Tesla tops 10 million electric vehicles built

Tesla has produced its ten-millionth vehicle worldwide. The milestone vehicle, a Model Y finished in Diamond Black, rolled off the production line at the company's Fremont plant in California. Tesla is the first dedicated electric vehicle manufacturer to surpass 10 million vehicles in cumulative production.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk marked the milestone by writing: “Congratulations to the Tesla Team! 10 million vehicles manufactured is an incredible amount of work.” Although Musk is often mistakenly described as Tesla’s founder, he joined the company after its establishment and played a pivotal role in scaling it to its current size.

The production milestone also highlights the company’s rapid growth. Tesla reached the one-million-vehicle mark at its Fremont, California, plant in spring 2020. It then took just six years to increase cumulative production tenfold, despite a 9 per cent decline in vehicle sales in 2025.

The rapid increase in production—and, consequently, sales—was driven primarily by the global expansion of Tesla’s Gigafactory network. In addition to the Fremont plant, the company opened Gigafactory Shanghai in January 2020, launched Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg in Grünheide in March 2022, and inaugurated Gigafactory Texas in Austin in April 2022 with its ‘Cyber Rodeo’ opening event.

Tesla laid the foundation for this industrial growth with its premium models, the Model S and Model X, before expanding into higher-volume segments. Production of the Model 3 electric saloon began in July 2017, followed by the Model Y crossover in January 2020. The Model Y has also been built at the Grünheide plant since 2022.

The success followed. In 2023, the Model Y became the world’s best-selling car across all powertrain types. It was also the first battery-electric vehicle to top the global annual sales rankings. At the time, market research firm JATO Dynamics recorded around 1.22 million sales.

According to the final analysis by JATO Dynamics analyst Felipe Muñoz, the Toyota RAV4, including its Chinese sister model, the Wildlander, narrowly outsold the Model Y in the following year. The RAV4 reached around 1.187 million units, compared with approximately 1.185 million for the Model Y. The difference amounted to fewer than 3,000 vehicles.

Tesla has consistently followed a top-down strategy, introducing new technologies in premium models before bringing them to higher-volume, more price-sensitive market segments.

The 10-million-vehicle milestone is also significant for another reason: Elon Musk could receive compensation worth over one trillion US dollars in Tesla shares over the next decade if the electric vehicle manufacturer achieves certain milestones under his leadership. One of these milestones is the delivery of 20 million vehicles—and Tesla has now, at least in terms of production, reached the halfway point.