Tesla Inc. has become the world’s first automaker to produce a million fully electric vehicles. A bright red Model Y that rolled off the lines yesterday was met with applause and warranted a big group photo that Elon Musk later posted on his Twitter page.
Tesla launched its first assembly line back in 2008, but its first production vehicle was an obscure electric roadster based on the Lotus chassis. In the four years that followed, the company only produced around 2,500 units. The Model S liftback exploded the market in 2012, followed by the Models X and Y and eventually the Model 3. In 2015, the company celebrated 100,000 units produced; now, it churns out the same amount in a quarter of a year.
The factory in Freemont, USA is the biggest production facility Tesla has, followed by the recently opened Shanghai factory and the planned facility in Berlin.
The company has three models on schedule: the much-hyped Cybertruck pickup (see video), the Semi full-size truck, and a brand-new model designed in China for the entire world (no further details available so far).
Provided that Tesla keeps up its production pace, we may be seeing the 2,000,000th car roll off the lines in just two years.