Tesla Motors is one of the largest corporations in Silicon Valley, but unlike Google or Apple, the history of this giant is not so well known, so I think you will be interested to know more about this topic – at least people interested in electric vehicles will definitely not be able to pass by.
Contrary to popular belief, the creator of Tesla is not Elon Musk, but engineers Mark Tapping and Martin Eberhard. In 2003, they founded Tesla Motors, named after the Serbian scientist Nikola Tesla. One of the main reasons for the creation of an electric car was Michael Tapping's passion for sports cars, multiplied by his concern for the environment and the depleting reserves of combustible fuels, the prices of which were constantly increasing. However, at that time, Tesla was nothing more than a promising startup with an interesting idea and blueprints, which did not have a penny to heart.
Investments from the notorious Sergey Brin and Larry Page, which were then joined by Elon Musk himself, became a lifeline, investing in TM a much larger amount ($ 7.5 million), and automatically becoming the head of the board of directors. However, despite the significant cash injections, a year later, another $ 13 million was required, by donating which Elon provides the company with everything it needs for another two years; Inspired by the concept of environmentally friendly transport, Musk is not content with the role of 'rich guy', but actively participates in all work processes, makes important decisions in the design.
Tesla Roadster
Although Tesla's development team was working on the electric car day and night, the product was not yet ready for mass production – even to release the first non-commercial concept, another $ 40 million had to be invested. As a result, on July 19, 2006, at a closed presentation at the Santa Monica airport, the public first saw the same pre-production copy of the Tesla Roadster model, the prototype for which was the British sports car Lotus Elise.
Tesla Roadster sales began in 2008, it could travel 300-350 km on a single charge, accelerated to 100 km / h in four seconds, and the maximum speed was 201 km / h. But the emergence of a new player in the ruthless global car market could not go unnoticed, and other industry giants began to literally put a spoke in Tesla's wheels, trying to get rid of a promising competitor. As a result, the business of the electric car manufacturer has noticeably deteriorated, and in December 2007, Elon Musk left the chair of the head of the company altogether, and businessman Zeev Drori took his place (however, he will leave in less than a year, in 2008). At that moment Tesla Motors was on the verge of bankruptcy. Elon Musk again saved the situation by risking and investing another 70 million in the rehabilitation of his brainchild – this was his last money, and the step was really risky).
At this stage, the future of electric vehicles was repeatedly threatened: there were financial problems, and personnel changes in management, and a significant reduction in staff, and even a lost trial with the famous TV show Top Gear. But in the end, all difficulties were overcome, and in 4 years, 2,250 Tesla Roadsters were produced and sold.
Model S
Back in the days of the first model, it was obvious that the company's next car should be truly revolutionary and relatively affordable, unlike the Roadster model (which, at a cost of $ 109,000, could only be afforded by wealthy gadget fans and celebrities). As a result, it was decided to develop the Tesla Model S concept, first shown to the public in 2009. Because Tesla Motors was able to debug its own mass production, the price of the new item was reduced almost 2 times and amounted to 62 thousand dollars for the basic version. Of course, this could significantly improve the affairs of TM, but new investments were required to create new developments and full functioning of production facilities, which were obtained by signing a contract with Daimler AG on May 19, 2009. The transferred 10% of shares were valued at $ 50 million, which was also not enough.
To close all financial holes, the Tesla management in June of the same 2009 takes a risky step – it starts negotiations with the American government, as a result of which Elon Musk and his colleagues receive a huge loan of $ 465 million, pledging to pay it back within ten years (looking ahead , I will say that the loan was repaid already in 2013).
Model X
In February 2012, the Tesla Model X was announced (serial sales began in September 2015), embodying the next ideas of Tesla engineers. In addition to the fact that the new car changed the body type and became a crossover, among the features of the Model X were such original solutions as:
- Ergonomic folding doors called 'falcon wings'
- all-wheel drive as standard
- 3 rows of seats
- power reserve on a 75-100 kWh battery is 350-542 kilometers (depending on the version)
- air filter that cleans the air entering the passenger compartment
- availability of a configuration with two motors
- record safety performance among all production passenger cars
Model 3
Although an SUV from Tesla is almost an uncompromising electric car, its cost does not inspire optimism – even in its homeland in the United States, the price of Tesla Model X starts at 132 thousand dollars, which, in the harsh Russian reality, turns into almost 9 million rubles for the younger version and 15 million for the top-of-the-range electric vehicle (P100D).
But back to Model 3. Originally positioned as a budget electric sedan, the Model 3 was announced in 2016, and the first deliveries are not expected until the end of 2017. The car is a completely new development, in which Tesla Motors plans to use a new platform that has not been used before. . Another innovation (albeit now not technical, but rather marketing) was the ability to pre-order Model 3 by making an advance payment of $ 1,000. The idea turned out to be so successful that 180 thousand applications were collected in the first day, and now this number has exceeded half a million. The next photo, in fact, captures the line of applicants, lined up on the very first day.
As for the technical part, here the Model 3's performance is noticeably better than that of competitors comparable in price: Tesla's 'budget employee' accelerates to 100 km / h in 5 seconds, travels 215 miles / 346 km on a single charge and has the same touch screen that is installed in the older models – however, if it is 17-inch there, then here its diagonal is 15 inches. The Model 3 also benefits from a choice between 4WD and RWD, a panoramic glass roof and a continuously updated full autonomous driving system.
Tesla Motors today
At the moment, the capitalization of the auto concern Elon Musk has reached $ 37 billion, which exceeds the value of even such well-known brands as Mitsubishi and Suzuki. And even after such a difficult, but certainly successful path, Musk and his colleagues are not going to stop there. The company's plans, to put it mildly, are ambitious: in the next couple of years, Ilon promised to bring the autopilot of his electric vehicles to the level of 'entered the destination, leaned back in a chair, went to bed' and (!) Create an absolutely non-volatile car.
