Tesla produced the first mass-market electric car to sell more than one million units with the Model 3.
Tesla’s Model 3 passed one million cumulative deliveries in 2021, becoming the first electric car model to reach that threshold. It was designed as a comparatively affordable vehicle that could bring battery-electric driving to a much larger audience.
Tesla began deliveries of the Model 3 in 2017. The company had previously built the Roadster, Model S, and Model X, but the Model 3’s lower price and high production volume made it the company’s major mass-market breakthrough.
Sales rankings can vary depending on whether a source counts deliveries, registrations, or production. The one-million milestone here refers to Tesla’s reported cumulative Model 3 deliveries, not every electric vehicle sold by Tesla.