increased 42% in Q3 2022 to $5.21 billion, compared to $3.67 billion a year earlier. That gross margin stood at 27.9%, which is in line with the previous quarter, but lower than the 30.5% achieved in Q3 2021.