Item 1. BUSINESS

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Overview

We design, develop, manufacture, sell and lease high-performance fully electric vehicles and energy generation and storage systems, and offer services related to our products. We are the world’s first vertically integrated sustainable energy company, offering end-to-end clean energy products, including generation, storage and consumption. We generally sell our products directly to customers, including through our website and retail locations. We also continue to grow our customer-facing infrastructure through a global network of vehicle service centers, Mobile Service technicians, body shops, Supercharger stations and Destination Chargers to accelerate the widespread adoption of our products. We emphasize performance, attractive styling and the safety of our users and workforce in the design and manufacture of our products, and are continuing to develop full self-driving technology for improved safety. We also strive to lower the cost of ownership for our customers through continuous efforts to reduce manufacturing costs and by offering financial services tailored to our vehicles. Our sustainable energy products, engineering expertise, intense focus to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy and achieve the benefits of autonomous driving, and business model differentiate us from other companies.

We currently offer or are planning to introduce electric vehicles to address a wide range of consumer and commercial vehicle markets, including Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X, Cybertruck, Tesla Semi and a new Tesla Roadster. In order to meet customers’ range, functionality and performance expectations, we have employed our considerable design and vehicle engineering capabilities to overcome the design, styling and performance issues that have historically limited broad adoption of electric vehicles. Combined with technical advancements in our powertrain system, Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (“FSD”) hardware, and neural net, our electric vehicles boast advantages such as leading range and recharging flexibility; superior acceleration, handling and safety characteristics; a unique suite of user convenience and infotainment features; the ability to have additional features enabled through over-the-air updates; and savings in charging, maintenance and other costs of ownership.

In furtherance of our mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, we have also developed an expertise in solar energy systems. We sell and lease retrofit solar energy systems for residential and commercial customers, and alternatively provide certain customers with access to our solar energy systems through power purchase or subscription-based arrangements. We also offer the Solar Roof, which features attractive and durable glass roof tiles integrated with solar energy generation. Our approach to the solar business emphasizes simplicity, standardization and accessibility to make it easy and cost-effective for customers to adopt clean energy, while reducing our customer acquisition costs.

Finally, we have leveraged our technological expertise in batteries, energy management, power electronics, and integrated systems from our vehicle powertrain systems to develop and manufacture energy storage products, including Powerwall, Powerpack and Megapack. These scalable systems may be used in homes, commercial facilities and on the utility grid, and are capable of numerous applications including backup or off-grid power, peak demand reduction, demand response, reducing intermittency of renewable energy generation, facilitation of the use of renewable energy generation over fossil fuel generation, and other grid services and wholesale electric market services. Drawing on our solar business expertise, we can also offer integrated systems combining energy generation and storage. Like our vehicles, our energy storage products can be remotely updated over-the-air with software or firmware improvements.

Segment Information

We operate as two reportable segments: (i) automotive and (ii) energy generation and storage.

The automotive segment includes the design, development, manufacturing, sales, and leasing of electric vehicles as well as sales of automotive regulatory credits. Additionally, the automotive segment is also comprised of services and other, which includes non-warranty after-sales vehicle services, sales of used vehicles, retail merchandise, sales by our acquired subsidiaries to third party customers, and vehicle insurance revenue. The energy generation and storage segment includes the design, manufacture, installation, sales, and leasing of solar energy generation and energy storage products, services related to such products, and sales of solar energy system incentives.

Our Products and Services

Automotive

Model 3

Model 3 is a four-door mid-size sedan that we designed for manufacturability with a base price for mass-market appeal, which we began delivering in July 2017. We currently manufacture Model 3 at the Fremont Factory as well as at Gigafactory Shanghai, where we are ramping production with an installed annual production capacity for 150,000 Model 3 vehicles. We currently offer Model 3 in rear-wheel drive and dual motor all-wheel drive variants, including a Performance version of the latter.

Model Y

Model Y is a compact sport utility vehicle (“SUV”) built on the Model 3 platform with the capability for seating for up to seven adults, which we began producing in January 2020 and expect to commence delivering in the first quarter of 2020. We currently manufacture Model Y at the Fremont Factory, and are further ramping production there and making preparations for production next at Gigafactory Shanghai. We currently offer Model Y in dual motor all-wheel drive Long Range and Performance versions.

Model S and Model X

Model S is a four-door full-size sedan that we began delivering in June 2012. Model S introduced Tesla vehicle mainstays such as a large touchscreen driver interface, Autopilot hardware, over-the-air software updates, and fast charging through our Supercharger network.

Model X is a mid-size SUV with seating for up to seven adults, which we began delivering in September 2015. Model X introduced features including unique falcon wing doors for easy access to passenger seating and an all-glass panoramic windshield.

Model S and Model X feature the highest performance characteristics and longest ranges that we offer in a sedan and SUV, respectively. These vehicles are equipped with a standard dual motor all-wheel drive powertrain, and are also available in Performance versions with enhanced acceleration and/or top speed and styling. We manufacture Model S and Model X at the Fremont Factory.

Future Consumer and Commercial Electric Vehicles

In addition, we have unveiled a number of planned electric vehicles to address a broader cross-section of the vehicle market, including specialized consumer electric vehicles in Cybertruck and the new Tesla Roadster and a commercial electric vehicle in Tesla Semi.

