The American-made Tesla is manufactured in the United States using Tesla components assembled at a Tesla factory, but the reality of Tesla sourcing reveals how global the process still is.
Tesla often highlights its domestic production, and it’s true that every vehicle sold in the USA is assembled locally.
However, a closer look at where its materials come from shows how global supply chains still play a critical role.
Even with impressive in-house production, not everything comes from home soil.
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Tesla factory output supports American-made Tesla branding
The American-made Tesla is assembled at a Tesla factory either in Fremont, California, or Austin, Texas.
These factories are central to Tesla’s strategy of controlling as much of the manufacturing process as possible within the US.
The Tesla factory system is tightly integrated, from stamping bodywork to installing drivetrains.
This local assembly contributes to Tesla’s image, but it doesn’t tell the full story.
Many crucial Tesla components are still imported from international suppliers.
Tesla components are not all from America
Although Tesla emphasizes domestic production, a breakdown of Tesla components tells a more complicated story.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, between 60 and 75 percent of a typical Tesla’s parts are from the US or Canada.
Around 20 to 25 percent come from Mexico.
That leaves a small but important portion sourced from overseas.
Lithium, semiconductors, and other advanced materials are essential to Tesla’s EV tech, and those can’t all be found locally.
Tesla sourcing shows global dependencies
Tesla sourcing involves securing materials from around the world, often due to limited local availability.
Battery-grade lithium, cobalt, and nickel often come from Australia, South America, or Asia.
Even though Tesla is building a lithium refinery in Texas, the raw materials themselves still need to be imported.
This makes the American-made Tesla more domestic than many competitors, but not fully independent of international supply chains.
American-made Tesla is a benchmark, not an absolute
Tesla makes a strong case for being the most domestically focused automaker in the electric space.
The American-made Tesla is proof of that ambition.
However, due to how Tesla sourcing is structured and how Tesla components are manufactured globally, full localization remains out of reach for now.
Still, Tesla leads the way in U.S.-based EV production, and ongoing supply chain investments may reduce its foreign dependencies over time.
The American-made Tesla lives up to much of the branding hype, especially in terms of local assembly and employment.
But the full story shows that Tesla components and Tesla sourcing still rely on a mix of global partnerships.
As supply chains evolve, Tesla may get even closer to building a truly all-American EV, but for now, the claim comes with an asterisk.
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