The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design , development , manufacturing , marketing , selling , repairing , and modification of motor vehicles . It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16% such as in France up to 40% to countries such as Slovakia).
70-474: Tesla, Inc. ( / ˈ t ɛ s l ə / TESS -lə or / ˈ t ɛ z l ə / TEZ -lə ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas , it designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from home to grid-scale , solar panels and solar shingles , and related products and services. Tesla
140-606: A Gigafactory Mexico to open in 2025, but its groundbreaking has been delayed. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic , Tesla closed the Fremont Factory in March 2020 due to California state and Alameda county COVID restrictions. When California lifted restrictions, but the county did not, Tesla sued the county, and restarted production on May 11, 2020. The county lifted restrictions on May 13, 2020, and Tesla dropped its lawsuit. After
210-724: A mid-size car with a fastback body style and either a dual-motor, all-wheel drive layout or a rear-motor, rear-wheel drive layout. The vehicle was designed to be more affordable than the luxury Model S sedan. A prototype Model 3 was first shown in 2016 and within a week, the company received over 325,000 paid reservations. Deliveries started in July 2017. The Model 3 ranked as the world's best-selling electric car from 2018 to 2021, and cumulative sales passed 1 million in June 2021. The vehicle has seen one major design refresh in September 2023 which revised
280-430: A car, and prefer other modes of transport. Other potentially powerful automotive markets are Iran and Indonesia . Emerging automobile markets already buy more cars than established markets. According to a J.D. Power study, emerging markets accounted for 51 percent of the global light-vehicle sales in 2010. The study, performed in 2010 expected this trend to accelerate. However, more recent reports (2012) confirmed
350-498: A dual- or trimotor, all-wheel drive layout. The rear passenger doors open vertically with an articulating " falcon-wing " design. A prototype Model X was first shown in February 2012 and deliveries started in September 2015. The Model X shares around 30 percent of its content with the Model S. The vehicle has seen one major design refresh in June 2021 which revised the interior. The Model 3 is
420-446: A form of testing in the early stages of a project. The relationship is synergistic . The customer receives early (and sometimes unique, or at least uniquely early) access to an advantageous new product or technology. In return, the customer may also serve as a kind of guinea pig . In exchange for being an early adopter, and thus being exposed to the problems, risks, and annoyances common to early-stage product testing and deployment,
490-544: A group of major car manufacturers including GM , Ford , Volvo , BYD Auto , Jaguar Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz committed to "work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets". Major car manufacturing nations like the United States, Germany, China, Japan and South Korea, as well as Volkswagen , Toyota , Peugeot , Honda , Nissan and Hyundai , did not pledge. The global automotive industry
560-469: A large global engineering headquarters in Palo Alto, moving into a corporate campus once owned by Hewlett Packard . In early 2021, Tesla became a major investor in bitcoin , acquiring $ 1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency , and on March 24, 2021, the company started accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for US vehicle purchases. However, after 49 days, the company ended bitcoin payments over concerns that
630-409: A large profit center for most auto dealerships. In 2016, Tesla recommended having any Tesla car inspected every 12,500 miles or once a year, whichever comes first. In early 2019, the manual was changed to say: "your Tesla does not require annual maintenance and regular fluid changes," and instead it recommends periodic servicing of the brake fluid, air conditioning, tires and air filters. Supercharger
700-498: A lighthouse customer's endorsement and assistance in further developing the product and its go-to-market mechanisms. Acquiring lighthouse customers is a common step in new product development and implementation. The real-world focus that this type of relationship can bring to a vendor can be extremely valuable. Early adoption does come with pitfalls: early versions of products may be buggy and/or prone to malfunction. Furthermore, more efficient, and sometimes less expensive, versions of
