Tesla commemorated its 10th anniversary in China, where the US electric vehicle (EV) maker boasts a user base exceeding 1.7 million, as announced today on Weibo.
“10 years ago today, we put the flagship coupe Model S in the hands of 15 consumers who were at the forefront of their time,” Tesla wrote in Chinese on Weibo.
“Today, 10 years later, we are serving more than 1.7 million Tesla owners in China. Tesla has more than 6 million owners globally and China has more than 20 million new energy vehicle (NEV) ownership,” it said.
On April 22, 2014, Tesla CEO Elon Musk delivered the keys of the Model S to the first Chinese owners, including Xiaomi founder Lei Jun and Li Auto founder Li Xiang.
Xiaomi launched its first EV model, the SU7, last month, a strong competitor to the Model 3. Li Auto’s models are all SUVs except for one MPV, and they compete primarily with the Model Y.
In 2014, China didn’t have green license plates exclusive to NEVs, and early owners of Teslas used the same blue license plates as fuel vehicles. Today, there are still many Model S and Model X with blue license plates that can be seen on the road.
Tesla began construction of its Shanghai factory on January 7, 2019, and put the plant into operation at the end of 2019, making it China’s first wholly foreign-owned auto manufacturing project.
