Words: Kyle Cassidy
Published 31 July 2026
Tesla has produced its 10 millionth vehicle, becoming the first carmaker focused solely on battery-electric models to reach eight figures.
The milestone vehicle, reportedly a black Model Y, rolled off the production line at Tesla’s Fremont factory in California this week.
“Produced our 10 millionth Tesla globally at Fremont Factory this week! Only 6 years ago, Fremont Factory made our 1 millionth vehicle,” Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said on X.
It’s a significant manufacturing achievement for a company that delivered its first Roadster in 2008 and didn’t begin building the Model S at Fremont until 2012.
Tesla’s production rate accelerated rapidly after the arrival of the Model 3 and Model Y, along with the opening of additional factories in Shanghai, Berlin and Texas.
The nine-millionth Tesla was completed at the company’s Shanghai factory in December 2025, meaning the most recent million vehicles took around seven months to produce.
First pure-EV maker to reach 10 million
BYD reached 10 million new-energy vehicles in 2024, but that total included plug-in hybrids as well as fully electric models. Tesla has only produced battery-electric vehicles.
However, reaching the next 10 million may prove more difficult than the first.
Tesla delivered a record 1.81 million vehicles in 2023, before its global total fell to 1.79 million in 2024. Deliveries then declined to approximately 1.64 million in 2025 as competition intensified, particularly from Chinese manufacturers.
BYD overtook Tesla as the world’s largest seller of battery-electric vehicles during 2025, delivering 2.26 million pure EVs against Tesla’s 1.64 million. Tesla’s decline marked its second consecutive annual sales reduction.
Factors blamed for the slowdown have included an ageing vehicle range, stronger competition in China and Europe, changes to EV incentives and controversy surrounding Musk’s political activities.
The Cybertruck also hasn’t delivered the volume once expected of it, while Tesla’s autonomous-driving and robotaxi plans have progressed more slowly than some of the company’s earlier predictions.
Deliveries recovered in the second quarter
There are signs Tesla’s passenger-car business may be stabilising.
The company delivered 480,126 vehicles during the second quarter of 2026, up 25 per cent from 384,122 in the same period last year.
Model 3 and Model Y deliveries accounted for 467,762 of that total, highlighting how dependent Tesla remains on its two highest-volume models. The company produced 451,758 vehicles during the quarter. Tesla described the result as a quarterly delivery record.
Fresh passenger vehicles will be important if Tesla is to maintain its recent sales recovery. The Model S and Model X have now ended production, leaving the Model 3, Model Y and Cybertruck as its main passenger models while it prepares the Cybercab.