770-495: A loss, citing that the cryptocurrency was hurting the company's profitability. Between May 2023 and February 2024, almost all major North America EV manufacturers announced plans to switch to Tesla's North American Charging Standard adapters on their EVs by 2025, which is expected to be a stable source of recurring revenue for Tesla. In November, Tesla started shipping the Cybertruck, produced from Gigafactory Texas. In April 2024,
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#1732877351169840-402: A new front-end design and again in June 2021, which revised the interior. The Model S was the top-selling plug-in electric car worldwide in 2015 and 2016. More than 250,000 vehicles have been sold as of December 2018 (when Tesla merged production numbers for the Model S and Model X). The Model X is a mid-size luxury crossover SUV offered in 5-, 6- and 7-passenger configurations with either
910-578: A notably polarizing reception from media. On November 16, 2017, Tesla unveiled the second generation Roadster with a purported range of 620 miles (1,000 km) with a 200-kilowatt-hour (720 MJ) battery pack that would achieve 0–60 miles per hour (0–97 km/h) in 1.9 seconds; and 0–100 mph (0–161 km/h) in 4.2 seconds, and a top speed over 250 mph (400 km/h). A " SpaceX Package" would include cold-gas thrusters . The vehicle would have three electric motors, allowing all-wheel drive and torque vectoring during cornering. The base price
980-493: A top producer 1950s : United Kingdom, Germany, and France restarted production. 1960s : Japan started production and increased volume through the 1980s. United States, Japan, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom produced about 80% of motor vehicles through the 1980s. 1990s : South Korea became a volume producer. In 2004, Korea became No. 5 passing France. 2000s : China increased its production drastically, and became
1050-511: Is a full-sized pickup truck . First announced in November 2019, pilot production began in July 2023, after being pushed back multiple times, and deliveries began on November 30, 2023. Three models are offered: rear-wheel drive, dual-motor all-wheel drive, and trimotor all-wheel drive, with EPA range estimates of 320–340 miles (510–550 km), depending on the model. The truck's exterior design made from flat sheets of unpainted stainless steel earned
1120-643: Is a major consumer of water. Some estimates surpass 180,000 L (39,000 imp gal) of water per car manufactured, depending on whether tyre production is included. Production processes that use a significant volume of water include surface treatment, painting, coating, washing, cooling, air-conditioning, and boilers, not counting component manufacturing. Paintshop operations consume especially large amounts of water because equipment running on water-based products must also be cleaned with water. In 2022, Tesla's Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg ran into legal challenges due to droughts and falling groundwater levels in
1190-463: Is a primary mode of transportation for many developed economies. The Detroit branch of Boston Consulting Group predicted that, by 2014, one-third of world demand would be in the four BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Meanwhile, in developed countries, the automotive industry has slowed. It is also expected that this trend will continue, especially as the younger generations of people (in highly urbanized countries) no longer want to own
1260-477: Is an early customer of a given company , product , or technology . The term originates from Everett M. Rogers ' Diffusion of Innovations (1962). Typically, early adopters are customers who, in addition to using the vendor's product or technology, also provide considerable and candid feedback to help the vendor refine its future product releases, as well as the associated means of distribution, service, and support. Early adoption could also be referred to as
1330-401: Is one of the world's most valuable companies in terms of market capitalization . Starting in July 2020, it has been the world's most valuable automaker. In October 2021, Tesla temporarily became a trillion-dollar company , the seventh U.S. company to do so, and did so again in November 2024. In 2023, the company led the battery electric vehicle market, with 19.9% share. Also in 2023, the company
1400-469: Is the branding used by Tesla for its high-voltage direct current fast chargers . Tesla also has a network of "Destination Chargers," slower than Superchargers and intended for locations where customers are expected to park and stay for several hours, such as hotels, restaurants, or shopping centers. Unlike the Supercharger network, Tesla does not own the destination chargers, instead, property owners set up
