Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the automaker has built its 1,000,000th electric car, the Model Y, and released a picture of the car and the team that built it. It is worth noting that it is the first automaker to achieve this. A few years ago, many believed that Tesla would not be able to create electric vehicles, let alone in such large numbers. Nevertheless, the automaker has managed to create 3 electric vehicle programs : the Model S , the Model X and the Model 3 , while the Model Y is the fourth in a row.
No other automaker has achieved this in terms of electric passenger car production. The new milestone marks a significant production milestone achieved in the first quarter of 2020. As reported in 2019, based on data compiled by Kevin Rooke, Tesla became the world’s largest EV automaker, surpassing BYD . As of October 2019, Tesla had sold 807,954 electric vehicles, while BYD had sold 787,150 vehicles.
It is also important to note that BYD’s total includes plug-in hybrid (PHEV) sales , while Tesla only builds electric vehicles. Tesla’s production capacity also increased in 2020 with the increase in production at Gigafactory Shanghai, which is Tesla’s second largest vehicle manufacturing plant in the world. The automaker plans to achieve an annual production rate of 150,000 electric cars this year. Combined with the Fremont factory, which should exceed 500,000 cars by the end of the year, Tesla should have an annual production capacity of 650,000 cars. Based on last year’s figure and the corresponding figure generated by Tesla ’s 1,000,000th car , Tesla’s production rate is currently estimated to be around 40,000 electric cars per month. Electrek's Take described Tesla's achievement as impressive, and congratulated the entire company's team . It was also noted that the company 's staff can celebrate the success and prepare for new challenges, starting with the transition from 1,000,000 sales to 1,000,000 electric cars produced annually. This is the next big milestone for Tesla, which some people believe could be achieved by 2022.
