The 10,000,000th Tesla electric motor installed in a Model 3

The tenth millionth electric motor in the history of the manufacturer Tesla rolled off the line at the Chinese factory in Shanghai.

The “milestone” was reached on July 31, 2024: 10 million electric motors in circulation. This one was installed in a Tesla Model 3 Performance, with no further details on whether it is the front or rear unit of this all-wheel-drive model.

A question quickly arises: why 10 million motors, when the 5 million mark of Tesla vehicles produced was surpassed in November 2023? In fact, the 6 million threshold has just been reached, which indicates the mix between single and dual motor versions among customers.

The proportion of all-wheel-drive versions is nevertheless expected to decrease. Previously, a so-called Dual Motor version was needed to achieve the best range, but this is no longer the case with the Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive trims on the Model Y and Model 3 (not yet available in Europe).

Motors that are increasingly compact and powerful

Tesla does not hesitate to define this 10 millionth motor as the “heart” of the soul of its cars. At Mobiwisy, we see only a coil and magnets, nothing very exciting compared to a Porsche flat-6 or a Ferrari V12, but oh well…

However, it should be noted that in the case of this motor mounted in a Chinese Model 3 Performance, Tesla claims a power increase of 32% compared to the previous generation. From this, we deduce that it is likely a rear motor whose power has increased from 235 to 303 kW (from 319 to 411 horsepower). The front motor has not evolved, with a power of 158 kW (214 hp).

This symbolic milestone nevertheless demonstrates the relative business health of Tesla, which aims—not likely to achieve it due to declining sales—to reach and surpass 2 million vehicles produced/sold in 2024. Toyota remains the world’s leading automaker, with nearly 9 million cars produced annually. Tesla still has a long way to go.

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