Tesla’s vision is to “create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles,” while its mission is “to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport by bringing compelling mass-market electric cars to market as soon as possible.” Tesla used a transitional business model as its ecosystem grows.
Executive summary
Tesla Motors is an energy company with a core objective to be the catalyst for renewable energy products in today’s consumer marketplace. Tesla, mostly known for their Model S, an electric sports car going zero to sixty in 2.5 seconds, sells much more than cars.
Tesla offers consumers roof tiles that capture solar energy, a “Power wall” supplying energy for a two-bedroom home for twenty-four hours, which can also charge Tesla’s Model 3 car starting at $35,000, Model S at $78,200, and the Model X SUV at $89,800.
Tesla’s profits, almost nonexistent, have not slowed down the company’s aggressive expansion. Tesla has expanded manufacturing capabilities by building two “gigafactories” that will produce more lithium ion batteries than all other producers in the world. A $2.6 billion SolarCity acquisition by Tesla has made investors shaky in 2016, with Tesla’s stock ranging from$143 per share to $265 per share.
Tesla has given estimates of about 370,000 preorders for theirModel 3, making use of their manufacturing growth to increase deliveries. Understanding the Tesla customer is key to understanding why this company is a good investment. Tesla Motors is a company based on ethos and social responsibility; its mission: “to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable transport.” Tesla customers will wait more than a year for their electric vehicle to be delivered because they share the same vision as Tesla for the future. The data shows Tesla leading the American luxury vehicle sales in 2015 with 25% of themarket share.
INTRODUCTION
Tesla Motors has taken the electric vehicle (EV) and battery market by storm since its founding in 2003. Under the leadership of Elon Musk, it has diligently followed and completed its so called “Secret Master Plan” to change the world of motoring forever.
Here, we explore some of the key milestones in the history of Tesla.
History
Founding (2003–2004)
Founded as Tesla Motors, Tesla wasincorporated on July 1, 2003, by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.
Eberhard and Tarpenning served as CEO and CFO,respectively. Elon Musk stated that the AC Propulsion tzero also inspired the company's first vehicle, the Roadster.
Eberhard said he wanted to build "a car manufacturer that is also a technology company", with its core technologies as "the battery, the computer software, and the proprietary motor".
Ian Wright was Tesla's third employee, joining a few months later. The three raised US$7.5 million in series A funding in February 2004 from various investors, including Elon Musk, who contributed the vast majority at $6.5 million.
Following the investment, Musk joined the company and became chairman of the board of directors. J. B. Straubel joined Tesla in May 2004. 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.
Roadster (2005–2009)
Musk took an active role within the company and oversaw Roadster product design at a detailed level, but was not deeply involved in day-to-day business operations. From the beginning, Musk consistently maintained that Tesla's longterm strategic goal was to create affordable mass market electric vehicles. Tesla's goal was to start with a premium sports car aimed at early adopters and then moving into more mainstream vehicles, including sedans affordable compacts.
In February 2006, Musk led Tesla's Series B $13 million investment round which added Valor Equity Partners to the funding team. Musk co-led the third, $40 million round in May 2006. This round included investment from prominent entrepreneurs including Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and former eBay President Jeff Skoll.
A fourth round worth $45 million in May 2007 brought the total private financing investment to over $105 million.
Prototypes of the Tesla's first car, the Roadster, were officially revealed to the public on July 19, 2006, in Santa Monica, California, at a 350-person invitation-only event held in Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport.
In August 2007 Eberhard was asked to step down from his CEO position by the board of directors. 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 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.
Tesla began production of the Roadster in 2008. By January 2009, Tesla had raised US$187 million and delivered 147 cars. Musk had contributed US$70 million of his own money to the company.
Later that year in June Tesla was approved to receive US$465 million in interest-bearing loans from the United States Departmentof Energy.
Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, supported 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 a US$12 million interest.
In May 2010, Tesla purchased what would become the Tesla Factory in Fremont, California, for $42 million, and opened the facility in October 2010 where Model S would be produced. The next month, on June 29, 2010, Tesla Motors launched its initial public offering (IPO) on 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 US$17.00 per share, raising US$226 million.
On January 2012 Tesla ceased production of the Roadster, and in June 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 achieved first place in the Norwegian new car sales list in September 2013. The Model S was also the bestselling plug-in electric car worldwide for the years 2015 and 2016.
Tesla announced the 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" or "HW1".
