Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) Customer Vehicles	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Customer	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	May 31, 2014 USD ($)
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Resale value guarantees, current portion sales to customers	$ 375,700,000	$ 179,500,000
Maximum repurchase price of vehicles under resale value arrangement	742,900,000	855,900,000
Resale value exercisable by leasing partners	411,600,000
Accounts receivable, net	$ 515,381,000	499,142,000
Direct lease term	48 months
Automotive revenues	$ 8,534,752,000	5,589,007,000	$ 3,431,587,000
Tax credit amount	163,000,000	45,000,000
Marketing, promotional and advertising cost	$ 66,500,000	$ 48,000,000	58,300,000
Number of customers with known disputes or collection issues | Customer	0
Number of customers with material non-accrual or past due notes receivable | Customer	0
Number of years for loans payable	30 years
Number of customers representing more than ten percentage of accounts receivable | Customer	0	1
Accounts receivable from OEM customers excess percentage	10.00%	10.00%
Total cost of operating lease vehicles	$ 4,850,000,000	$ 3,530,000,000
Accumulated depreciation related to leased vehicles	$ 733,300,000	399,500,000
Operating lease description	Our leases are accounted for in accordance with ASC 840. To determine lease classification, we evaluate the lease terms to determine whether there is a transfer of ownership or bargain purchase option at the end of the lease, whether the lease term is greater than 75% of the useful life or whether the present value of the minimum lease payments exceed 90% of the fair value at lease inception.
Minimum percentage of useful life for lease term	75.00%
Percentage of minimum lease payment of fair value	90.00%
Adjustment attributable to the translation of non-monetary assets and liabilities	$ 10,000,000
Gains (losses) from foreign currency transaction	$ 52,300,000	26,100,000	(45,600,000)
Product warranty description	we also provide a warranty on the installation and components of the solar energy systems we sell for periods typically between 10 to 30 years.
Warranty costs incurred for operating lease vehicles collateralized debt arrangements	$ 35,500,000	19,000,000
Liability recognized related to guarantees	1,731,366,000	1,210,028,000
Additional Paid-In Capital [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Increase (decrease) in accumulated deficit and additional paid-in-capital	15,662,000
Accumulated Deficit [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Increase (decrease) in accumulated deficit and additional paid-in-capital	(15,662,000)
Adoption of ASU 2016-09
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Gross deferred tax assets increase	909,100,000
Adoption of ASU 2016-09 | Additional Paid-In Capital [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Increase (decrease) in accumulated deficit and additional paid-in-capital	15,700,000
Adoption of ASU 2016-09 | Accumulated Deficit [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Increase (decrease) in accumulated deficit and additional paid-in-capital	$ 15,700,000
Minimum [Member] | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Increase (decrease) in accumulated deficit and additional paid-in-capital				$ (520,000,000)
Maximum [Member] | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Increase (decrease) in accumulated deficit and additional paid-in-capital				$ (570,000,000)
Model S and X [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated productive life for tooling | Vehicles	250,000
Model 3 [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated productive life for tooling | Vehicles	1,000,000
Solar energy systems leased and to be leased [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives of assets (in years)	30 years
Liability recognized related to guarantees	$ 6,300,000	$ 6,600,000
Solar energy systems leased and to be leased [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives	2 years
Estimated useful lives of assets (in years)	30 years
Solar energy systems leased and to be leased [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives	30 years
Estimated useful lives of assets (in years)	35 years
Internal-use software [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives	3 years
Internal-use software [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives	10 years
0.25% Convertible Senior Notes due in 2019 ("2019 Notes") [Member] | Recourse debt [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Interest Rate	0.25%	0.25%
Maturity Dates	Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019
1.25% Convertible Senior Notes due in 2021 ("2021 Notes") [Member] | Recourse debt [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Interest Rate	1.25%	1.25%
Maturity Dates	Mar. 31, 2021	Mar. 31, 2021
2.375% Convertible Senior Notes due in 2022 [Member] | Recourse debt [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Interest Rate	2.375%
Maturity Dates	Mar. 31, 2022
Regulatory Credits [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Automotive revenues	$ 360,300,000	$ 302,300,000	168,700,000
Deferred lease revenue [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Deferred upfront payments	96,600,000	67,200,000
Automotive revenues	220,600,000	112,700,000	$ 41,200,000
Sales To Leasing Companies With Guarantee [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Deferred upfront payments	339,500,000	289,100,000
Resale value guarantees	1,640,000,000	1,180,000,000
Accounts receivable, net	26,200,000	57,000,000
Gigafactory [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Capital investments	$ 3,500,000,000
Incentive beginning period	Oct. 17, 2014
Incentive ending period	Jun. 30, 2034
Vehicle maintenance and service plans [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Deferred upfront payments	$ 498,900,000	291,200,000
Customer payments [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Deferred upfront payments	$ 320,000,000	$ 268,200,000