Energy Generation and Storage

Energy Storage Products

We began deliveries of the current generations of our Powerwall and Powerpack products in late 2016 and 2017, respectively, and of our Megapack product in late 2019. Powerwall is a 13.5 kilowatt hour (“kWh”) rechargeable lithium-ion battery with integrated inverter, designed to store energy at a home or small commercial facility. Powerpack and Megapack are fully integrated energy storage solutions for commercial, industrial, utility and energy generation customers, comprised of up to 232kWh (AC) battery packs and up to 700 kilovolt-ampere (at 480V) inverters for Powerpack and up to 3 megawatt hour (“MWh”) (AC) battery packs and up to 1.54 megavolt-ampere inverters for Megapack, multiple units of which may be grouped together to form larger installations, capable of reaching gigawatt hours (“GWh”) or greater. Powerpack and Megapack can also be combined with renewable energy generation sources to create microgrids that provide communities with clean, resilient and affordable power.

We also develop and advance our software capabilities for the control and optimal dispatch of energy storage systems across a wide range of markets and applications, which can be sent to our systems through over-the-air updates.

Solar Energy Offerings

The major components of our retrofit solar energy systems include solar panels that convert sunlight into electrical current, inverters that convert the electrical output from the panels to a usable current compatible with the electric grid, racking that attaches the solar panels to the roof or ground, electrical hardware that connects the solar energy system to the electric grid, and our monitoring device. We purchase the majority of these components, and we do so from multiple sources to ensure competitive pricing and adequate supply. We also design and manufacture certain components for our solar energy products. In addition to selling retrofit solar energy systems to customers and certain channel partners, we also make them available through lease and power purchase agreement (“PPA”) arrangements, currently with 20-year terms and typically with renewal options, and a subscription-based sale of solar power, which is currently available in California.

In 2019, we commenced direct customer and channel partner sales of the third generation of our Solar Roof, which features aesthetically pleasing and durable glass roofing tiles designed to complement the architecture of homes and commercial buildings while turning sunlight into electricity. We are ramping the volume production of this version of the Solar Roof at Gigafactory New York, and are increasing our installation capabilities by training our personnel and third party partners.

Technology

Automotive

Our core vehicle technology competencies include battery and powertrain engineering and manufacturing, as well as our ability to design vehicles that utilize the unique advantages of an electric powertrain. Our core intellectual property includes our electric powertrain and our work on developing self-driving technologies. Our powertrain consists of our battery pack, power electronics, motor, gearbox, and control software. We offer several powertrain variants for our vehicles that incorporate years of research and development. In addition, we have designed our vehicles to incorporate the latest advances in consumer technologies, such as mobile computing, sensing, displays, and connectivity.

Battery and Powertrain

We optimize the design of the lithium-ion cells we use and of our battery packs to achieve high energy density at decreasing costs while also maintaining safety, reliability and long life in the rigors of an automotive environment. Our proprietary technology includes systems for high density energy storage, cooling, safety, charge balancing, structural durability, and electronics management. We have also pioneered advanced manufacturing techniques to manufacture large volumes of battery packs with high quality at low cost. Moreover, we maintain extensive testing and R&D capabilities for battery cells, packs and systems, and have built an expansive body of knowledge on lithium-ion cell vendors, chemistry types and performance characteristics. We believe that the flexibility that we have built into our designs, combined with our research and real-world performance data, will enable us to continue to evaluate new battery cells and optimize battery pack system performance and cost for our current and future vehicles.

The power electronics in our electric powertrain govern the flow of electrical current throughout our vehicles as needed, convert direct current from the battery pack into alternating current to drive our vehicles’ motors (and vice versa from an external electricity source to charge the battery pack), and provide regenerative braking functionality. The primary technological advantages to our proprietary power electronics designs include the ability to drive large amounts of electrical current in a small physical package with high efficiency and low cost, and to recharge on a wide variety of electricity sources at home, at the office or on the road, including at our Superchargers.

We offer dual motor powertrain vehicles, which use two electric motors to maximize traction and performance in an all-wheel drive configuration. Tesla’s dual motor powertrain digitally and independently controls torque to the front and rear wheels. The near-instantaneous response of the motors, combined with low centers of gravity, provides drivers with controlled performance and increased traction control. We are also developing vehicle powertrain technology featuring three electric motors for further increased performance.

Vehicle Control and Infotainment Software

The performance and safety systems of our vehicles and their battery packs require sophisticated control software. There are numerous processors in our vehicles to control these functions, and we write custom firmware for many of these processors. Software algorithms control traction, vehicle stability, the acceleration and regenerative braking of the vehicle, climate control and thermal management, and are also used extensively to monitor the charge state of the battery pack and to manage all of its safety systems. Drivers use the information and control systems in our vehicles to optimize performance, customize vehicle behavior, manage charging modes and times and control all infotainment functions. We develop almost all of this software, including most of the user interfaces, internally.

Self-Driving Development

We have expertise in developing technologies, systems and software to achieve self-driving vehicles. We are equipping all new Tesla vehicles with hardware needed for full self-driving in the future, including a new powerful and proprietary on-board computer that we introduced in 2019. This hardware suite enables field data from the on-board camera, radar, ultrasonics, and GPS to continually train and improve our neural network for real-world performance.