1470-456: Is to service its vehicles first through remote diagnosis and repair. If it is not possible to resolve a problem remotely, a mobile technician is dispatched or customers are referred to a local Tesla-owned service center. As of October 2024, the company operates 1,306 retail stores, galleries, service, delivery and body shop locations globally. Tesla has said that it does not want to make a profit on vehicle servicing, which has traditionally been
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#17328773511691540-559: The Model X SUV in 2015, the Model 3 sedan in 2017, the Model Y crossover in 2020, the Tesla Semi truck in 2022 and the Cybertruck pickup truck in 2023. In June 2021, the Model 3 became the first electric car to sell 1 million units globally. In 2023, the Model Y was the best-selling vehicle, of any kind, globally. In January 2024, the Model Y became the best-selling BEV in history. Tesla
1610-618: The NUMMI plant in Fremont, California from Toyota for $ 42 million. On June 29, 2010, the company went public via an initial public offering (IPO) on the NASDAQ , the first American car company to do so since the Ford Motor Company had its IPO in 1956. The company issued 13.3 million shares of common stock at a price of $ 17 per share, raising $ 226 million. In October 2010, Tesla opened
1680-462: The PSA Group had been in the top 8 1999 to 2012, and 2007 to 2012 one of the eight largest along with the seven largest as of 2017) and the five largest in the top 5 positions since 2007, according to OICA, which, however, stopped publishing statistics of motor vehicle production by manufacturer after 2017. All ten remained as the ten largest automakers by sales until the merger between Fiat-Chrysler and
1750-557: The Tesla Factory to start production of the Model S. In January 2012, Tesla ceased production of the Roadster, and in June 2012, the company launched its second car, the Model S luxury sedan. The Model S won several automotive awards during 2012 and 2013, including the 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year , and became the first electric car to top the monthly sales ranking of a country, when it topped
1820-551: The United States led the world in total automobile production, with the U.S. Big Three General Motors , Ford Motor Company , and Chrysler being the world's three largest auto manufacturers for a time, and G.M. and Ford remaining the two largest until the mid-2000s. In 1929, before the Great Depression , the world had 32,028,500 automobiles in use, of which the U.S. automobile enterprises produced more than 90%. At that time,
1890-607: The first-generation Tesla Roadster , is no longer sold. Tesla has plans for a second-generation Roadster , the Cybercab, and the Robovan. Here is a list of Tesla models: The Model S is a full-size luxury car with a liftback body style and a dual motor, all-wheel drive layout. Development of the Model S began before 2007 and deliveries started in June 2012. The Model S has seen two major design refreshes, first in April 2016, which introduced
1960-485: The value chain are made to avoid these product recalls by ensuring end-user security and safety and compliance with the automotive industry requirements. However, the automotive industry is still particularly concerned about product recalls, which cause considerable financial consequences. In 2007, there were about 806 million cars and light trucks on the road, consuming over 980 billion litres (980,000,000 m ) of gasoline and diesel fuel yearly. The automobile
2030-458: The "lighthouse customer" is sometimes given especially attentive vendor assistance and support, even to the point of having personnel at the customer's work site to assist with implementation. The customer is sometimes given preferential pricing, terms, and conditions, although new technology is often very expensive, so the early adopter still often pays quite a lot. The vendor, on the other hand, benefits from receiving early revenues, and also from
2100-469: The 1860s with hundreds of manufacturers pioneering the horseless carriage . Early car manufacturing involved manual assembly by a human worker. The process evolved from engineers working on a stationary car, to a conveyor belt system where the car passed through multiple stations of more specialized engineers. Starting in the 1960s, robotic equipment was introduced to the process, and most cars are now mainly assembled by automated machinery. For many decades,
