Tesla 2020 vehicle deliveries fall a touch short of Elon Musk's goal
But the automaker came seriously close to sending 500,000 EVs to new homes.
Tesla didn't nail CEO Elon Musk's goal of delivering 500,000 new cars in 2020, but the company came close. According to the official figures the automaker issued on Monday, Tesla delivered 499,550 vehicles to new owners last year -- just 450 cars short of the lofty 500,000 figure.
Tesla continues to report production and deliveries of its cars in groups, with the Model S and Model X EVs as one group and the Model 3 and Model Y as the other. In 2020, the automaker said it built 54,805 Model S/X EVs and delivered 57,039 of the more luxurious and expensive vehicles. As for the Model 3 and Model Y, the company built a whopping 454,932 of them and delivered 442,511 of the electric sedans and SUVs . That brings total production to 509,737 vehicles and the 499,550 figure mentioned above.
Even though the company fell just a little short, it's an impressive showing nonetheless. In the fourth quarter of last year, Tesla needed to deliver roughly 181,000 cars to make the 500,000 delivery goal and it came really darn close with 180,570 cars delivered. 161,650 of those were Model 3/Y EVs. The others 18,920 cars were Model S/X EVs.
Keep in mind, Tesla achieved these figures amid economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and a production shutdown at its US factory in Fremont, California last spring.
So, what's in store for 2021? Tesla confirmed production of the Model Y began at its Shanghai-based factory and deliveries of the SUV will start soon. Musk sees huge potential for the electric SUV in China, so it will be interesting to watch its performance overseas. Tesla also aims to open two new production facilities: There'll be one in Austin, Texas to handle Cybertruck production and another just outside of Berlin, Germany.
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