Currently, we offer in our vehicles certain advanced driver assist systems under our Autopilot and FSD options, including auto-steering, traffic aware cruise control, automated lane changing, automated parking, driver warning systems, and a Smart Summon feature that enables vehicles to be remotely summoned over short distances in parking lots and driveways. These systems relieve our drivers of the most tedious and potentially dangerous aspects of road travel, and the field data feedback loops from the on-board hardware, as well as over-the-air firmware updates, allow us to improve them over time. Although at present the driver is ultimately responsible for controlling the vehicle, our systems provide safety and convenience functionality that allows our customers to rely on them much like the system that airplane pilots use when conditions permit.

Energy Generation and Storage

Energy Storage Products

We are leveraging many of the component-level technologies from our vehicles to advance our energy storage products, including high density energy storage, cooling, safety, charge balancing, structural durability, and electronics management. By taking a modular approach to the design of battery systems, we are able to maximize manufacturing capacity to produce our Powerwall, Powerpack and Megapack products. Additionally, we are making significant strides in the area of bi-directional, grid-tied power electronics that enable us to interconnect our battery systems seamlessly with global electricity grids while providing fast-acting systems for power injection and absorption.

Solar Energy Systems

We are continually innovating and developing new technologies to facilitate the growth of our solar energy business. For example, we have developed proprietary software to reduce solar energy system design and installation timelines and costs, and the Solar Roof is designed to work seamlessly with Powerwall.

Design and Engineering

Automotive

We have created significant in-house capabilities in the design and test engineering of electric vehicles and their components and systems. We design, engineer and test bodies, chassis, exteriors, interiors, heating and cooling and low voltage electrical systems in-house, and to a lesser extent, in conjunction with our suppliers. Our team has core competencies in computer aided design and crash test simulations, which reduces the product development time of new models. We continue to grow our capabilities, including for on-site crash testing, durability testing and component validation.

Additionally, our team has expertise in selecting and working with various materials. For example, given the impact of mass on range, which is very important for passenger vehicles, Model S and Model X are built with lightweight aluminum bodies and chassis which incorporate a variety of materials and production methods that help optimize vehicle weight, and Model 3 and Model Y are built with a mix of materials to be lightweight and safe while also increasing cost-effectiveness for these mass-market vehicles. On the other hand, to accommodate the durability required of work vehicles, we plan to use a thick cold-rolled stainless steel alloy and ultra-strong glass for Cybertruck while employing our expertise in battery engineering to maintain excellent range.

Energy Generation and Storage

Energy Storage Products

We have an in-house engineering team that both designs our energy storage products themselves, and works with our residential, commercial and utility customers to design bespoke systems incorporating our products. Our team’s expertise in electrical, mechanical, civil and software engineering enables us to create integrated energy storage solutions that meet the various and particular needs of our customers.

Solar Energy Systems

We also have an in-house team that designs a customized solar energy system or Solar Roof for each of our customers, including an integrated energy storage system when requested by the customer. We have developed software that simplifies and expedites the design process and optimizes the design to maximize the energy production of each system. This team completes a structural analysis of each building and produces a full set of structural design and electrical blueprints that contain the specifications for all system components. Additionally, this team specifies complementary mounting and grounding hardware where required.

Sales and Marketing

Historically, we have been able to generate significant media coverage of our company and our products, and we believe we will continue to do so. Such media coverage and word of mouth are the current primary drivers of our sales leads and have helped us achieve sales without traditional advertising and at relatively low marketing costs.

Automotive

Direct Sales

We market and sell our vehicles directly to customers using means that we believe will maximize our reach, improve the overall customer experience and maximize capital efficiency. Currently, our sales channels include our website and an international network of company-owned stores. In some states, we have also opened galleries to educate and inform customers about our products, but such locations do not actually transact in the sale of vehicles. We believe this infrastructure enables us to better control costs of inventory, manage warranty service and pricing, educate consumers about electric vehicles and charging, maintain and strengthen the Tesla brand, and obtain rapid customer feedback.

We reevaluate our sales strategy both globally and at a location-by-location level from time to time to optimize our current sales channels. Sales of vehicles in the automobile industry also tend to be cyclical in many markets, which may expose us to volatility from time to time.

Used Vehicle Sales

Our used vehicle business supports new vehicle sales by integrating the sale of a new Tesla vehicle with a customer’s trade-in needs for their existing Tesla and non-Tesla vehicles. The Tesla and non-Tesla vehicles we acquire through trade-ins are subsequently remarketed, either directly by us or through third-parties. We also receive used Tesla vehicles to resell through lease returns and other sources.

Public Charging

We continue to build out our global Supercharger network for our customers’ convenience, including to enable long-distance travel and urban ownership, which is a part of our strategy to remove a barrier to the broader adoption of electric vehicles caused by the perception of limited range. Each Tesla Supercharger is an industrial grade, high-speed charger designed to recharge a Tesla vehicle significantly more quickly than other charging options, and we continue to evolve our technology to allow for even faster charging times at lower cost to us. Where possible, we are co-locating Superchargers with our solar and energy storage systems to further reduce costs and promote renewable power. Supercharger stations typically are strategically placed along well-traveled routes and in dense city centers to allow Tesla vehicle owners the ability to enjoy quick, reliable and ubiquitous charging with convenient, minimal stops. Use of the Supercharger network is either free under certain sales programs or requires a competitive fee.

