Hundreds of Teslas in the Parking Lot of a Former Shopping Mall
Tesla has rented a large parking lot near the former Chesterfield Mall in Missouri to store its electric vehicles. This has been going on for over a year, and currently, hundreds of cars still remain on the site. The lease is set for 16 months, so the cars may remain there for another ten months or so.
Satellite images and street photos show that the parking lot is literally filled with Teslas. This is not the first time the company has used third-party sites to store its cars—similar situations have been recorded in California and Detroit. However, the scale of this storage facility raises questions about the demand for Tesla’s products.
“Tesla has a short-term lease for parking cars at Chesterfield Mall. We moved them to the former Dillard’s store area when we began demolishing the mall,” said Tim Lowe, Senior Vice President of Leasing and Development at The Staenberg Group.
Does This Indicate a Drop in Demand?
In April, Tesla’s sales in the U.S. fell by 16%, while the overall electric vehicle market decreased by only 4.4%. This may explain why the company is forced to keep a large number of cars in reserve lots. If the trend continues, the question arises: what will Tesla do with these cars after the lease expires?
Google Maps shows that the cars have been standing in this parking lot since at least June 2023. At that time, a truck was also recorded, likely delivering new vehicles. This may indicate that the problem of storing excess vehicles has existed for a long time. In Detroit, similar actions by Tesla even violated local regulations.
It remains unclear whether this is related to temporary logistical difficulties or more serious sales problems. However, if the number of unsold vehicles continues to grow, the company will have to find new solutions for their storage or for stimulating demand.