In April 2015, Tesla entered the energy storage market unveiling its Powerwall home and Powerpack industrial battery packs. The company received orders valued at $800 million within a week of the unveiling.
Tesla launched its third vehicle, the luxury SUV Model X, in September 2015. By this time, the company was selling over 10,000 vehicles per quarter.
SolarCity and Model 3 (2016–2018)
In November 2016, Tesla acquired SolarCity, thus entering the solar photovoltaics market. Few months later, in February 2017, Tesla Motors shortened its name to Tesla, to better reflect the scope of the expanded business, which by that time included electric vehicles, stationary energy storage systems, and solar power generation.
Tesla also started its philanthropic effort. Tesla made multiple contributions of solar power to areas recovering from disasters
in 2017, in particular installing a solar plus storage system to restore electricity at a hospital in Puerto Rico, following the destruction from Hurricane Maria.
In July 2018, the company donated $37.5 million to K-12 STEM education in Nevada.
In January 2020, Tesla donated 5 million Yuan ($723,000) to the Chinese CDC to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.
Tesla began selling its fourth vehicle Model, the Model 3 sedan, in July 2017.
The Model 3 was a cheaper vehicle Compared to previous Tesla vehicles, Meant for the mass market. It was highly Anticipated, which prompted the company To try to speed up production. By August 2017, there were 455,000 Reservations for the Model 3. The rollout Was plagued by delays and production Problems. This increased pressure on The company, which at this time was one Of the most shorted companies in the Market. In 2018, CEO Elon Musk briefly Considered taking Tesla private. The Plan did not materialize, and the statement Gave rise to much controversy and many Lawsuits. By the end of 2018, the Production problems were overcome, and The Model 3 listed as the world’s best Selling plug-in electric car for the year.
Global expansion (2019–present)
In recent years the company has been Expanding their production capacity Globally. Tesla opened its first Gigafactory Outside the United States in Shanghai, China, in 2019. The Giga Shanghai was the First automobile factory in China fully Owned by a foreign company, and was Built in less than 6 months. The Following year Tesla also started Construction on a new Gigafactory in Berlin, Germany, and another in Texas, United States. In March 2020, Tesla began Deliveries of its fifth vehicle model, theModel Y crossover.
On January 10, 2020, Tesla reached a Market capitalization of $86 billion, Breaking the record for greatest value of Any American automaker.
On June 10, 2020, Tesla’s market capitalization Surpassed those of BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen combined.[55] The next month, Tesla reached a market capitalization of $206 billion, surpassing Toyota’s $202 Billion to become the world’s most Valuable automaker by market Capitalization. On August 31, 2020, Tesla had a 5-for-1 stock split following the increase in value.
From July 2019 to June 2020, Tesla Reported four profitable quarters in a row For the first time, which made it eligible for Inclusion in the S&P 500. Tesla was Added to the index on December 21 of the Same year. It was the largest company Ever added, and the sixth-largest company In the index at the time of inclusion. As Investors tried to buy more shares as a Result of this inclusion, some analysts, Such as J.P. Morgan’s Ryan Brinkman, Suggested investors exercise caution as Tesla was “dramatically” overvalued. In 2020, the share price of Tesla increased 740%,[61] and as of December 2020, its Market capitalization was more than the next nine largest automakers Combined.
On October 6, 2020, Tesla told Electrek that They had dissolved their PR department (with the exception of a few PR managers Representing Tesla’s European and Asian Markets), becoming the first automaker to Do so.
Tesla hit its goal of building a half-million Cars in 2020. The company ended the Year with over US$19 billion of cash, Compared to US$6.3 billion at the end of 2019
In February 2021, it was revealed That Tesla had invested some US$1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, and the company indicated it Would soon accept Bitcoin as a form of Payment.
In 2021, Tesla entered the Texas power Market, the epicenter of the US energy Economy, where its subsidiary, Gambit Energy Storage LLC was building an over 100-megawatt energy storage project in Angleton. The battery size was capable of Powering about 20,000 houses on a hot Day.
Conclusion
Tesla has a lot going for it: a growing reputation for excellence, a household name for innovative technology, and the potential for massive growth. However, it needs to overcome the potential roadblocks of lack of production capacity, continued carrying of major corporate debts, and legitimate problems that tarnish not only its public image but also its ability to produce a reliable product.
Like many companies, only by taking full advantage of its strengths, capitalizing on its opportunities, avoiding its weaknesses, and addressing its threats can Tesla truly find sustainable success as a company.