We also work with a wide variety of hospitality, retail, and public destinations, as well as businesses with commuting employees, to offer additional charging options for our customers. These Destination Charging and workplace locations deploy Tesla Wall Connectors to provide charging to Tesla vehicle owners who patronize or are employed at their businesses. We also work with single-family homeowners and multi-family residential entities to deploy home charging solutions in our communities.

Energy Generation and Storage

We market and sell our solar and energy storage products to individuals, commercial and industrial customers and utilities through a variety of channels.

In the U.S., we offer residential solar and energy storage products directly through our website, stores and galleries, as well as through our network of channel partners. Outside of the U.S., we use our international sales organization and a network of channel partners to market and sell these products for the residential market. We also sell Powerwall directly to utilities. In the case of products sold to such utilities or channel partners, such partners typically sell and install the product in customer homes.

We sell Powerpack and Megapack systems to commercial and utility customers through our international sales organization, which consists of experienced energy industry professionals in all of our target markets, as well as through our channel partner network. In certain jurisdictions, we also sell installed solar energy systems (with or without energy storage) to commercial customers through cash, lease and PPA transactions.

Service and Warranty

Automotive

Service

We provide service for our electric vehicles at our company-owned service locations and through an expanding fleet of Tesla Mobile Service technicians who provide services that do not require a vehicle lift remotely at customers’ homes or other locations. Performing vehicle service ourselves provides us with the capability to identify problems, find solutions, and incorporate improvements faster, and optimize logistics and inventory for service parts better, than traditional automobile manufacturers. Our vehicles are also designed with the capability to wirelessly upload data to us via an on-board system with cellular connectivity, allowing us to diagnose and remedy many problems before ever looking at the vehicle.

Vehicle Limited Warranty and Extended Service Plans

We provide a manufacturer’s warranty on all new and used Tesla vehicles. Each new vehicle has a four year or 50,000 mile New Vehicle Limited Warranty, subject to separate limited warranties for the supplemental restraint system, battery and drive unit, and body rust perforation. For the battery and drive unit on our current new Model S and Model X vehicles, we offer an eight year, 150,000 mile limited warranty, with minimum 70% retention of battery capacity over the warranty period. For the battery and drive unit on our current new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, we offer an eight year or 100,000 mile limited warranty for our Standard or Standard Range Plus battery and an eight year or 120,000 mile limited warranty for our Long Range or Performance battery, with minimum 70% retention of battery capacity over the warranty period.

In addition to the New Vehicle Limited Warranty, we currently offer for Model S and Model X Extended Service plans for new vehicles in specified regions. The Extended Service plans cover the repair or replacement of vehicle parts for up to an additional four years or up to an additional 50,000 miles after the expiration of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty.

Energy Generation and Storage

Energy Storage Systems

We generally provide a 10-year “no defect” and “energy retention” warranty with every current Powerwall and a 15-year “no defect” and “energy retention” warranty with every current Powerpack or Megapack system. Pursuant to these energy retention warranties, we guarantee that the energy capacity of the applicable product will be at least a specified percentage (within a range up to 80%) of its nameplate capacity during specified time periods, depending on the product, battery pack size and/or region of installation, and subject to specified use restrictions or kWh throughputs caps. In addition, we offer certain extended warranties, which customers are able to purchase from us at the time they purchase an energy storage system, including a 20 year extended protection plan for Powerwall and a selection of 10 or 20 year performance guarantees for Powerpack and Megapack. In circumstances where we install a Powerwall or Powerpack system, we also provide certain warranties on our installation workmanship. All of the warranties for our energy storage systems are subject to customary limitations and exclusions.

Solar Energy Systems

For retrofit solar energy systems, we provide a workmanship warranty for up to 20 years from installation and a separate warranty against roof leaks. We also pass-through the inverter and module manufacturer warranties (typically 10 years and 25 years respectively). When we lease a retrofit solar energy system, we compensate the customer if their system produces less energy than guaranteed over a specified period. For the Solar Roof, we provide a warranty against defects for 25 years, a 25 year weatherization warranty and a power output warranty. For all systems (retrofit and Solar Roof) we also provide service and repair (either under warranty or for a fee) during the entire term of the customer relationship.

Financial Services

Automotive

Purchase Financing and Leases

We offer leasing and/or loan financing arrangements for our vehicles in certain jurisdictions in North America, Europe and Asia through various financial institutions. In certain international markets, we offer resale value guarantees to customers who purchase and finance their vehicles through one of our specified commercial banking partners, under which those customers have the option of selling their vehicles back to us at preset future dates, generally at the end of the terms of the applicable loans or financing programs, for pre-determined resale values. In certain markets, we also offer vehicle buyback guarantees to financial institutions, which may obligate us to repurchase the vehicles for pre-determined prices.

We also currently offer leasing directly through our local subsidiaries for Model S, Model X and Model 3 in the U.S. and for Model S and Model X in Canada.

Insurance

In August 2019, we launched an insurance product designed for our customers, which offers rates that are often better than other alternatives. This product is currently available in California, and we plan to expand both the markets in which we offer insurance products and our ability to offer such products, as part of our ongoing effort to decrease the total cost of ownership for our customers.

