Key Points
- Tesla has produced its 10 millionth electric vehicle.
- The milestone vehicle was a black Tesla Model Y.
- It comes just 211 days after Tesla built its 9 millionth EV.
- More than 180,000 Teslas have been delivered in Australia.
- Australia has sourced Tesla vehicles from Shanghai since 2021.
Tesla has reached another major manufacturing milestone, producing its 10 millionth electric vehicle at its Fremont factory in California.
The milestone vehicle was a black Tesla Model Y, with the company marking the occasion by sharing a video on X showing the car surrounded by employees at the Fremont production line.
Tesla wrote: "Produced our 10 millionth Tesla globally at Fremont Factory this week! Only 6 years ago, Fremont Factory made our 1 millionth vehicle."
The achievement highlights just how quickly Tesla has expanded production over the past decade. While it took the company around 12 years to build its first one million vehicles, it needed only 211 days to increase production from nine million to ten million vehicles.
Tesla's production growth continues to accelerate
The Fremont factory has played a central role in Tesla's growth, despite the company later adding Gigafactories in Shanghai, Berlin and Texas.
The California plant was also where Tesla experienced its widely publicised "production hell" while ramping up Model 3 manufacturing. CEO Elon Musk famously used the term to describe the production challenges the company faced as it worked to increase output.
Since then, Tesla has transformed into the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer by volume, with the Model Y becoming the world's best-selling passenger vehicle for multiple years. In Australia, the electric SUV has also broken several monthly sales records during 2026.
What this means for Australia
Tesla's manufacturing milestone is also significant for Australian buyers, with more than 180,000 Tesla vehicles delivered locally over the past 11 years.
Since 2021, Australia has received its supply of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles exclusively from Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory, after the company shifted local sourcing away from Fremont. More than 170,000 Australian-delivered Teslas have been built in Shanghai.
The Shanghai factory also serves as Tesla's primary export hub for Europe, producing the Model 3, Model Y and, more recently, the new Model Y L for overseas markets.
While the Model S and Model X are no longer supplied to Australia, demand for Tesla's locally available models remains strong as the company continues to expand its global production footprint.
Tesla's latest milestone underlines how far the company has come since its early manufacturing struggles. From taking more than a decade to build its first million vehicles to adding another million in just seven months, the pace of production continues to accelerate as electric vehicle adoption grows worldwide.
