When was tesla motors founded

It's not an understatement to say that nearly every business will be impacted by what has unfolded in the past weeks, and this is true for Silicon Valley as well," Musk said at the time. Musk announced he would be taking over the company and that there would be layoffs. He also pushed back the launch date of the Model S to mid It was previously slated to go into production in By November , the company's financial situation had worsened and Tesla was on the brink of bankruptcy.

However, while the board approved the deal in November, the documents for the financing round weren't signed until December , putting Tesla in a perilous situation. We actually closed the financing round on Christmas Eve The first generation Model S had a range of more than miles per charge and could go from 0 to 60 mph in 5. By May 12, , Tesla had already surpassed 1, reservations for the Model S.

Tesla and Daimler had already been in partnership for about a year working on an electric Smartcar. But by May, Daimler made a long-term bet on Tesla by taking a 10 percent stake in the company. The two companies agreed to work together on developing battery and electric drive systems.

This will accelerate bringing our Tesla Model S to production and ensure that it is a superlative vehicle on all levels," Musk said at the time. Tesla gave a glimpse of what it's future car would be like when it revealed a Model S prototype at an event in October at its Fremont factory for about 3, reservation holders.

Musk revealed that the vehicle would get miles per charge and go from 0 to 60 mph in 4. But here it is. They would say this car is the equivalent of a unicorn.

Well, tonight you had the opportunity to ride a unicorn," Musk said at the event. The Model X was very well received. By Feb.

In fact, on Feb. At the time of its reveal, Tesla aimed to have the Model X in production by However, it wouldn't actually really enter production until the end of Tesla originally intended to deliver the Model S in However, the company didn't begin deliveries until late mid Tesla delivered the Model S to the first customers at an event at the Tesla factory in Freemont, California on June 22, Musk further demonstrated his commitment to advancing the adoption of electric cars when he open-sourced Tesla's patents in At the time, Musk said that Tesla would not take legal actions against other companies who wanted to use the patents to create EVs.

If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal," Musk said in a blog post. Tesla announced its plans to build its giant battery factory, dubbed the Gigafactory, in February and it didn't wait long before looking for somewhere to build it. Tesla ultimately decided on a site in Storey, Nevada appropriately located along Electric Avenue. The original site was 1, acres, but in June the company purchased an additional 1, acres of adjacent land.

According to Tesla's website, the giant factory will help it dramatically cut the cost of its batteries by "using economies of scale, innovative manufacturing, reduction of waste, and the simple optimization of locating most manufacturing process under one roof.

At a company event in October, Musk revealed a new dual-motor option for the Model S and announced that all Tesla vehicles produced beginning October were installed with Autopilot hardware.

The system was composed of four parts: a forward-looking radar, a camera with image recognition, and sonar sensors that give the system a degree view around the car. Musk said that some of the initial features included in the system would be automatic cruise control, lane-keeping assist, and active emergency braking.

Tesla made a big push into energy when it unveiled the Powerpack and Powerwall at an event in Hawthorne, California in Musk said that batteries were the "missing piece" of Tesla's business model and claimed that million Powerpacks could power the United States.

The company followed up in a statement on its website declaring that "Tesla is not just an automotive company it's an energy innovation company. Tesla had originally planned to launch its Model X Crossover SUV in late or early , but production delays forced the company to push back deliveries by almost two years. The vehicle's highly-specialized features, like its Falcon Wing doors and bioweapon defense mode air-filtration system, made the car complicated to manufacture on a mass scale.

In fact, during Tesla's second-quarter earnings call, Musk emphasized just how dire the production situation had become. Tesla began rolling out its 7. However, in January , the company rolled out its 7. Musk finally unveiled the much-anticipated Model 3 during the first quarter of While only a prototype, the car gave Tesla fans a good idea of what to expect with the production model.

Musk announced that the car would get miles or more per charge and go from mph in less than six seconds. The first fatal Autopilot accident occurred in May , but word didn't get out about the incident until more than a month later. On June 30, government regulators revealed they were looking into a tie between the fatal accident and Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot function.

Tesla also issued a statement and Elon Musk shared his condolences, calling the incident a "tragic loss. According to Tesla's statement , the Model S was driving down a divided highway when a tractor-trailer cut across the highway perpendicular to the vehicle.

The high ride height of the trailer combined with its positioning across the road and the extremely rare circumstances of the impact caused the Model S to pass under the trailer, with the bottom of the trailer impacting the windshield of the Model S," Tesla said in its blog post. In July, Musk finally revealed the second part of his company's "master plan," a plan which focuses on four key goals:.

Advance its self-driving technology so that it is "ten times safer" than manual driving. Roll out a car-sharing program that enables Tesla owners to make money by renting out their autonomous car. Originally, Eberhard and Tarpenning dreamed of building an entirely electric sports car.

In they unveiled the prototype for their Tesla Roadster which entered production in With the Roadster, Tesla achieved something that no company ever had. They produced an entirely electric car with practical specifications that could arguably meet consumer needs. Previous experiments in this field had failed because, among other issues, companies struggled to produce a battery powerful enough to keep cars on the road and a cost-effective motor that could fit inside a consumer vehicle and accelerate it to highway speed.