Energy Generation and Storage

Energy Storage Systems

We currently offer a loan product to residential customers who purchase Powerwall together with a new solar energy system, and lease and PPA options to commercial customers who purchase a Powerpack system together with a new solar energy system. We intend to introduce financial services offerings for customers who purchase standalone energy storage products in the future.

Solar Energy Systems

We are an industry leader in offering innovative financing alternatives that allow our customers to take direct advantage of available tax credits and incentives to reduce the cost of owning a solar energy system through a solar loan, or to make the switch to solar energy with little to no upfront costs under a lease or PPA. Our solar loan offers third-party financing directly to a qualified customer to enable the customer to purchase and own a solar energy system. We are not a party to the loan agreement between the customer and the third-party lender, and the third-party lender has no recourse against us with respect to the loan. Our solar lease offers customers a fixed monthly fee, at rates that typically translate into lower monthly utility bills, and an electricity production guarantee. Our solar PPA charges customers a fee per kWh based on the amount of electricity produced by our solar energy systems. We monetize the customer payments we receive from our leases and PPAs through funds we have formed with investors. We also intend to introduce financial services offerings for our Solar Roof customers in the future.

Manufacturing

We manufacture our products and related components primarily at the Fremont Factory and at nearby facilities in the Bay Area, California; Gigafactory Nevada near Reno, Nevada; Gigafactory New York in Buffalo, New York; and Gigafactory Shanghai in China. We have also selected a site near Berlin, Germany to build a factory for the European market, which we refer to as Gigafactory Berlin.

Manufacturing Facilities in the Bay Area, California

We manufacture our vehicles, and certain parts and components that are critical to our intellectual property and quality standards, at our manufacturing facilities in the Bay Area in California, including the Fremont Factory, and other local manufacturing facilities. Our Bay Area facilities contain several manufacturing operations, including stamping, machining, casting, plastics, body assembly, paint operations, seat assembly, final vehicle assembly and end-of-line testing for our vehicles, as well as production of battery packs and drive units for Model S and Model X. Some major vehicle component systems are purchased from suppliers; however, we have a high level of vertical integration in our manufacturing processes at our Bay Area facilities.

Gigafactory Nevada

Gigafactory Nevada is a facility where we work together with our suppliers to integrate battery material, cell, module and battery pack production in one location. We use the battery packs manufactured at Gigafactory Nevada for Model 3, Model Y and our energy storage products. We also manufacture Model 3 and Model Y drive units at Gigafactory Nevada. Finally, the assembly of Megapack systems takes place at Gigafactory Nevada, allowing us to ship deployment-ready systems directly to customers.

We have designed Gigafactory Nevada to allow us access to high volumes of lithium-ion battery cells while achieving a significant reduction in the cost of our battery packs, and we have an agreement with Panasonic to partner with us on Gigafactory Nevada with investments in production equipment that it is using to manufacture and supply us with battery cells. Given its importance to the production of our vehicle and energy storage products, in particular Model 3, Model Y and Megapack, we continue to invest in Gigafactory Nevada to achieve additional production output there.

Gigafactory New York

We have primarily used our manufacturing facility in Buffalo, New York, which we refer to as Gigafactory New York, for the development and production of our Solar Roof and other solar products and components, energy storage components, and Supercharger components, and for other lessor-approved functions. In particular, our manufacturing operations at Gigafactory New York are increasing significantly as we ramp the production of the third generation of our Solar Roof there.

Gigafactory Shanghai

In December 2019, we commenced production of Model 3 vehicles at Gigafactory Shanghai, which we have established in order to increase the affordability of our vehicles for customers in local markets by reducing transportation and manufacturing costs and eliminating certain tariffs on vehicles imported into China from the U.S. At Gigafactory Shanghai, we have installed annual production capacity for 150,000 Model 3 vehicles that we believe we will eventually be able to push to actual rates of production in excess of such number, subject to local production of battery packs, which we began ramping there later than other processes. We have also commenced construction of the next phase of Gigafactory Shanghai to add Model Y manufacturing capacity at least equivalent to that for Model 3. Much of the investment in Gigafactory Shanghai has been and is expected to continue to be provided through local debt financing, including a RMB 9.0 billion (or the equivalent amount in U.S. dollars) fixed asset term facility and a RMB 2.25 billion (or the equivalent amount in U.S. dollars) working capital revolving facility that our subsidiary entered into in December 2019. We are supplementing such financing with limited direct capital expenditures by us, at a lower cost per unit of production capacity than that of Model 3 production at the Fremont Factory.

Other Manufacturing

Generally, we continue to expand production capacity at our existing facilities. We also intend to further increase cost-competitiveness in our significant markets by strategically adding local manufacturing, including at our planned Gigafactory Berlin.

Supply Chain

Our products use thousands of purchased parts that are sourced from hundreds of suppliers across the world. We have developed close relationships with vendors of key parts such as battery cells, electronics and complex vehicle assemblies. Certain components purchased from these suppliers are shared or are similar across many product lines, allowing us to take advantage of pricing efficiencies from economies of scale.

As is the case for most automotive companies, most of our procured components and systems are sourced from single suppliers. Certain key components we use have multiple available sources, and we work to qualify multiple suppliers for each such component where it is sensible to do so, in order to minimize production risks owing to disruptions in their supply. We also mitigate risk by maintaining safety stock for key parts and assemblies and die banks for components with lengthy procurement lead times.

