Debt instrument annual interest rate as percentage of one year loan interest rate quoted by Bank.

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	tsla_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Debt instrument percentage of interest rate on variable rate.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	tsla_DebtInstrumentPercentageOfInterestRateOnVariableRate
Namespace Prefix:	tsla_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line of credit facility maturity month and year.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Percentage points added to the reference rate to compute the variable rate on the debt instrument.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentBasisSpreadOnVariableRate1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The reference rate for the variable rate of the debt instrument, such as LIBOR or the US Treasury rate and the maturity of the reference rate used, such as three months or six months LIBOR.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
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

- Definition

Maximum borrowing capacity under the credit facility without consideration of any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed or the amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

+ 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(b),22(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=120391452&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis=tsla_USDollarDenominatedLoansMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableRateAxis=tsla_PeoplesBankOfChinaOneYearRateMember
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_VariableRateAxis=us-gaap_LondonInterbankOfferedRateLIBORMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
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Period Type:

Debt - China Loan Agreements - Additional Information (Detail) - China Loan Agreements [Member] - CNY (¥)	1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2020
Unsecured 12-Month Revolving Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Senior asset-based revolving credit agreement, total lender commitments			¥ 5,000,000,000.0
Secured Term Loan Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Senior asset-based revolving credit agreement, total lender commitments		¥ 9,000,000,000.0
Secured Term Loan Facility [Member] \| U S Dollar Denominated Loans
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument interest rate description				(ii) for U.S. dollar-denominated loans, the sum of one-year LIBOR plus 1.3%
Unsecured Revolving Loan Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Senior asset-based revolving credit agreement, total lender commitments	¥ 4,000,000,000.00	¥ 2,250,000,000
Maturity date	2021-06
Unsecured Revolving Loan Facility [Member] \| U S Dollar Denominated Loans
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument interest rate description				(ii) for U.S. dollar-denominated loans, the sum of one-year LIBOR plus 0.8%.
Peoples Bank Of China One Year Rate \| Secured Term Loan Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument percentage of interest rate on variable rate		0.7625%
Peoples Bank Of China One Year Rate \| Unsecured Revolving Loan Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument percentage of interest rate on variable rate	0.35%	0.4525%
Peoples Bank Of China One Year Rate \| Maximum [Member] \| Unsecured 12-Month Revolving Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument percentage of annual interest rate			90.00%
LIBOR [Member] \| Secured Term Loan Facility [Member] \| U S Dollar Denominated Loans
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of credit, additional interest rate		1.30%
LIBOR [Member] \| Unsecured Revolving Loan Facility [Member] \| U S Dollar Denominated Loans
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of credit, additional interest rate	0.80%