Electric Vehicle (EV) maker Tesla has announced that it has produced its one millionth electric car, thus becoming the first auto manufacturer to reach the milestone. It is a significant moment for the company that was founded only in 2003. CEO Elon Musk made the announcement by sharing a picture of the car — a red Model Y — on Twitter. The firm released its first consumer car, the Roadster, back in 2008, meaning it’s taken a little over 12 years to hit this million-car milestone.
In its January earnings report, the company said it hopes to ship over 5,00,000 cars worldwide in 2020. Established automakers like Toyota or the Volkswagen Group each produce over ten million vehicles every year. Nevertheless, Tesla’s milestone is a tremendous accomplishment for an auto start-up that only produces electric vehicles and is indicative of how Musk says he works — building companies to solve problems based on their importance, not on his likelihood of success.
Furthermore, the EV maker is also expected to start shipping its latest car, the Model Y, months ahead of its original “fall 2020” estimate. The Model Y will be Tesla’s fourth electric car line, following the Model S, Model X, and the cheaper Model 3, which made up most of its production and deliveries in Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings report.
The company said it produced 17,933 Model S and X vehicles in the quarter and delivered 19,450. It produced 86,958 Model 3 vehicles and delivered 92,550. It delivered 367,500 vehicles for the full year. It’s also developing new facilities in Berlin to manufacture Model 3 and Model Y electric cars, which should start rolling out in 2021. Tesla says its Model 3 and Model Y production capacity in Fremont is 4,00,000 units per year, while its Shanghai factory can produce 1,50,000 Model 3 cars per year. Meanwhile, Tesla’s Cybertruck is due to go into production in late 2021.