Our products use various raw materials including aluminum, steel, cobalt, lithium, nickel and copper. Pricing for these materials is governed by market conditions and may fluctuate due to various factors outside of our control, such as supply and demand and market speculation. We currently believe that we have adequate access to raw materials supplies in order to meet the needs of our operations.

Governmental Programs, Incentives and Regulations

Globally, both the operation of our business by us and the ownership of our products by our customers are impacted by a number of government programs, incentives and other arrangements. Our business and products are also subject to a number of governmental regulations that vary among jurisdictions.

Programs and Incentives

California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority Tax Incentives

We have entered into multiple agreements over the past few years with the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (“CAEATFA”) that provide multi-year sales tax exclusions on purchases of manufacturing equipment that will be used for specific purposes, including the expansion and ongoing development of Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y and future electric vehicles and the expansion of electric vehicle powertrain production in California.

Gigafactory Nevada—Nevada Tax Incentives

In connection with the construction of Gigafactory Nevada, we have entered into agreements with the State of Nevada and Storey County in Nevada that provide abatements for sales, use, real property, personal property and employer excise taxes, discounts to the base tariff energy rates and transferable tax credits. These incentives are available for the applicable periods beginning on October 17, 2014 and ending on either June 30, 2024 or June 30, 2034 (depending on the incentive). Under these agreements, we were eligible for a maximum of $195.0 million of transferable tax credits, subject to capital investments by us and our partners for Gigafactory Nevada of at least $3.50 billion, which we exceeded during 2017, and specified hiring targets for Gigafactory Nevada, which we exceeded during 2018. As a result, as of December 31, 2018, we had earned the maximum amount of credits.

Gigafactory New York—New York State Investment and Lease

We have a lease through the Research Foundation for the State University of New York (the “SUNY Foundation”) for Gigafactory New York, which was constructed on behalf of the SUNY Foundation. Under the lease and a related research and development agreement, there continues to be, on behalf of the SUNY Foundation, installation of certain utilities and other improvements and acquisition of certain manufacturing equipment designated by us to be used at Gigafactory New York. The terms of such agreement require us to comply with a number of covenants, including required hiring and cumulative investment targets, which we have met to date as of the applicable measurement dates.

Gigafactory Shanghai—Lease and Land Use Rights

We have a lease arrangement with the local government of Shanghai for land use rights at Gigafactory Shanghai. Under the terms of the arrangement, we are required to meet a cumulative capital expenditure target and an annual tax revenue target starting at the end of 2023, which we believe will be attainable even if our actual vehicle production at Gigafactory Shanghai were far lower than the volumes we are forecasting.

Tesla Regulatory Credits

In connection with the production, delivery, placement into service and ongoing operation of our zero emission vehicles, charging infrastructure and solar systems in global markets, we have earned and will continue to earn various tradable regulatory credits. We have sold these credits, and will continue to sell future credits, to automotive companies and other regulated entities who can use the credits to comply with emission standards and other regulatory requirements. For example, under California’s Zero Emission Vehicle Regulation and those of states that have adopted California’s standard, vehicle manufacturers are required to earn or purchase credits, referred to as ZEV credits, for compliance with their annual regulatory requirements. These laws provide that automakers may bank or sell to other regulated parties their excess credits if they earn more credits than the minimum quantity required by those laws. Tesla also earns other types of saleable regulatory credits in the United States and abroad, including greenhouse gas, fuel economy, renewable energy, and clean fuels credits. Likewise, several U.S. states have adopted procurement requirements for renewable energy production. These requirements enable companies deploying solar energy to earn tradable credits known as Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (“SRECs”).

Energy Storage Systems—Incentives

The regulatory regime for energy storage projects is still under development. Nevertheless, there are various policies, incentives and financial mechanisms at the federal, state and local levels that support the adoption of energy storage. For example, energy storage systems that are charged using solar energy are eligible for the 26% tax credit in 2020 with a ramp down in 2021 and beyond under Section 48(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the IRC, as described below. In addition, California and a number of other states have adopted procurement targets for energy storage, and behind the meter energy storage systems qualify for funding under the California Self Generation Incentive Program.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) has also taken steps to enable the participation of energy storage in wholesale energy markets. For example, in late 2016, FERC issued a final rule, Order No. 821, to further break down barriers preventing energy storage from fully participating in wholesale energy markets. Order 821 is currently under review before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Solar Energy Systems—Government and Utility Programs and Incentives

U.S. federal, state and local governments have established various policies, incentives and financial mechanisms to reduce the cost of solar energy and to accelerate the adoption of solar energy. These incentives include tax credits, cash grants, tax abatements and rebates.

The federal government currently provides an uncapped investment tax credit (“ITC”) under two sections of the IRC: Section 48 and Section 25D. Section 48(a)(3) of the IRC allows a taxpayer to claim a credit of 26% of qualified expenditures for a commercial solar energy system that commences construction by December 31, 2020. The credit then declines to 22% in 2021 and a permanent 10% thereafter. We claim the Section 48 commercial credit when available for both our residential and commercial projects, based on ownership of the solar energy system. The federal government also provides accelerated depreciation for eligible commercial solar energy systems. Section 25D of the IRC allows a homeowner-taxpayer to claim a credit of 26% of qualified expenditures for a residential solar energy system owned by the homeowner that is placed in service by December 31, 2020. The credit then declines to 22% in 2021 and is scheduled to expire thereafter. Customers who purchase their solar energy systems for cash or through our solar loan offering are eligible to claim the Section 25D investment tax credit.

