Updated from July 2014 to include updated information about 2015 sales goals in the sixth paragraph.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Tesla Motors (TSLA) - Get Report, which aims to build electric vehicles for the mainstream, operates one of the most innovative factory's in the world.

While the company is headquartered in Palo Alto, Tesla purchased the former New United Motor Manufacturing automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif. in 2010, a facility that had been jointly owned by General Motors (GM) - Get Report and Toyota (TM) - Get Report. At its peak, that plant was producing more than 500,000 cars a year. But GM pulled out of the joint venture in 2009, and Toyota did the same in March 2010.

Telsa's currently makes a car that it calls the Model S, while the company's Model X is expected to be available during the summer.

On May 20, 2010, Tesla announced it would buy a part of the plant and would collaborate with Toyota on developing electric vehicles, production systems and engineering support. Tesla purchased some of the equipment in the plant from Toyota, for maybe as low as one-tenth of the original cost, and began refurbishing the factory.

"The entire factory is organized around synchronized manufacturing, which is typical for big manufacturing operations," said Gilbert Passin, Tesla's vice president of OEM & Re-Manufacturing, during a July 2014 factory tour. The plant, which is home to some 2,600 employees on two separate floors, houses nearly 150 robots at various locations, which use some of Tesla's proprietary technology to manufacture the car, including everything from doors, to seats, to tires to the aluminum inside.

Tesla currently is using only about one-quarter of the 5.5 million-square-foot plant, and intends to deliver more than 55,000 Model S units this year, which it announced on its fourth-quarter earnings call in February. The factory comes complete with its own Supercharger station (one of the company's biggest) and retail store, in addition to manufacturing the Model S and the Model X next year.

Here's a look inside Tesla's factory where every car is built to order, either via by man, or by machine, or by both.

The plant has been completely cleaned up and repainted white. The wall to the left was put in by Passain after talking with CEO Elon Musk as to what Tesla initially would use. On the wall there's an inscription that reads, "Your Model S started from nothing."

This is a Tesla Roadster, next to a clay version of the original car that Tesla sold. The Roadster had a base price of $109,000 and went from zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, and got 245 miles to a charge. Tesla stopped selling it in the early part of 2012, having produced around 2,600 vehicles.

Robots and technicians work side by side in Tesla's factory. Here a technician is putting parts together.

You certainly can't forget this is a Tesla plant, that's for sure!

A robot works to attach parts of the Model S to one another. Some of these machines can switch tools up to five times and perform up between 5 and 10 different tasks, which makes the plant more efficient than plants from other automotive competitors, who might have one robot per task.

An example of one of Tesla's robots that can switch tools. This particular one can switch tools five times.

These robots attach the doors to the aluminum frame of the Model S. Despite concerns that aluminum is less safe than other metals, nearly 98% of the Model S is aluminum. The Model S has been named Consumer Reportstop car for two years running, receiving an unprecedented 99 out of 100 score.

Robots work to finish assembling the car in the nearly 5.5 million-square-foot plant.

This is an example of a diagnostic system, which Tesla uses to troubleshoot any problems. Sometimes those problems are even solved by Musk himself. "There was one Saturday night, around 3 a.m., where Elon was asking questions that led to the ultimate solution to the problem," Passain said.

A technician works on a Model S with its doors unattached. Most automotive plants have doors hanging above the assembly line, but Tesla has found a way to utilize the space next to the car to attach the doors and to ensure no damage and to limit waste.

Engineers, technicians and security discuss an issue, as a nearly finished Model S vehicles roll by, almost ready for the consumer to take delivery!