Tesla, Inc.

Tesla, Inc. is a company based in Palo Alto, California which makes electric cars. It was started in 2003 by Martin Eberhard, Dylan Stott, and Elon Musk (who also co-founded PayPal and SpaceX and is the CEO of SpaceX). Eberhard no longer works there.[7] Today, Elon Musk is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).[8] It started selling its first car, the Roadster in 2008.

Tesla, Inc.
Formerly
Tesla Motors, Inc. (2003–2017)
Public
Traded as
ISINUS88160R1014
Industry
FoundedJuly 1, 2003; 20 years ago (2003-07-01)[1]
Founders
Headquarters
Palo Alto, California
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products
Production output
Increase 245,162 vehicles (2018)
RevenueIncrease US$21.461 billion (2018)
Increase US$-0.388 billion (2018)
Increase US$−0.976 billion (2018)
Total assetsIncrease US$29.740 billion (2018)
Total equityIncrease US$4.923 billion (2018)
OwnerElon Musk (21.9%)[3]
Number of employees
45,000[4] (2018)
Subsidiaries
WebsiteTesla.com
Footnotes / references
[5][6]

The Tesla name originally comes from Nikola Tesla. He was an inventor who worked with electricity, electric cars and many other ideas along with Thomas Edison a century earlier. The company was formerly known as Tesla Motors, Inc. and changed its name to Tesla, Inc. in February 2017.

The company operates in two segments, Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage. The Automotive segment offers electric vehicles, as well as sells automotive regulatory credits. It provides sedans and sport utility vehicles through direct and used vehicle sales, a network of Tesla Superchargers, and in-app upgrades; and purchase financing and leasing services.[9]

The Energy Generation and Storage segment engages in the design, manufacture, installation, sale, and leasing of solar energy generation and energy storage products, and related services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers and utilities through its website, stores, and galleries, as well as through a network of channel partners. This segment also offers service and repairs to its energy product customers, including under warranty; and various financing options to its solar customers.

Roadster

There were some test cars built from 2004 to 2007, but regular production started in 2008. From then until the end of 2011, they sold 2,150 Tesla Roadsters to customers in 31 countries.[10] It sold for about $100,000 dollars, but it was very fast (0 to 60 miles (0 to 97 kilometres) in 3.9 seconds) and could go a long way before the batteries needed to be recharged.

One big problem of electric cars compared to cars that run on gasoline, is that most electric cars could not go very far before needing to be recharged. A gasoline car can often go 300 or 400 miles (480 or 640 kilometres) before needing more fuel, but most electric cars could not go over 100 miles (160 kilometres) on a charge (EV-1, RAV4-EV, etc.). The Roadster could go 220 miles (350 kilometres) on a single charge.[7] On February 6, 2018, SpaceX Falcon Heavy sent Elon Musk's Roadster into a Solar orbit.

Model S

The Model S replaces the Roadster. It is sold with different battery sizes – for $58,750 it can go 160 miles (260 kilometres). The top end can go 265 miles (426 kilometres) on a charge and with all the extras can cost $100,000. The 2013 Model S was named the Motor Trend Car of the Year,[11] the 2013 Car of the Year by Automobile Magazine[12] and the 2013 World Green Car at the New York International Auto Show.[13] It has a lower drag coefficient than a Toyota Prius, so it uses less energy to push the air out of the way as it moves.

As of 2019, the 2019 Tesla Model S can go up to an EPA rated 370 miles (600 kilometres) on a single charge.[14] In 2020, this range was made longer, at 402 miles (647 kilometres).[15]

Model X

The Model X is a mid-sized, all-electric, luxury, crossover utility vehicle (CUV) made by Tesla, Inc. that uses falcon wing doors for access to the second and third row seats. The prototype was unveiled at Tesla's design studios in Hawthorne on February 9, 2012. The Model X has an official EPA rated 237–295 miles (381–475 kilometres) range and the combined fuel economy equivalent and energy consumption for the AWD P90D was rated at 89 miles per US gallon (2.6 litres per 100 kilometres; 107 miles per imperial gallon).

