A Brief History

 

Tesla Motors, Inc. is an American company that designs, manufactures and sells electric cars and electric vehicle powertrain components. The headquarters is in Palo Alto, California and they now employ over 6000 people.

 

Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, two Silicon Valley engineers, founded Tesla in July 2003 and Elon Musk, after injecting $7.5 million USD in the company, joined as the chairman of the board. In 2005 there was another round of financing when they raised $13 million USD; and in 2007 the company raised another $40 million USD. Following that, in July 2007, Tesla became an official car producer by revealing the first production vehicle. Tesla hit the markets in early 2008 with the Tesla Roadster and sold 2.250 units of the model between 2008 and 2012. In May 2009, Tesla and Daimler AG started a strategic partnership and Daimler acquired a 10% equity stake for $50 million US. In June 2009, Tesla took a $465 million USD loan from the US Department of Energy and in June 2010, Tesla raised another $26 million USD with its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and they became the first automotive company in the United States to go public since Ford in 1956[1].

 

In 2012, Tesla’s premium sedan, the Model S, was launched and received multiple awards, including Car of the Year. In February 2012, Tesla unveiled its first SUV and AWD vehicle with delivery expected for early 2015. In 2012, Tesla began building a small network of electric car charging stations throughout California and it expanded worldwide, currently having more than 200 charging stations around the globe. After a tough 2013, because of a few Tesla’s that caught on fire, stock prices managed to pick up again and is soaring, up 47% from previous year[2].