2170-725: The Model 3. In the first quarter of 2023, the Model Y outsold the Toyota Corolla to become the world's best-selling car, the first electric vehicle to claim the title. The Tesla Semi is a Class 8 semi-truck by Tesla, Inc. with a tri-motor, rear-wheel drive layout. Tesla claims that the Semi has approximately three times the power of a typical diesel semi truck, and a range of 500 miles (800 km). Two prototype trucks were first shown in November 2017 and initial deliveries were made to PepsiCo on December 1, 2022. Tesla stated in April 2024 that it plans full production in late 2025. The Cybertruck
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2240-569: The Norwegian new car sales list in September 2013. The Model S was also the best-selling plug-in electric car worldwide for the years 2015 and 2016. On July 15, 2013, Tesla became a NASDAQ-100 company. Tesla announced the Tesla Autopilot , a driver-assistance system, in 2014. In September that year, all Tesla cars started shipping with sensors and software to support the feature, with what would later be called "hardware version 1". Tesla entered
2310-645: The PSA Group in early 2021 ; only Renault was degraded to 11th place, in 2022, when being surpassed by both BMW (which became the 10th largest in 2021) and Chang'an . These were the twenty largest manufacturers by production volume in 2012 and 2013, or the 21 largest in 2011 (before the Fiat-Chrysler merger ), of which the fourteen largest as of 2011 were in the top 14 in 2010, 2008 and 2007 (but not 2009, when Changan and Mazda temporarily degraded Chrysler to 16th place). The eighteen largest as of 2013 have remained in
2380-428: The U.S. had one car per 4.87 persons. After 1945, the U.S. produced around three-quarters of the world's auto production. In 1980, the U.S. was overtaken by Japan and then became a world leader again in 1994. Japan narrowly passed the U.S. in production during 2006 and 2007, and in 2008 also China , which in 2009 took the top spot (from Japan) with 13.8 million units, although the U.S. surpassed Japan in 2011, to become
2450-515: The announcement event. Production is planned to commence sometime before 2027. The Tesla Robovan is an electric autonomous van planned for future development by Tesla. Announced in October 2024, the vehicle is being designed to carry up to 20 passengers. The original Tesla Roadster was a two-seater sports car, evolved from the Lotus Elise chassis. It was produced from 2008 to 2012. The Roadster
2520-486: The automotive industry, safety means that users, operators, or manufacturers do not face any risk or danger coming from the motor vehicle or its spare parts. Safety for the automobiles themselves implies that there is no risk of damage. Safety in the automotive industry is particularly important and therefore highly regulated. Automobiles and other motor vehicles have to comply with a certain number of regulations, whether local or international, in order to be accepted on
2590-506: The chairman of the board of directors and the largest shareholder of Tesla. J. B. Straubel joined Tesla in May 2004 as chief technical officer . A lawsuit settlement agreed to by Eberhard and Tesla in September 2009 allows all five – Eberhard, Tarpenning, Wright, Musk, and Straubel – to call themselves co-founders. Elon Musk took an active role within the company, but was not deeply involved in day-to-day business operations. The company's strategy
2660-650: The company announced it was laying off 10% of its employees. In June, the company moved its incorporation from Delaware to Texas. In October, the company unveiled a concept version of two autonomous vehicles—the Cybercab and Robovan —and detailed that both would be an integral part of a Tesla ridehailing service called the Tesla Network , a future service they had previously teased in 2019. As of November 2024, Tesla offers six vehicle models: Model S, Model X, Model 3, Model Y, Semi, and Cybertruck. Tesla's first vehicle,
2730-517: The company uses individual vehicle data to offer personalized pricing that can increase or decrease in cost based on the prior month's driving safety score. Automotive The word automotive comes from the Greek autos (self), and Latin motivus (of motion ), referring to any form of self-powered vehicle. This term, as proposed by Elmer Sperry (1860–1930), first came into use to describe automobiles in 1898. The automotive industry began in
2800-461: The company's driving assist technology and product release timelines. The company was incorporated as Tesla Motors, Inc. on July 1, 2003, by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning . They served as chief executive officer and chief financial officer , respectively. Eberhard said that he wanted to build "a car manufacturer that is also a technology company", with its core technologies as "the battery,
