Tesla Just Zipped Past $700 Billion In Market Value

It was bound to happen. After joining the S&P500 at the very end of last year, Tesla announced that it produced 500,000 electric vehicles and delivered almost that many for the entire year of 2020. Now, Tesla’s stock price has soared to higher heights. Business Insider noted that the shares jumped 5% to a record high yesterday, and they climbed higher today.

The article also gave a great reminder about something. Although Tesla recorded 499,550 deliveries in 2020, it often shares “slightly conservative” delivery figures and that number can vary by 0.5% or more.

So proud of the Tesla team for achieving this major milestone! At the start of Tesla, I thought we had (optimistically) a 10% chance of surviving at all. https://t.co/xCqTL5TGlE

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 2, 2021

Nio, a competitor of Tesla, also saw success at the end of the year. The company started 2021 with record electric vehicle deliveries and even launched a used car platform.

Yahoo! Finance noted that money poured into the EV space during the pandemic as Chinese EV makers such as Xpeng and Li Auto debuted on the markets. The progress out of China is notable both because it is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the world and because some of these automakers look intent on expanding across the world, as Hyundai and Kia or Nissan and Honda did in decades past.

This Tesla store looks like a busy Walmart Supercenter. New orders of MIC MYs can not be fulfilled until after Chinese New Year holiday is over. CNY will be on 2/12/2021. pic.twitter.com/0AQYfyFV5M

— Ray4Tesla⚡️🚘☀️🔋 (@ray4tesla) January 4, 2021

Here in the U.S., many of us run into common FUD — fear, uncertainty, and doubt — about electric vehicles that is marketed to our friends, families, loved ones, colleagues, and neighbors on a daily basis. Some think that EVs don’t have range or are too expensive. Or that it’s just a phase. It can be pretty daunting to see how resistant people are here to change or to the idea of changing for the better.

It seems that more people in China know that it’s critical to make the switch to EVs, and many of them are filling up Tesla stores like Americans do a Walmart on Black Friday — but pretty much every day. I follow Ray4Tesla, who often tweets about Tesla-related events in China. Ray demonstrated before the numbers did so that the Tesla brand is on fire in Chinese. And that fire is growing quickly.

We do have this passion here in the states as well — we have several Tesla club owners and organizers doing great things for their communities, whether that’s giving a neighbor a test drive or teaching me how to drive in a Model 3. And the US is still the top market for Teslas, but it’s a significantly smaller market for electric vehicles overall.

Also, one problem we have in the US that blocks Tesla stores from filling up with potential buyers is several states are anti-Tesla and block sales there. This mostly due to the fact that dealerships are threatened by Tesla and they often lobby lawmakers to block Tesla from selling in their communities. They are also a source of much FUD about Tesla and about electric cars in general. China appears to have less of a problem with that.

As Tesla continues to set 2021 on fire, people will continue to fall in love with Tesla, with the idea of owning an EV, and with the newfound sustainable lifestyle which isn’t that hard to live. What does that mean for the Tesla [TSLA] stock? We’ll see. One thing to remember for now, though, is that a clean energy company focused on sustainability is the world’s most valuable automakers and one of its most valuable companies overall. That just required a bit of dedication, commitment, and hope in connection with Tesla’s noble mission.