Tesla Model 3 reservation backlog stands at 420,000 units

The company has hit its weekly production target but has only fulfilled six percent of reservations.

After hitting a critical Model 3 production milestone of 5,000 units in a week, Tesla has shed more light on its output forecast and reservation backlog.

Model 3 production nearly tripled from Q1 to Q2, totaling 28,578 units from April through June. The company has now delivered 28,386 Model 3 vehicles to date, representing just six percent of reservations.

It would take more than 18 months to fulfill the backlog of 420,000 reservations at the current 5,000/wk rate. Tesla plans to continue ramping up Model 3 output volume, however, with a forecasted increase to 6,000/wk by late next month.

"When we start to provide customers an opportunity to see and test drive the car at their local store, we expect that our orders will grow faster than our production rate," the company wrote in a press release for investors.

Despite reaching the 5,000-unit target, Tesla is still under pressure to demonstrate that the rate can be sustained and quickly increased through the rest of the year.