The Roadster met those needs. The first model produced in could travel almost miles on a single battery, with acceleration and top speed compared to many consumer-level sports cars. The Roadster used a standard lithium-ion battery structure, common to many electronic devices, and customers could recharge the car in a standard wall outlet.

This did not, however, make the Roadster a widely viable consumer product. Further, the company immediately ran into the problem of charging time. The original Roadster could require between 24 and 48 hours to recharge on a standard home outlet. Charging time remains one of the biggest problems with the widespread adoption of electric cars. While Tesla has dramatically improved its technology in this regard, to this day it takes more than an hour to fully recharge one of the company's vehicles even under ideal conditions.

This puts them at a dramatic disadvantage compared to the minutes it takes to refill a car with gasoline. Ze'ev Drori took over as Eberhard's permanent replacement in November. Drori is often credited with turning the Roadster from a prototype into a viable product. When he took over in the project had lagged, and much of the reporting on Tesla focused on whether the company could deliver its flagship and only product to market. Drori oversaw the successful launch of the Roadster in However, shortly before their company shipped its first automobile Roadster Number 1, to Musk co-founders Eberhard and Tarpenning left Tesla entirely.

This transition did not happen without controversy. Eberhard and Tarpenning alleged that they were forced out of the company that they founded, and in Eberhard sued Tesla and Musk for issues including libel and slander. He alleged that he had been forced out of the company and that the delays and financial problems associated with the Roadster had been unfairly blamed on his leadership. Eberhard dropped his suit later that same year.

Despite launching the Roadster, in Tesla faced significant financial problems. In August of the same year, the company relocated to its current headquarters in Palo Alto. The company found a more stable solution for its short-term capital concerns when it went public in The modern face of Tesla arguably began in when the company unveiled its prototype of this vehicle.

While still a luxury sedan, the Model S was Tesla's first step toward the mainstream consumer market away from the specialized sector of sports car drivers. The car went into full production in The Model S was critically successful. It received awards from several automotive and environmental publications and, like the Roadster before, set new benchmarks for what an electric vehicle could achieve.

While doing the above, also provide zero-emission electric power generation options. In , Tesla unveiled the prototype for its first venture into the EV market, the Roadster.

After a few more years of development, the final production model was launched in At this time, both of the original founders had left the company and Micahel Marks had stepped in as temporary CEO. Shortly after, Ze'ev Drori took over as Eberhard's permanent replacement, in November of Drori would be the man to bring the Roadster to market in the following year.

This mean-looking sports car came with cutting-edge battery technology and an all-electric powertrain. The vehicle officially went into production in March of The Roadster was not only an amazing achievement for such a young company, but also proved to be something no other company had ever succeeded in creating.

Tesla had produced an entirely electric car with practical specifications that could actually meet consumer needs, albeit at a price that few could afford. Many before them had failed because, among other things, they had not been able to produce a battery with enough power to be practical for everyday driving, or a cost-effective motor capable of fitting inside a consumer vehicle and accelerating to highway speeds. Early Roadster models could travel a total of miles km on a single charge, and had an acceleration comparable to other consumer sports cars of the day.

It had a lithium-ion battery that was common in many electronic devices, and which enabled customers to recharge the car using a standard wall outlet. Although, as we have seen, that was all part of the "Master Plan". Tesla had also hit something of a wall when it came to charging time. The original Roadsters required between 24 and 48 hours to recharge its batteries using a standard home outlet -- this would not do. If EVs, especially Teslas, were to realistically challenge vehicles with conventional combustion-engines, charging speeds would need to be reduced, a lot.

This would become a matter of some urgency for the company over the following years. Even today, it can take more than an hour to fully recharge some Tesla model batteries. Although for newer models, Tesla's V3 Supercharging stations have got charging time down to about 5 minutes for enough charge to travel around 75 miles. This is still not fast enough, however, when you consider that a conventional gasoline-powered vehicle can be refueled in around the same amount of time, but travel much further.

Orders were coming in, with some customers even willing to spend extra to jump to the front of the waiting list. Everything seemed rosy on the surface, but the company was in financial trouble. The first Roadster model was delivered to Elon Musk, and co-founders Eberhard and Tarpenning finally left Tesla entirely. This change in leadership was not plane sailing, however. Eberhard and Tarpenning filed a lawsuit in against Musk and their former company, accusing Musk of forcing them out of the company they had founded.

The case included allegations of libel and slander with Eberhard, in particular, feeling that he had been unfairly blamed for the delays, and subsequent financial problems, associated with bringing the Roadster to market.

The lawsuit was dropped the same year, b ut the company was still close to ruin. The cash infusion gave Tesla a brief respite from a potential disaster. Department of Energy. This gave the company the much-needed capital they needed for longer-term survival and its headquarters relocated to Palo Alto. A major event in the history of Tesla was when they finally went public in June of The vehicle had the longest range of any commercial EV at the time, over-the-air software updates that improved performance automatically, and a record mph acceleration time of 2.

When the first prototype was revealed in , it was an event that would come to characterize the company for years to come. The Tesla Model S was widely praised on its launch, and received awards from several automotive and environmental publications. The car had a range of up to miles km , and a much-reduced charging time. With the Model S released, Tesla discontinued the production of the Roadster to focus on its new line of sedans.

Initially, there were just six stations, all in California, but this would gradually be expanded to s worldwide over the years to come.