Opportunists are flipping Teslas for profits of up to $7,000 as EV production struggles to meet demand, report says

• Tesla owners are buying and selling their cars for profit, The Los Angeles Times reported.
• Some owners claimed they made profits of up to $7,000, according to the newspaper.

People are buying and reselling their electric cars for profits worth thousands of dollars as demand for EVs surges amid ongoing production problems.

Tesla owners are "flipping" their cars for thousands more than they paid to buyers who would otherwise have to wait months to get a new vehicle from the manufacturer, The Los Angeles Times reported.

One Tesla flipper claimed he made profits of $4,000 and $7,000 on two separate sales, the newspaper reported.

Dennis Wang told The LA Times that he plans to sell his Tesla Model S in the next three months and has already ordered two more cars.

Another Tesla owner claimed a profit of $5,000 after selling a car just nine months after taking delivery, per the report.

Insider could not independently verify the sellers' profit claims.

Interest in electric vehicles has surged amid soaring gas prices, leaving many manufacturers struggling to keep up with demand and forcing customers on to long waiting lists.

The industry has also been struggling to obtain enough computer chips due to supply chain issues, pushing up the cost of all cars.

EV manufacturers including Tesla have increased prices, but flippers are still making profits.

"In terms of Teslas, the price of new vehicles increased so much last year, and waiting periods are so long for new vehicles, that the value of used cars skyrocketed," Recurrent, a company tracking EV sales, told The LA Times.

Insider found a number of Tesla Model Ys listed for almost $80,000 on Edmunds.com. The car starts at just $57,440 on the Tesla website.

A 2022 Tesla Model X was also listed on Facebook marketplace for $149,000, with the seller quipping: "Why wait 6 months when you can get this one now."

Meanwhile, the UK's biggest car maker, Jaguar Land Rover, is trying to stop dealers sending cars to China and other markets where they can fetch significantly higher prices than in Britain, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

A Land Rover Evoque starts at £32,620 ($39,367) in the UK but costs at least £47,463 ($57,273) in China and £55,065 ($66,449) in South Africa, according to company prices cited in the report.