These are cars that Tesla is collecting $50k+ at the time of delivery for each one.

Yeah there are about 400,000 people lined up to buy them, and they will keep on selling them just as fast as they can make them for many many more months.

We don’t know how many new reservation holders are being added at the end of the list, just that the total dollar value of all deposits on hand is increasing.

You’re right though it’s not a comparison. No car company in history has been able to get 400,000 people to put down $1,000 on a vehicle, sight unseen, never mind an electric one at that.

The BMW i3, by comparison, sold a grand total of 418 cars last month. No one is lining up around the block to buy that one.

They really are sales. Anecdotally, I pre-ordered a model S, for a little more. Eventually when it can time to buy, I got my money back (actually more due to exchange rates). I then pre-ordered a model 3. Eventually, I will cancel that order too because I ended up upgrading to a Model S. The point here is, Tesla still need to convince people to hand over the cash. The cost of withdrawal and sunk cost in minimal if you don't like it.