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Tesla Delivers Almost 500,000 Vehicles in 2020

As much as Elon Musk would have liked to hit the magical figure of 500,000 deliveries, Tesla Inc. got 99.91 percent of the way there with a tally of 499,550 vehicles. Considering how bad a year 2020 has been for the automotive industry, this result is more than simply impressive.
Tesla Model 3 21 photos
Photo: Tesla
For reference, Tesla delivered 367,500 vehicles in 2019 and 245,240 vehicles in 2018. Production output is on the rise as well, currently standing at 509,737 vehicles split between the Model S, 3, X, and Y (pun intended).

As you would expect, the Model 3 and Y took the lion’s share at 442,511 units compared to 57,039 for the Model S and X, which will be updated this year.

Elon Musk was expecting to ship 500,000 vehicles worldwide at the beginning of 2020 when the health crisis was looming on the horizon. But as you’re well aware, the big guns and bean counters in Palo Alto didn’t take into consideration temporary production halts for the Fremont and Shanghai facilities. Another reason the target figure hasn’t been hit is, of course, the financial stress of a health crisis that has affected pretty much everybody.

“So proud of the Tesla team for achieving this major milestone,” said the chief executive officer on social media. “At the start of Tesla, I thought we had (optimistically) a 10% chance of surviving at all.” As a brief refresher, the first investment that Musk made in the EV startup tallied $6.5 million when co-founders Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning were running the show.

“Tesla is responsible for two-thirds of all the personal and professional pain in my life combined. But it was worth it,” confessed the big kahuna.

At the time of writing, the Model 3 is the most affordable ticket to Tesla ownership thanks to an MSRP of $37,990 for the Standard Range Plus with rear-wheel drive. Not bad for 263 miles (423 kilometers) of driving range and an acceleration of 5.3 seconds to 60 mph (96 kph), don't you think?

The Model Y kicks off at $49,990 with the Long Range battery and Dual Motor all-wheel drive, the Model S is available from $69,420, and the Model X is the most expensive of the lot at $79,990 excluding potential savings.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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