How Tesla makes billions extra without having to do anything

Tesla made $1.8 billion last year without having to do anything extra. The manufacturer benefits from competitors who have too few electric vehicles in their delivery range.

In certain markets, manufacturers face fines if the average CO2 emissions of the cars they sell are too high. This can happen if you don’t have enough electric models.

Tesla has carbon credits

Manufacturers can avoid a fine by purchasing carbon credits from others, such as in this case Tesla, which has numerous credits because it only sells electric vehicles.

We just don’t know who Tesla sold these credits to. We know that the company has brought in almost $9 billion since 2009. In 2023 alone it was $1.8 billion.

Dependent government policy

Tesla also believes that this revenue will dry up in the coming years. Other brands are introducing one electric model after another, so the demand for carbon credits will also decrease.

At least if sales of electric vehicles remain at the same level. And as we see in Germany, this depends enormously on government measures. If the government stops offering incentives, electric sales will decline.

According to knowledge center ElaadNL, electric vehicle sales will not grow very quickly until 2030. Only then will things get started, including through the introduction of affordable models and binding regulations.