Document and Entity Information - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021	Jan. 31, 2022	Jun. 30, 2021
Cover [Abstract]
Document Type	10-K/A
Amendment Flag	true
Amendment Description	On February 7, 2022, Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) filed our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 (the “Original Form 10-K”). The Original Form 10-K omitted Part III, Items 10 (Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance), 11 (Executive Compensation), 12 (Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters), 13 (Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence) and 14 (Principal Accountant Fees and Services) in reliance on General Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K, which provides that such information may be either incorporated by reference from the registrant’s definitive proxy statement or included in an amendment to Form 10-K, in either case filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year. We currently expect that our definitive proxy statement for the 2022 annual meeting of stockholders will be filed later than the 120th day after the end of the last fiscal year. Accordingly, this Amendment No. 1 to Form 10-K (this “Amendment”) is being filed solely to:   • amend Part III, Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of the Original Form 10-K to include the information required by such Items;   • delete the reference on the cover of the Original Form 10-K to the incorporation by reference of portions of our proxy statement into Part III of the Original Form 10-K; and   • file new certifications of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer as exhibits to this Amendment under Item 15 of Part IV hereof, pursuant to Rule 12b-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). This Amendment does not otherwise change or update any of the disclosures set forth in the Original Form 10-K and does not otherwise reflect any events occurring after the filing of the Original Form 10-K.
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2021
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2021
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Trading Symbol	TSLA
Security 12b Title	Common stock
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
Entity Registrant Name	Tesla, Inc.
Entity Central Index Key	0001318605
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Interactive Data Current	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Small Business	false
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Shell Company	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		1,033,507,611
Entity Public Float			$ 541,280
Document Annual Report	true
Document Transition Report	false
Entity File Number	001-34756
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Entity Tax Identification Number	91-2197729
Entity Address, Address Line One	1 Tesla Road
Entity Address, City or Town	Austin
Entity Address, State or Province	TX
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	78725
City Area Code	512
Local Phone Number	516-8177
ICFR Auditor Attestation Flag	true
Auditor Name	PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Auditor Firm ID	238
Auditor Location	San Jose, California