2870-543: The company. In June 2009, Tesla was approved to receive $ 465 million in interest-bearing loans from the United States Department of Energy . The funding, part of the $ 8 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program , supported the engineering and production of the Model S sedan, as well as the development of commercial powertrain technology. Tesla repaid the loan in May 2013, with $ 12 million in interest. In May 2010, Tesla purchased
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2940-480: The computer software, and the proprietary motor". Ian Wright was Tesla's third employee, joined a few months later. In February 2004, the company raised US$ 7.5 million (equivalent to $ 12 million in 2023) in series A funding , including $ 6.5 million (equivalent to $ 10 million in 2023) from Elon Musk, who had received $ 100 million from the sale of his interest in PayPal two years earlier. Musk became
3010-634: The devices and set pricing. When the network first launched in 2014, Tesla provided free charging equipment and covered installation costs. One of the largest providers is hotel chain Hilton Worldwide which in 2023 announced an agreement with Tesla to install 20,000 chargers across 2,000 of its properties in North America by 2025. Tesla has offered its own vehicle insurance in the United States since 2017 and has been acting as an independent insurance producer since 2021 as Tesla Insurance Services, Inc. It
3080-524: The dispute with county officials, on December 1, 2021, Tesla moved its legal headquarters to Gigafactory Texas. However, Tesla continued to use its former headquarters building in Palo Alto, and over the next two years significantly expanded its footprint in California. The company opened its Megafactory to build Megapack batteries in Lathrop, California in 2022, and announced in February 2023 that it would establish
3150-419: The energy storage market, unveiling its Tesla Powerwall (home) and Tesla Powerpack (business) battery packs in April 2015. The company received orders valued at $ 800 million within a week of the unveiling. Tesla began shipping its third vehicle, the luxury SUV Tesla Model X , in September 2015, which had 25,000 pre-orders at the time. Tesla entered the solar installation business in November 2016 with
3220-416: The exterior and interior. The Model Y is a mid-size crossover SUV offered in 5- and 7-passenger configurations with a single‐motor, rear-wheel drive or a dual-motor, all-wheel drive layout. The vehicle was designed to be more affordable than the luxury Model X SUV. A prototype Model Y was first shown in March 2019, and deliveries started in March 2020. The Model Y shared around 75 percent of its content with
3290-558: The first automobile factory in China fully owned by a foreign company (not a joint venture). The factory's first production vehicle, a Model 3, rolled out in December, less than one year after groundbreaking. Gigafactory Berlin broke ground in February 2020, and its production of the Model Y began in March 2022. Gigafactory Texas broke ground in June 2020, and its production of the Model Y began in April 2022. In March 2023, Tesla announced plans for
3360-479: The list below) currently possess the capability to design original production automobiles from the ground up, and 17 countries (listed below) have at least one million produced vehicles a year (as of 2023). These were the ten largest manufacturers by production volume as of 2017, of which the eight largest were in the top 8 positions since Fiat's 2013 acquisition of the Chrysler Corporation (although
3430-545: The market. The standard ISO 26262 , is considered one of the best practice frameworks for achieving automotive functional safety . In case of safety issues, danger, product defect , or faulty procedure during the manufacturing of the motor vehicle, the maker can request to return either a batch or the entire production run. This procedure is called product recall . Product recalls happen in every industry and can be production-related or stem from raw materials. Product and operation tests and inspections at different stages of
3500-450: The most shorted companies in the stock market. On August 8, 2018, amid the financial issues, Musk posted on social media that he was considering taking Tesla private. The plan did not materialize and gave rise to much controversy and many lawsuits including a securities fraud charge from the SEC , which would force Musk to pay a $ 20 million fine and step down as the company's chairman, although he
