Fair Value of Financial Instruments - Additional Information (Detail)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
2024 Notes [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring And Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Interest Rate		2.00%
Recourse debt [Member] \| 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
Recourse debt [Member] \| 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
Recourse debt [Member] \| 5.50% Convertible Senior Notes due in 2022 [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring And Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Interest Rate	5.50%
Maturity year	2022
Recourse debt [Member] \| 2021 Notes [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring And Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Interest Rate	1.25%	1.25%
Maturity year	2021
Maturity Date	Mar. 31, 2021
Recourse debt [Member] \| 2022 Notes [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring And Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Interest Rate	2.375%	2.375%
Maturity year	2022
Maturity Date	Mar. 31, 2022
Recourse debt [Member] \| 2024 Notes [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring And Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Interest Rate	2.00%	2.00%
Maturity year	2024
Maturity Date	May 31, 2024

Debt instrument contractual maturity year.

No definition available.

Name:	tsla_DebtInstrumentContractualMaturityYear
Namespace Prefix:	tsla_
Data Type:	us-types:gYearListItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

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

+ 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 210.5-02.22(a)(1))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

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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=120391452&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

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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

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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- Details

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