Growing Confidence in Tesla, Even for Skeptics

(MoneyWatch)  Call me cynical, but one reason I have been openly skeptical about Tesla Motors is that its sales numbers don't seem to appear anywhere.

When you ask the company for their sales numbers, Tesla gets a little vague about the exact details, for instance exactly how many cars have been sold in a given month. They also tend to respond with how many have been ordered, as opposed to sold. Nor does Tesla get specific about where their customers are; in which U.S. markets, or even which countries.

Tesla on June 4 reported its 500th delivery, but I shied away from reporting it, because it's been nagging me that I haven't seen third-party reports of Tesla's numbers until now.

Therefore, it was reassuring earlier this month when R.L. Polk & Co. provided me with registration data that showed 285 Teslas registered in the United States between June 2008 and March 2009, the last month for which data was then available. Polk gets registration data directly from state motor vehicle departments. In other words, drivers register their cars with the DMV, and the DMV reports that information to Polk.

Registration data provides more detail but is less timely than monthly sales numbers from AutoData Corp., which gets its numbers from the car companies ?€" except for Tesla.

Even among the companies that report to AutoData, there is a certain amount of fudge factor. For instance, it's up to the car companies to decide precisely when to close the books on a given month, so they may not all be reporting on an exactly equal basis.

In addition, some smaller, exotic brands have a problem reporting sales on time. In that case, AutoData makes an estimate based on recent history, and updates the report when actual numbers become available. Eventually, just about every brand's sales numbers show up.

Tesla got another vote of confidence recently when it got a share of government assistance towards developing U.S.-based advanced technology, for fuel-efficient and battery vehicles.

In the meantime, I also saw a Tesla on the road for the first time a few days ago, on a business trip to Washington State.

So call me slightly less cynical. Yes, Virginia, there really is a Tesla.