In addition to the federal ITC, many U.S. states offer personal and corporate tax credits and incentives for solar energy systems.

Regulations

Vehicle Safety and Testing

Our vehicles are subject to, and comply with or are otherwise exempt from, numerous regulatory requirements established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), including all applicable United States Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (“FMVSS”). Our vehicles fully comply with all applicable FMVSSs without the need for any exemptions, and we expect future Tesla vehicles to either fully comply or comply with limited exemptions related to new technologies. Additionally, there are regulatory changes being considered for several FMVSS, and while we anticipate compliance, there is no assurance until final regulation changes are enacted.

As a manufacturer, we must self-certify that our vehicles meet all applicable FMVSS, as well as the NHTSA bumper standard, or otherwise are exempt, before the vehicles can be imported or sold in the U.S. Numerous FMVSS apply to our vehicles, such as crash-worthiness requirements, crash avoidance requirements, and electric vehicle requirements. We are also required to comply with other federal laws administered by NHTSA, including the CAFE standards, Theft Prevention Act requirements, consumer information labeling requirements, Early Warning Reporting requirements regarding warranty claims, field reports, death and injury reports and foreign recalls, and owner’s manual requirements.

The Automobile Information and Disclosure Act requires manufacturers of motor vehicles to disclose certain information regarding the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, optional equipment and pricing. In addition, this law allows inclusion of city and highway fuel economy ratings, as determined by EPA, as well as crash test ratings as determined by NHTSA if such tests are conducted.

Our vehicles sold outside of the U.S. are subject to similar foreign safety, environmental and other regulations. Many of those regulations are different from those applicable in the U.S. and may require redesign and/or retesting. The European Union has established new rules regarding additional compliance oversight that are scheduled to commence in 2020, and there is also regulatory uncertainty related to the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. These changes could impact the rollout of new vehicle features in Europe.

Self-Driving

There are no federal U.S. regulations pertaining to the safety of self-driving vehicles; however, NHTSA has established recommended guidelines. Certain U.S. states have legal restrictions on self-driving vehicles, and many other states are considering them. This patchwork increases the legal complexity for our vehicles. In Europe, certain vehicle safety regulations apply to self-driving braking and steering systems, and certain treaties also restrict the legality of certain higher levels of self-driving vehicles. Self-driving laws and regulations are expected to continue to evolve in numerous jurisdictions in the U.S. and foreign countries, and may create restrictions on self-driving features that we develop.

Automobile Manufacturer and Dealer Regulation

State laws regulate the manufacture, distribution, sale and service of automobiles, and generally require motor vehicle manufacturers and dealers to be licensed in order to sell vehicles directly to consumers in the state. As we open additional Tesla stores and service centers, we secure dealer licenses (or their equivalent) and engage in sales activities to sell our vehicles directly to consumers. Certain states do not permit automobile manufacturers to be licensed as dealers or to act in the capacity of a dealer, or otherwise restrict a manufacturer’s ability to deliver or service vehicles. To sell vehicles to residents of states where we are not licensed as a dealer, we generally conduct the transfer of title out of the state. In such states, we have opened “galleries” that serve an educational purpose and where the title transfer may not occur.

As we expand our retail footprint in the U.S., some automobile dealer trade associations have both challenged the legality of our operations in court and used administrative and legislative processes to attempt to prohibit or limit our ability to operate existing stores or expand to new locations. We expect that the dealer associations will continue to mount challenges to our business model. In addition, we expect the dealer associations to actively lobby state licensing agencies and legislators to interpret existing laws or enact new laws in ways not favorable to Tesla’s ownership and operation of its own retail and service locations, and we intend to actively fight any such efforts to limit our ability to sell and service our own vehicles.

Battery Safety and Testing

Our battery pack conforms to mandatory regulations that govern transport of “dangerous goods,” defined to include lithium-ion batteries, which may present a risk in transportation. The regulations vary by mode of shipping transportation, such as by ocean vessel, rail, truck, or air. We have completed the applicable transportation tests for our battery packs, demonstrating our compliance with applicable regulations.

We use lithium-ion cells in our high voltage battery packs in our vehicles and energy storage products. The use, storage, and disposal of our battery packs is regulated under federal law. We have agreements with third party battery recycling companies to recycle our battery packs and we are also developing our own recycling technology.

Solar Energy—General

We are not a “regulated utility” in the U.S., although we are subject to certain state and federal regulations applicable to solar and battery storage providers. To operate our systems, we obtain interconnection agreements from the utilities. In most cases, interconnection agreements are standard form agreements that have been pre-approved by the public utility commission or other regulatory body.

Sales of electricity and non-sale equipment leases by third parties, such as our leases, PPAs and subscription agreements, face regulatory challenges in some states and jurisdictions.

Solar Energy—Net Metering

Most states in the U.S. have a regulatory policy known as net energy metering, or net metering, available to solar customers. Net metering typically allows solar customers to interconnect their on-site solar energy systems to the utility grid and offset their utility electricity purchases by receiving a bill credit for excess energy generated by their solar energy system that is exported to the grid. In certain jurisdictions, regulators or utilities have reduced or eliminated the benefit available under net metering, or have proposed to do so.