The Model X was developed from the full-sized sedan platform of the Tesla Model S. The Model X has an EPA Size Class as an SUV, and shares ~30% of its content with the Model S, half of the originally planned ~60%, and weighs about 10 percent more, both are being produced at the Tesla Factory in Fremont, California. First deliveries of the Model X began in September 2015. After one full year on the market, the Model X ranked in 2016 seventh among the world's best-selling plug-in cars. Global cumulative sales since inception totalled about 72,059 units through December 2017.

As of 2019, the 2019 Tesla Model X can go up to an EPA rated 325 miles (523 kilometres) on a single charge.[14] In 2020, the EPA rating lists the Model X at 351 miles (565 kilometres).[16]

Model 3

 
Tesla Model 3

The Model 3 is a mid-size (US) / compact executive (EU) luxury all-electric four-door sedan manufactured and sold by Tesla, Inc. According to Tesla officials, the 2019 Model 3 Standard Battery version delivers an EPA-rated all-electric range of 250 miles (400 kilometres) and the 2019 Long Range Battery version delivers 322 miles (518 kilometres). The Model 3 has a minimalist dashboard with only a centre-mounted LCD touchscreen. Tesla stated that the Model 3 carries full self-driving hardware to be optionally enabled at a future date.

Within a week of unveiling the Model 3 in 2016, Tesla revealed they had taken 325,000 reservations for the car, more than triple the number of Model S sedans sold by the end of 2015. These reservations represent potential sales of over US$14 billion. By August 2017, there were 455,000 net reservations, and an average of 1,800 reservations were being added per day.

Limited production of the Model 3 began in mid-2017, with the first production vehicle rolling off the assembly line on July 7, 2017, and the official launch and delivery of the first 30 cars on July 28. On July 1, 2018, it was announced that Tesla had met its production goal of 5,000 cars in a week. Total production through end of June 2018 has been 28,578 cars.

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Eberhard and Tarpenning were the original founders and incorporated Tesla, while Musk, Straubel and Wright joined in a Series A round later on. A lawsuit settlement agreed to by Eberhard and Tesla in September 2009 allows all five to call themselves founders.[2]

References

  1. "The Making Of Tesla: Invention, Betrayal, And The Birth Of The Roadster". businessinsider.com. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  2. Lamonica, Martin (September 21, 2009). Tesla Motors founders: Now there are five. https://www.cnet.com/news/tesla-motors-founders-now-there-are-five/. Retrieved February 14, 2017. 
  3. "tsla-def14a_20180606.htm". www.sec.gov. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  4. Musk, Elon (October 14, 2018). "Thanks for recognizing the great work of the Tesla team! 45,000 people now". Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  5. "US SEC: Form 10-K Tesla, Inc". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  6. "Designs and manufactures electric sports cars". Retrieved May 12, 2017.
  7. 7.0 7.1 "2008 Tesla Roadster". MotorTrend. Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  8. "Tesla Motors Executives". Tesla Motors. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  9. "What does Tesla, Inc. do?". Strike.Market. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  10. "Tesla Company Overview". Reuters. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  11. "2013 MT Car of the Year". MotorTrend. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  12. "2013 Car of the Year". Automobile Magazine. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  13. "Tesla Model S Award". Environmental News. Archived from the original on 1 April 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  14. 14.0 14.1 https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/24/18513899/tesla-model-s-x-range-upgrade-270-325-miles-supercharger-200kw
  15. Crider, Johnna (2020-06-16). Tesla Model S Long Range Plus Exceeds 400 Miles Of Range, EPA Confirms. https://cleantechnica.com/2020/06/16/tesla-model-s-long-range-plus-exceeds-400-miles-of-range-epa-confirms/. Retrieved 2020-06-25. 
  16. Dow, Jameson (2020-02-15). "Tesla releases 'Long Range Plus' Model S/X with 390/351 mile range, new wheels". Electrek. Retrieved 2020-03-25.

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