As Tesla expands its business and produces electric vehicles in more and more places around the world, questions arise about where a particular vehicle comes from.
It might be especially interesting for us, as some of the models - like the Tesla Model Y - will be produced at four plants simultaneously.
And here comes the NHTSA's 2022 Model Year VIN Decoder for Tesla to the rescue, which explains the meaning of the VIN code digits/letters in the U.S.
The major thing is the origin. The plant that manufactures the vehicle is identified by digit 11 and in the U.S. it can be:
- F = Fremont, California
- A = Austin, Texas
Tesla Giga Austin appears to be on the very last straight before officially announcing the start of series production of the Tesla Model Y so let's stay tuned for the first "A" units seen in the wild.
The Tesla Giga Berlin plant is also near the start of series production - at this point, it's probably more related to bureaucracy than physical capabilities.
Sawyer Merritt points out that the Made-in-Germany (MIG) cars will be identified by "B", while the Made-in-China (MIC) cars from the Giga Shanghai plant are identified by "C."
The list for digit 11 would be:
- A = Austin, Texas
- B = Berlin, Germany
- C = Shanghai, China
- F = Fremont, California
By the way, we are curious what would be the VIN number for Tesla Giga Nevada for the Tesla Semi vehicles?
The 2022 Model Year VIN Decoder for Tesla lists also several motor/drive unit options for the cars:
Digit 8: Motor/Drive Unit
5 = P2 Dual Motor (Designated for Model S & Model X)
6 = P2 Tri Motor (Designated for Model S & Model X)
A = Single Motor – Standard / Performance (Designated for Model 3)
B = Dual Motor – Standard (Designated for Model 3)
C = Dual Motor – Performance (Designated for Model 3)
D = Single Motor – Standard / Performance (Designated for Model Y)
E = Dual Motor – Standard (Designated for Model Y)
F = Dual Motor – Performance (Designated for Model Y)