3570-625: The opposite; namely that the automotive industry was slowing down even in BRIC countries. In the United States, vehicle sales peaked in 2000, at 17.8 million units. In July 2021, the European Commission released its " Fit for 55 " legislation package, which contains important guidelines for the future of the automotive industry; all new cars on the European market must be zero-emission vehicles from 2035. The governments of 24 developed countries and
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#17328773511693640-526: The production of bitcoin was contributing to the consumption of fossil fuels, against the company's mission of encouraging the transition to sustainable energy. After the announcement, the price of bitcoin dropped around 12%. Tesla CEO Elon Musk later noted that Tesla would resume bitcoin payments if there was confirmation of at least 50% clean energy usage by bitcoin miners. Despite later reaching this milestone, Tesla did not return to accepting bitcoin. By July 2022 Tesla had sold about 75% of its bitcoin holdings at
3710-407: The production of the vehicles. This led to significant delays and production problems, a period which the company described as "production hell." By the end of 2018, the production problems had been overcome, and the Model 3 became the world's best-selling electric car from 2018 to 2021. This period of "production hell" put significant financial pressure on Tesla, and during this time it became one of
3780-483: The purchase of SolarCity , in an all-stock $ 2.6 billion deal. The business was merged with Tesla's existing battery energy storage products division to form the Tesla Energy subsidiary. The deal was controversial because at the time of the acquisition, SolarCity was facing liquidity issues of which Tesla's shareholders were not informed. In February 2017, Tesla Motors changed its name to Tesla, Inc. to better reflect
3850-770: The region. Brandenburg's Economy Minister Joerg Steinbach said that while water supply was sufficient during the first stage, more would be needed once Tesla expands the site. The factory would nearly double the water consumption in the Gruenheide area, with 1.4 million cubic meters being contracted from local authorities per year — enough for a city of around 40,000 people. Steinbach said that the authorities would like to drill for more water there and outsource any additional supply if necessary. 1960s : Post-war increase 1970s : Oil crisis and tighter safety and emission regulation 1990s : Production started in NICs . 2000s : Rise of China as
3920-407: The scope of its expanded business. Tesla unveiled its first mass market vehicle in April 2016, the Model 3 sedan. The Model 3 was less expensive than Tesla's previous three vehicles, and within a week, the company received over 325,000 paid reservations. To speed up production and control costs, Tesla invested heavily in robotics and automation to assemble the Model 3, but the robotics actually slowed
3990-461: The second-largest automobile industry. In 2023, China had for the first time in history more than 30 million produced vehicles a year, after reaching 29 million for the first time in 2017 and 28 million the year before. From 1970 (140 models) over 1998 (260 models) to 2012 (684 models), the number of automobile models in the U.S. has grown exponentially. Safety is a state that implies being protected from any risk, danger, damage, or cause of injury. In
4060-442: The top 20 as of 2017, except Mitsubishi which fell out of top 20 in 2016, while Geely fell out of the top 20 in 2014 and 2015 but re-entered it in 2016. It is common for automobile manufacturers to hold stakes in other automobile manufacturers. These ownerships can be explored under the detail for the individual companies. Notable current relationships include: Early adopter An early adopter or lighthouse customer
4130-547: The total private financing investment to over $ 105 million. In August 2007, Eberhard was asked by the board, led by Elon Musk, to step down as CEO. Eberhard then took the title of "President of Technology" before ultimately leaving the company in January 2008. Co-founder Marc Tarpenning, who served as the Vice President of Electrical Engineering of the company, also left the company in January 2008. In August 2007, Michael Marks
4200-482: The vehicle should be available for delivery in the first half of 2025. The Tesla Cybercab, also known as the Robotaxi, is an upcoming two-passenger battery-electric self-driving car under development by Tesla. The vehicle will be fully autonomously controlled, and has no steering wheel or pedals. A concept version of the Cybercab was unveiled in October 2024, with 20 prototypes providing short rides to attendees of
