AI illustration: Tesla makes half a million to a million cars in 2020
TeslaCars & Energy
Partial

Tesla 2020 deliveries: Elon aimed for a million, partly delivered

Elon Musk promised Half a million to a million Teslas in 2020 by the end of 2020. It only partly happened.

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“We'll aim for a million in 2020, but somewhere between half a million and a million seems pretty likely.”
— Elon Musk · Aug 1, 2018 · Tesla Q2 2018 earnings call, 2018-08-01 (transcript) ↗
What actually happened

Musk aimed for a million cars in 2020 and called half a million to a million pretty likely. Tesla produced 509,737 and delivered 499,550 in 2020: inside his range at the very bottom, half his stated aim. Reuters Jan 2 2021 — Tesla 2020 deliveries fall just short ↗

The Progression

Aug 1, 2018
The promise: “We'll aim for a million in 2020, but somewhere between half a million and a million seems pretty likely.” · Tesla Q2 2018 earnings call, 2018-08-01 (transcript) ↗
Jan 2, 2021
Partial — 2 days late. Musk aimed for a million cars in 2020 and called half a million to a million pretty likely. Tesla produced 509,737 and delivered 499,550 in 2020: inside his range at the very bottom, half his stated aim. Reuters Jan 2 2021 — Tesla 2020 deliveries fall just short ↗
Today · Oct 12, 2026
Status: Partial · 2 days late. Sort of happened.

On Tesla's August 2018 earnings call Elon Musk said Tesla would aim for a million cars in 2020, with half a million to a million pretty likely. Tesla built about 510,000.

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Receipts

LAST CHECKED 2026-10-11

Tesla’s record

Delivered
70
53% of resolved claims delivered.
Missed
63
Deadline passed, still no-show.
Still open
37
On the clock now. All 170 Tesla claims →

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