Debt - 2021, 2022 and 2024 Notes - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020 USD ($) d	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Net Carrying Value, Current	$ 2,851	$ 1,399
Difference between the aggregate principal and carrying value as mezzanine equity	$ 60
Notes [member] \| Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument convertible, percentage of conversion price	130.00%
Notes [member] \| One Hundred Thirty Percent Applicable Conversion Price [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument convertible consecutive trading days \| d	20
Notes [member] \| One Hundred Thirty Percent Applicable Conversion Price [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument convertible trading days \| d	30
Recourse debt [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Net Carrying Value, Current	$ 1,589	$ 253
Recourse debt [Member] \| 1.25% Convertible Senior Notes due in 2021 ("2021 Notes") [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Maturity date	2021-03	2021-03
Net Carrying Value, Current	$ 1,320
Difference between the aggregate principal and carrying value as mezzanine equity	$ 60

Debt instrument contractual maturity month and year.

No definition available.

Name:	tsla_DebtInstrumentContractualMaturityMonthAndYear
Namespace Prefix:	tsla_
Data Type:	xbrli:gYearMonthItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Debt instrument convertible conversion price percentage.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	tsla_DebtInstrumentConvertibleConversionPricePercentage
Namespace Prefix:	tsla_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Reclassifications of temporary equity to equity component of debt instrument.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	tsla_ReclassificationsOfTemporaryEquityToEquityComponentOfDebtInstrument
Namespace Prefix:	tsla_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of short-term debt and current maturity of long-term debt and capital lease obligations due within one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer.

+ References

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 210.5-02.19,20)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Threshold period of specified consecutive trading days within which common stock price to conversion price of convertible debt instrument must exceed threshold percentage for specified number of trading days to trigger conversion feature.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentConvertibleThresholdConsecutiveTradingDays1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Threshold number of specified trading days that common stock price to conversion price of convertible debt instruments must exceed threshold percentage within a specified consecutive trading period to trigger conversion feature.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentConvertibleThresholdTradingDays
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
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_DebtInstrumentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

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

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtConversionByUniqueDescriptionAxis=tsla_OneHundredThirtyPercentApplicableConversionPriceMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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

- Details

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