history
Martin Eberhard and Mark Tarpenning founded Tesla Motors in 2003. They saw a market for electric vehicles, especially after General Motors bought back all the EV1 models it sold. One year later, they went out to find funding and connected with Elon Musk, who invested $30 million into the company and became the chairman of the board while Eberhard was the CEO. Ian Wright and JB Straubel also became founders of Tesla. The name came from the brilliant Croatian engineer Nikola Tesla, whose contribution to the research of the electromagnetic field was crucial in the development of electric motors.
Their idea was to develop an all-electric sports car. For that, they went to the British car manufacturer Lotus, from where they took the Elise platform. Between 2006 and 2008, Elon Musk attracted around $100 million to the company. The first prototype of the Tesla Roadster was unveiled in the summer of 2006, giving investors more confidence. Two years later, the series production of the all-electric sports car began. It was the first vehicle to be entirely powered by lithium-ion batteries, carried over from laptops. The car had a decent travel range of around 250 miles (400 km) on a single charge, and its snappy acceleration and speed exceeded customers' expectations. However, by the time the Roadster came out, Eberhard and Tarpenning had already left the company after Elon Musk made some aggressive decisions.
After other changes and struggles, Elon Musk became the company's CEO. Since Tesla borrowed $465 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, it had enough funding to build the factory in Freemont, CA, and develop a four-door sedan vehicle suitable for families. That was the Model S, which broke covers in 2012. In the same year, Tesla launched its own charging station network, known as the Superchargers, which offered faster charging than household outlets. The Model S's success was huge, and Tesla repaid the $465 million loan from the government in 2013.
Tesla also built a factory in Storey County, Nevada, in 2016, where the battery packs were produced. The company also produced the Powerwall and the Powerpack. The former was used in houses to supply energy accumulated via solar panels and push it back into the grid or to household usage. The latter was for industrial applications and was highly successful. Both were rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs that could store and deliver energy when needed. They served as buffers for wind-powered turbines and solar panels.
In 2017, Tesla introduced the Model 3, which was a more affordable vehicle than the Model S. It became an instant best-seller, especially since other car makers started to focus their R&D departments on the electric vehicle segment. As a result, Tesla became the fastest-growing automotive company in history. In just 14 years since Elon Musk entered the company, it became a threat to the biggest automakers in the world, and in 2023, the Model Y became the best-selling car in the world, regardless of the size and powering system.
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