The first Model 3s destined for customers in Australia have reportedly arrived aboard the Cap Capricorn container ship which was tugged into dock around 1pm today at Port Botany in Sydney.

There has been much chatter on social media and Tesla owner forums about the arrival of the Model 3, and as we reported last Monday, a number of container ships were pegged as bringing the first batch of vehicles to Australian shores (excluding of course a number of press vehicles that have been here for some weeks now).

Model 3 customers – some of whom have had reservations for what has become the world’s most popular electric car, for three years now – have been stalking online shipping reports.

A source from within the shipping industry said that the Cap Capricorn left Pier 80 at the Port of Oakland (where Tesla ships all its vehicles from) with 500 Model 3s on it, 150 which may have been for New Zealand customers, and it is understood that larger batches will follow on other container ships within weeks.

I now have a shipping source saying the first batch is 500 on Cap capricorn confirming the other sources. — VedaPrime (@VedaPrime) August 15, 2019

We reported last week that the Cap Capricorn and Brotonne Bridge are expected to be the most likely to arrive with Model 3s aboard, and it was touch and go earlier in the week when a tornado unleashed its fury upon Auckland after the Cap Capricorn had docked.

Although there were reports of a container ship toppling onto a dock worker (who thankfully was not harmed), the Cap Capricorn apparently left the following morning for Sydney unharmed.

While the mid-August arrival date fits with the initial delivery date that was issued by Tesla via the Australian online configurator, it may be by a nose that the first Model 3s are actually delivered this month.

A number of awaiting customers have been told by Tesla staff that they will receive their vehicles in “mid to early September”, and it is expected that – as has been the case in other countries including China and Germany – the automotive logistics company tasked with offloading the Model 3s may take longer to get the first batch out.

According to spotter VedaPrime who has been closely watching shipping lanes as well as VINs registered by Tesla, possible VIN ranges for the vehicles arriving on the Cap Capricorn include 4432xx, 4435xx, 4436xx, and 4440xx.

Word is that if a VIN has been assigned, customers can find out their VIN by inspecting their “Next Steps” order page on the Tesla website (right-click anywhere on the page and go to “View Page Source” or similar) and looking for “5yj3″ in the source code.

The search for confirmation of an imminent Model 3 arrival is definitely getting on the nerdy side.

More to come.