Fair Value of Financial Instruments - Additional Information (Detail) - Recourse debt [Member]	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
1.25% Convertible Senior Notes due in 2021 ("2021 Notes") [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring And Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Interest Rate	1.25%
Maturity Date	Mar. 31, 2021
5.30% Senior Notes due in 2025 ("2025 Notes") [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring And Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Interest Rate	5.30%	5.30%
Maturity Date	Aug. 31, 2025	Aug. 31, 2025
2.375% Convertible Senior Notes due in 2022 ("2022 Notes") [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring And Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Interest Rate	2.375%
Maturity Date	Mar. 31, 2022
2.00% Convertible Senior Notes due in 2024 ("2024 Notes") [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring And Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Interest Rate	2.00%
Maturity Date	May 31, 2024
Zero Coupon Convertible Senior Notes due in 2020 ("2020 Notes") [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring And Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Interest Rate	0.00%	0.00%
Maturity Date	Dec. 31, 2020

Contractual interest rate for funds borrowed, under the debt agreement.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22(a)(1))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentInterestRateStatedPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Date when the debt instrument is scheduled to be fully repaid, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22(a)(2))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (bbb)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=117815213&loc=d3e19207-110258

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentMaturityDate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:dateItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FairValueAssetsAndLiabilitiesMeasuredOnRecurringAndNonrecurringBasisLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis=tsla_RecourseDebtMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=tsla_OnePointTwoFivePercentConvertibleSeniorNoteDueInTwentyTwentyOneMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=tsla_FivePointThreeZeroPercentSeniorNotesDueTwentyTwentyFiveMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=tsla_TwoPointThreeSevenFivePercentConvertibleSeniorNotesDueInTwoThousandTwentyTwoMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=tsla_TwoPointZeroZeroPercentConvertibleSeniorNoteDueTwentyTwentyFourMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=tsla_ZeroCouponConvertibleSeniorNotesDueInTwoThousandTwentyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: