Tesla, the Electric Mule

Tesla, Inc., formerly (2003–17) Tesla Motors, the American electric-automobile manufacturer, was founded in 2003. And… it was not founded by Elon Musk (just clearing the common misconception) but by American entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning and was named after Serbian American inventor Nikola Tesla. Elon Musk was one of the few people who provided the initial funding ($30 million) and served as the chairman in early 2004, after he sold PayPal.

Going back to how Tesla started…

Eberhard was freshly divorced and looking for a sports car but was also very concerned about the impact it had on the environment. He then set his eyes on the AC Propulsion tzero. AC Propulsion was a small company from San Dimas, California, that specialized in alternating current-based drivetrain systems for electric vehicles. He loved the car, saw its potential and quickly became an investor in the company. He looked into shaping it into a car manufacturing company not just some small boutique and R&D workshop.

AC Propulsion tzero

But co-founder Alan Cocconi and his partner Tom Gage were not keen on making it a production car. Thus, borrowing the lithium-ion tzero as a demonstrator they approached their silicon valley investors and pitched their idea. So, AC Propulsion was like a catalyst for Tesla.

Tesla began searching for a chassis to build their first car and they ultimately settled on the Lotus Elise. Tesla worked out a licensing deal with AC Propulsion to use their motor and controller for the powertrain. With Musk on board, the deals all set and money in the bank, they hired Ian Wright (a person with a rich experience in building race cars) to build their first-ever car, the Tesla Roadster. 

Tesla Roadster

It had its official launch party in July 2006. Tesla booked the first 100 orders at $100,000 and the debut was planned for sometime later in the same year but due to issues related with the design and engineering of the car, the debut kept getting delayed and pushed back until 2008. Finally, the car set its debut and sold a little over 2400 units in between 2008 and 2012. The motor used in the Roadster was a 3-phase, 4-pole, induction electric motor with a maximum output of 248-horsepower and a torque of 200 FT-LB. Later in its production, the torque was boosted to 295 FT-LB for an even faster acceleration, it went from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds and did a quarter-mile in just over 12.5 seconds.

In 2012 with the launch of the Model S, they entered the luxury car segment. The Model S was a spacious and stylish luxury sedan. This luxury sedan was a quiet beast, ‘quiet’ because it made no sound at all, it's electric and ‘beast’ because it created a horsepower of 588 and a maximum torque of 920 FT-LB and went from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.3 seconds. Its regenerative braking system helps your battery get back some juice every time you slow down. The Model S has seen many upgrades over the years from 2012 to 2016, but essentially it is the same generation car because Tesla does not distinguish its generations on the basis of modifications and developments on a particular model like other OEMs do.

Tesla Model S

Tesla distinguishes their generations by making a new vehicle. They come up with a new vehicle for a new segment for every new generation because that was their plan, going from the top of the pyramid to bottom.  Tesla was able to jump its production from around 15 cars per week in 2010 to about 1000 cars a week in 2015. In 2015, Tesla decided to launch a new generation, the Model X. The Model X was an SUV, it went from 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds – that almost matches the Ferrari 488. The inspiration was taken from the Audi Q7. Musk wanted the car to have doors that could open easily in tight spaces and third-row seats that could be accessed without folding the second-row seats, thus came the ‘falcon door’ design with this model. The Model X was a highly anticipated car, it received 30000 pre-orders.

Tesla Model X

Next came the Model 3 in 2017. It was the third mass-market car in their line-up. The Model 3 booked 305,000 reservations in the first week itself. It was a lighter, smaller and more attainable, rear-wheel drive, single motor sedan. The production capacity for Model 3 is 5000 cars per week. It was the number one selling car of 2018, it even beat the Toyota Corolla, now that’s some feat. There are different variants ranging from $42000 to $60000. It goes from 0 to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds for the lower tier models and from 0 to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds for the top-level, all-wheel-drive performance model. It produces a horsepower of 450 and a torque of 470 FT-LB.

Tesla Model 3

So, since they’ve covered all the segments… any guesses on what’s next for the Tesla line-up?  It’s the new Roadster 2020, that has been slated for production in 2020. The new roadster will be built on an entirely new Tesla chassis unlike the previous one and will have several other substantial changes, it's essentially going to be a completely different car. Tesla claims that the new roadster will be able to reach 60 mph in about 1.9 seconds and a 100 mph in 4.2 seconds, that is as fast as an F1 car. The car is expected to be priced for around $200,000.

Tesla Roadster 2020

Over the past two decades, Tesla has caused a massive disruption in the EV market and is the reason why the market has started rising again. Elon Musk never fails to surprise us… don’t even get us started on Space X.