4270-457: The world's largest-producing country in 2009. 2010s : India overtakes Korea, Canada, Spain to become 5th largest automobile producer. 2013 : The share of China (25.4%), India, Korea, Brazil, and Mexico rose to 43%, while the share of United States (12.7%), Japan, Germany, France, and United Kingdom fell to 34%. The OICA counts over 50 countries that assemble, manufacture, or disseminate automobiles. Of those, only 15 countries ( boldfaced in
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#17328773511694340-585: Was added to the S&P index on December 21, 2020; it was the most valuable company ever added, and was the sixth-largest member of the index immediately after it was added. Tesla introduced its second mass-market vehicle in March 2019, the Model Y mid-size crossover SUV , based on the Model 3. Deliveries started in March 2020. During this period, Tesla invested heavily in expanding its production capacity, opening three new Gigafactories in quick succession. Construction of Gigafactory Shanghai started in January 2019, as
4410-547: Was allowed to remain the CEO. From July 2019 to June 2020, Tesla reported four consecutive profitable quarters for the first time, which made it eligible for inclusion in the S&P 500 . During 2020, its share price increased 740%, and by December 14, 2020, its market capitalization was more than the next nine largest automakers combined, and it became the sixth most valuable company in the US. Tesla
4480-614: Was brought in as interim CEO, and in December 2007, Ze'ev Drori became CEO and president. Musk succeeded Drori as CEO in October 2008. In June 2009, Eberhard filed a lawsuit against Musk for allegedly forcing him out. The case was dismissed in August 2009. Tesla began production of the Roadster in 2008 inside the service bays of a former Chevrolet dealership in Menlo Park. By January 2009, Tesla had raised $ 187 million and delivered 147 cars. Musk had contributed $ 70 million of his money to
4550-458: Was founded in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning as Tesla Motors . Its name is a tribute to inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla . In February 2004, Elon Musk joined as Tesla's largest shareholder; in 2008, he was named chief executive officer . In 2008, the company began production of its first car model, the Roadster sports car, followed by the Model S sedan in 2012,
4620-685: Was introduced after the American Automobile Association (AAA), a major insurance carrier, raised rates for Tesla owners in June 2017 after a report concluded that the automakers vehicles crashed more often and were pricier to repair than comparable vehicles. A study in 2018 based on data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety confirmed the findings. The company says that it uniquely understands its vehicles, technology and repair costs, and can eliminate traditional insurance carriers' additional charges. In states where allowed,
4690-505: Was ranked 69th in the Forbes Global 2000 . Tesla has been the subject of lawsuits, government scrutiny, and journalistic criticism , stemming from allegations of multiple cases of whistleblower retaliation, worker rights violations such as sexual harassment and anti-union activities, safety defects leading to dozens of recalls, the lack of a public relations department, and controversial statements from Musk including overpromising on
4760-399: Was set at $ 200,000. Initially scheduled to ship in 2020, the vehicle has been repeatedly delayed. In July 2024, Musk said that the Roadster should enter production in 2025. The Tesla next-generation vehicle is an announced battery electric platform. It would become the third platform for the company. Vehicles based on this platform are not expected before 2025. In July 2024, Musk said that
4830-481: Was the first highway-legal serial production electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells, and the first production all-electric car to travel more than 200 miles (320 km) per charge. Tesla cars come with "Standard Connectivity", which provides navigation using a cellular connection. For a fee, Tesla offers a subscription to "Premium Connectivity" which adds live traffic and satellite maps to navigation, internet browsing, and media streaming. Tesla's strategy
4900-576: Was to start with a premium sports car aimed at early adopters and then move into more mainstream vehicles, including sedans and affordable compacts. In February 2006, Musk led Tesla's Series B venture capital funding round of $ 13 million, which added Valor Equity Partners to the funding team. Musk co-led the third, $ 40 million round in May 2006 which saw investment from prominent entrepreneurs including Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page , and former eBay President Jeff Skoll . A fourth round worth $ 45 million in May 2007 brought
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