Tesla has produced its 10 millionth electric vehicle, reaching the manufacturing milestone about six years after completing its first million cars. The milestone vehicle was a black Model Y built at the company’s Fremont factory in California.
Tesla announced the achievement in a social media post on Thursday. It is the first automaker to produce 10 million fully electric vehicles, although China’s BYD has manufactured more vehicles when plug-in hybrids are included.
Milestone Approaches Musk’s Delivery Target
The production figure places Tesla near one of the operational targets in Chief Executive Elon Musk’s 2025 compensation package. However, the formal target requires Tesla to deliver 20 million vehicles, rather than manufacture them.
Musk’s award also includes targets of 10 million active paid Full Self-Driving subscriptions, one million robots delivered and one million robotaxis operating commercially. The full award requires Tesla to reach an $8.5 trillion market value and achieve adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of up to $400 billion. (SEC filing)
The package consists of 12 share tranches and could be worth close to $1 trillion if Tesla meets all applicable market and operational conditions by 2035.
Vehicle Sales Remain Central to Tesla
Tesla’s growth accelerated after the Model 3 and Model Y entered mass production, but the company has yet to deliver two million vehicles in a calendar year. Its highest annual result remains below the pace once implied by Musk’s former goal of producing 20 million vehicles annually by 2030.
Global deliveries improved in the second quarter of 2026, rising 25% from the previous year to 480,126 vehicles. Tesla’s estimated US performance remained weaker, with Cox Automotive placing its first-half sales decline at approximately 14.6%.
Tesla still accounted for roughly half of US electric vehicle sales during the quarter. Several established automakers have reduced or delayed EV investments, but competition continues to grow internationally.
Other Targets Remain Further Away
Tesla reported nearly 1.5 million Full Self-Driving subscriptions in its latest quarter, leaving considerable distance to the 10 million target. Its robotaxi service and Optimus humanoid robot programme remain in their early commercial stages.
Profit targets may present another challenge. Tesla’s second-quarter update showed operating income fell 57% year over year to about $400 million as lower pricing, reduced regulatory-credit revenue and higher AI and robotics investment affected margins.
BYD produced its 17 millionth new-energy vehicle in July. That total includes both fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids, making it different from Tesla’s all-electric production figure.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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