History of Tesla, Inc.

Tesla, Inc., an electric vehicle manufacturer and clean energy company founded in San Carlos, California in 2003 by American entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.

[13] Musk took an active role within the company and oversaw Roadster product design, but was not deeply involved in day-to-day business operations.

[17] Musk consistently maintained that Tesla's long-term strategic goal was to create affordable mass market electric vehicles.

[18] Tesla's goal was to start with a premium sports car aimed at early adopters and then moving into more mainstream vehicles, including sedans and affordable compacts.

[19] In February 2005, Musk led Tesla's Series B US$13 million investment round which added Valor Equity Partners to the funding team.

[20] This round included investment from prominent entrepreneurs including Google co-founders Sergey Brin & Larry Page, former eBay President Jeff Skoll, Hyatt heir Nick Pritzker and added the VC firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Capricorn Management, and The Bay Area Equity Fund managed by JPMorgan Chase.

[20] Also in the 2006 "Tesla master plan" a partnership with SolarCity was announced to co-market photovoltaic solar panels, which could be installed on the roof of a carport, allowing those who drive less than 350 miles/week to become "energy positive" with respect to personal transport.

Profitability arose primarily from improved gross margin on the 2010 Roadster, the second iteration of Tesla's award-winning sports car.

[38] Tesla Motors signed a production contract on July 11, 2005, with Group Lotus to produce "gliders" (complete cars minus powertrain).

[41] In June 2010, it was reported that Tesla sold a total of US$12.2 million zero emission vehicle credits to other automakers, including Honda, up to March 31, 2010.

All of those Model S fires had developed several minutes after the cars had struck significant road debris at high speeds and all of the vehicles had provided warnings to the occupants of serious battery damage, advising that an immediate stop was required.

Local production in China has the potential to reduce the sales prices of Tesla models by a third; however, foreign automakers are generally required to establish a joint venture with a Chinese company to produce cars domestically.

[70] Under a buyback program called the Resale Value Guarantee available in 37 U.S. states, a Tesla Model S sold new before July 1, 2016, included the right to return it after three years with reimbursement of 43% to 50% of its initial price.

In addition to maintaining the resale value, Tesla hoped to secure a supply of used cars to refurbish and re-sell with warranty.

[77][78] As of September 2015, similar programs existed in Canada,[79] Austria,[80] Belgium,[81] Denmark,[82] France,[83] Germany,[84] Britain,[85] Netherlands,[86] Norway,[87] Sweden[88] and Switzerland.

[89][needs update] In 2015, Tesla acquired Riviera Tool & Die (with 100 employees in Grand Rapids, Michigan), one of its suppliers of stamping items.

For a short time, Tesla partnered with Home Depot to sell solar and energy products through in store kiosks.

[130] Investors expressed concern about Tesla's plans for execution and its competitive risk, as Volvo Cars committed to introduce only electric and electric-assisted vehicles by 2019.

"[132] Morningstar analyst David Whiston foresaw a revised, slower timetable for the Model 3 and a company acknowledgement of problems with building battery packs for its cars.

Axel Schmidt, a managing director at consulting firm Accenture, said that Tesla's problems with Gigafactory 1 prove that increasing Model 3 production "remains a huge challenge".

[133] In early November 2017, Musk advised investors of a production delay that was primarily due to difficulties with the new battery that would allow Tesla to significantly reduce the manufacturing cost of the Model 3.

The company was having difficulties with robots on the assembly line,[134] but the most serious issue was with one of the four zones in the battery manufacturing, caused by a "systems integration subcontractor", according to Musk.

[138] On November 21, 2017, Bloomberg stated that "over the past 12 months, the electric-car maker has been burning money at a clip of about $8,000 a minute (or $480,000 an hour)" preparing for Model 3.

[141][142] In 2016, BYD Auto was the world's top selling plug-in car manufacturer with 101,183 units sold, followed by Tesla with 76,243.

[151][152] In August 2015, Tesla launched a revamp of its stores to include interactive displays focused on safety, autopilot, charging network and motors.

[154] In June 2016, Tesla opened its first store-within-a-store: a small outpost within the Nordstrom department store at The Grove shopping mall in Los Angeles.

[162] On August 24, Musk released a statement indicating that both he and the Tesla Board of Directors had made the decision for the company to remain public.

The lawsuit characterized the tweet as false, misleading, and damaging to investors, and sought to bar Musk from serving as CEO for publicly traded companies.

[176] According to the Wall Street Journal, in September 2018, the company's stock fell to its lowest price in a year, around the time that CEO Elon Musk smoked marijuana during a live TV interview.

Tesla deliveries vary significantly by month due to regional issues such as car carrier availability and registration.