[Digital Today intern reporter Seung-a Yoo] Tesla delivered 480,126 vehicles in the second quarter of 2026, far exceeding market expectations.

On July 2 (local time), Tesla officially announced its second-quarter deliveries. Foreign media including EV outlet Electrek reported the figure was up 25 percent from a year earlier and about 74,000 higher than the Wall Street consensus.

The result is Tesla's highest-ever second-quarter delivery total. It is also drawing attention for marking a return to growth after two straight years of year-on-year declines. Tesla produced 451,758 vehicles in the quarter, while deliveries came in higher at 480,126.

By model, Model 3 and Model Y accounted for most of the total. The two models saw production of 442,936 and deliveries of 467,762. Other models, including Model S, Model X, Cybertruck and Semi, were tallied at 8,822 produced and 12,364 delivered.

Deliveries exceeded production in the quarter. Unlike recent quarters, Tesla reduced inventory by about 28,000 instead of building it up. In the first quarter, unsold vehicles rose by about 50,000, but the trend reversed in the second quarter.

The increase was also large. Tesla delivered 384,122 vehicles in the second quarter of last year, and that rose 25 percent this quarter. Compared with 358,023 deliveries in the first quarter of this year, it was 34 percent higher. The market had expected about 406,024, but Tesla far surpassed that. Some bullish forecasts put the range at 418,000 to 420,000, but actual deliveries were more than 60,000 above that as well.

The figure is also meaningful in terms of records. The 480,126 deliveries surpassed the 466,140 delivered in the second quarter of 2023, setting an all-time high for a second quarter. It fell short, however, of the quarterly record of 497,099 in the third quarter of 2025.

The energy storage business also continued to grow. Tesla deployed 13.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy storage products in the second quarter. That was up more than 40 percent from 9.6 GWh in the second quarter of last year. It slightly missed the market estimate of about 13.8 GWh. The energy business has been regarded as one of Tesla's most consistent growth engines, but it came in slightly below expectations this quarter.

The gap with China's BYD still remains. BYD delivered 557,090 battery electric vehicles in the second quarter, outpacing Tesla in global battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales. The two companies' trends diverged. BYD's pure EV deliveries fell about 8 percent from a year earlier, while Tesla's rose 25 percent. As a result, the gap narrowed to about 77,000 this quarter from more than 220,000 a year earlier.

The background to the results is seen as overlapping effects from signs of a demand recovery and inventory adjustments. This quarter saw a 25 percent year-on-year increase, an 18 percent beat versus consensus, and deliveries exceeding production at the same time. With sales rebounding after two years of declines, Tesla's sales trend in the second half and the narrowing gap with BYD are expected to be the next points to watch.

Q2 2026 Production: 451,758 Deliveries: 480,126 Energy storage deployments: 13.5 GWh Our Q2 Company Update will be streamed live on X on July 22 at 4:30pm CT → https://t.co/hD2NM6J2L6