Solar Energy—Mandated Renewable Capacity

Many states also have adopted procurement requirements for renewable energy production, such as an enforceable renewable portfolio standard, or RPS, or other policies that require covered entities to procure a specified percentage of total electricity delivered to customers in the state from eligible renewable energy sources, such as solar energy systems. In SREC state markets, the RPS requires electricity suppliers to secure a portion of their electricity from solar generators. The SREC program provides a means for the generation of SRECs, which can then be sold separately from the energy produced to covered entities who surrender the SRECs to the state to prove compliance with the state’s renewable energy mandate.

Competition

Automotive

The worldwide automotive market is highly competitive and we expect it will become even more competitive in the future as we introduce additional vehicles in a broader cross-section of the passenger and commercial vehicle market and expand our vehicles’ capabilities.

We believe that our vehicles compete in the market both based on their traditional segment classification as well as based on their propulsion technology. For example, Model S and Model X compete primarily with premium sedans and premium SUVs and Model 3 and Model Y compete with small to medium-sized sedans and compact SUVs, which are extremely competitive markets. Competing products typically include internal combustion vehicles from more established automobile manufacturers; however, many established and new automobile manufacturers have entered or have announced plans to enter the alternative fuel vehicle market. Overall, we believe these announcements and vehicle introductions promote the development of the alternative fuel vehicle market by highlighting the attractiveness of alternative fuel vehicles, particularly those fueled by electricity, relative to the internal combustion vehicle. Many major automobile manufacturers have electric vehicles available today in major markets including the U.S., China and Europe, and other current and prospective automobile manufacturers are also developing electric vehicles. In addition, several manufacturers offer hybrid vehicles, including plug-in versions.

Our vehicles also compete in the market based on the compelling user experience that they offer. We believe that a key factor in our success will be our Autopilot and FSD technologies that currently enable the driver-assistance features in our vehicles, and in which we are making significant strides through our proprietary and powerful FSD computer and remotely updateable artificial intelligence software. Ultimately, while we are subject to regulatory constraints over which we have no control, our goal is a fully autonomously-driven future that improves safety and provides our customers with convenience and additional income through participation in an autonomous Tesla ride-hailing network. This network, which will also include our own fleet of vehicles, will also allow us to access a new customer base even as modes of transportation evolve. Finally, our vehicles offer unparalleled in-vehicle entertainment features, currently including Internet search, music services, passenger karaoke, and parked video streaming and gaming.

Energy Generation and Storage

Energy Storage Systems

The market for energy storage products is also highly competitive. Established companies, such as AES Energy Storage, Siemens, LG Chem and Samsung, as well as various emerging companies, have introduced products that are similar to our product portfolio. There are several companies providing individual components of energy storage systems (such as cells, battery modules, and power electronics) as well as others providing integrated systems. We compete with these companies based on price, energy density and efficiency. We believe that the specifications of our products, our strong brand, and the modular, scalable nature of our Powerpack and Megapack products give us a competitive advantage when marketing our products.

Solar Energy Systems

The primary competitors to our solar energy business are the traditional local utility companies that supply energy to our potential customers. We compete with these traditional utility companies primarily based on price, predictability of price and the ease by which customers can switch to electricity generated by our solar energy systems. We also compete with solar energy companies that provide products and services similar to ours. Many solar energy companies only install solar energy systems, while others only provide financing for these installations. In the residential solar energy system installation market, our primary competitors include Vivint Solar Inc., Sunrun Inc., Trinity Solar, SunPower Corporation, and many smaller local solar companies.

The electricity produced by solar installations still represents a small fraction of total U.S. electricity generation. With tens of millions of single-family homes and businesses in our primary service territories, and many more in other locations, we have a large opportunity to expand and grow this business as we make our retrofit installations more accessible and ramp our innovative Solar Roof. We also believe that residential solar energy generation is gaining favorable regulatory momentum, as exemplified in part by the state of California recently requiring that new homes be built with solar generation starting in 2020.

Intellectual Property

We place a strong emphasis on our innovative approach and proprietary designs which bring intrinsic value and uniqueness to our product portfolio. As part of our business, we seek to protect the underlying intellectual property rights of these innovations and designs such as with respect to patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and other measures, including through employee and third party nondisclosure agreements and other contractual arrangements. For example, we place a high priority on obtaining patents to provide the broadest and strongest possible protection to enable our freedom to operate our innovations and designs within our products and technologies in the electric vehicle market as well as to protect and defend our product portfolio. We have also adopted a patent policy in which we irrevocably pledged that we will not initiate a lawsuit against any party for infringing our patents through activity relating to electric vehicles or related equipment for so long as such party is acting in good faith. We made this pledge in order to encourage the advancement of a common, rapidly-evolving platform for electric vehicles, thereby benefiting ourselves, other companies making electric vehicles, and the world.

Employees

As of December 31, 2019, Tesla, Inc. had 48,016 full-time employees. To date, we have not experienced any work stoppages, and we consider our relationship with our employees to be good.

Available Information

We file or furnish periodic reports and amendments thereto, including our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In addition, the SEC maintains a website (www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically. Our website is located at www.tesla.com, and our reports, amendments thereto, proxy statements and other information are also made available, free of charge, on our investor relations website at ir.tesla.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such information with the SEC. The information posted on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.