Tesla

The company was incorporated as Tesla Motors, Inc., on July 1, 2003, by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. They were chief executive officer and chief financial officer, respectively. Eberhard said that 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 joined Eberhard and Tarpenning a few months later. In February 2004, the company raised US$7.5 million (equivalent to $12.8 million in 2025) in series A funding, including $6.5 million (equivalent to $11.1 million in 2025) from Elon Musk, who had received $176 million from the sale of his interest in PayPal two years earlier. Musk became the chairman of the board of directors and the largest shareholder of Tesla. J. B. Straubel joined Tesla in May 2004 as chief technical officer.

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.

Elon Musk took an active role within the company, but was not deeply involved in day-to-day business operations. The company's strategy was to start with a premium sports car aimed at early adopters and then move into more mainstream vehicles, including sedans and affordable compacts.

In February 2005, Musk led Tesla's Series B venture capital funding round of $13 million, which added Valor Equity Partners to the funding team. Musk co-led the third, $40 million round in May 2006 which saw investment from prominent entrepreneurs including Google co-founders 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.

In August 2007, Eberhard was asked by the board, led by Musk, to step down as CEO. Eberhard then took the title of "President of Technology" before ultimately leaving the company in January 2008. Co-founder Marc Tarpenning, who was 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. In June 2009, Eberhard filed a lawsuit against Musk for allegedly forcing him out. …

As of April 2026, Tesla sells four vehicle models: Model 3, Model Y, Semi and Cybertruck. Tesla no longer offers three vehicle models; the first-generation Roadster, Model S, and Model X. Tesla has announced plans for a second-generation Roadster, a Cybercab, and has shown a concept of a Robovan.

The Model 3 is a mid-size car with a fastback body style and either a dual-motor, all-wheel drive layout or a rear-motor, rear-wheel drive layout. The vehicle was designed to be more affordable than the luxury Model S sedan. A prototype Model 3 was first shown in 2016 and within a week, the company received over 325,000 paid reservations. Deliveries started in July 2017. The Model 3 ranked as the world's best-selling electric car from 2018 to 2021, and cumulative sales passed 1 million in June 2021. The vehicle has seen one major design refresh in September 2023 which revised the exterior and interior.

The Model Y is a mid-size crossover SUV offered in 5- and 7-passenger configurations with a single‐motor, rear-wheel drive or a dual-motor, all-wheel drive layout. The vehicle was designed to be more affordable than the luxury Model X SUV. A prototype Model Y was first shown in March 2019, and deliveries started in March 2020. The Model Y shared around 75 percent of its content with the Model 3. In the first quarter of 2023, the Model Y outsold the Toyota Corolla to become the world's best-selling car, the first electric vehicle to claim the title.

The Tesla Semi is a Class 8 semi-truck by Tesla, Inc., with a tri-motor, rear-wheel drive layout. Tesla states that the Semi has approximately three times the power of a typical diesel semi truck, and a range of 500 miles (800 km). Two prototype trucks were first shown in November 2017 and initial deliveries were made to PepsiCo on December 1, 2022. High-volume production started on April 29, 2026.

The Cybertruck is a full-sized pickup truck. First announced in November 2019, pilot production began in July 2023, after being pushed back multiple times, and deliveries began on November 30, 2023. Three models are offered: rear-wheel drive, dual-motor all-wheel drive, and trimotor all-wheel drive, with EPA range estimates of 320–340 miles (510–550 km), depending on the model. The truck's exterior design, made from flat sheets of unpainted stainless steel, earned a notably polarizing reception from the media. …

Tesla cars come with "Standard Connectivity", which provides navigation using a cellular connection. For a fee, Tesla offers a subscription to "Premium Connectivity", which adds live traffic and satellite maps to navigation, internet browsing, and media streaming.

Tesla's strategy is to service its vehicles first through remote diagnosis and repair. If a problem cannot be resolved remotely, Tesla dispatches a mobile technician or directs customers to a company-owned service center. As of October 2024, the company operates 1,306 retail stores, galleries, service, delivery and body shop locations globally. Tesla has said that it does not want to make a profit on vehicle servicing, which has traditionally been a large profit center for most auto dealerships.

In 2016, Tesla recommended having any Tesla car inspected every 12,500 miles or once a year, whichever comes first. In early 2019, the manual was changed to say: "your Tesla does not require annual maintenance and regular fluid changes," and instead it recommends periodic servicing of the brake fluid, air conditioning, tires, and air filters.

Supercharger is the branding used by Tesla for its high-voltage direct current fast chargers.

The Supercharger network was introduced on September 24, 2012, as the Tesla Model S entered production, with six stations in California. As of 1 October 2026, Tesla operates a global network of 9,007 Supercharger stations with over 85,000 connectors. The majority are located in three regions: Asia Pacific (3,610 stations), North America (3,594), and Europe (1,788). Supercharger maximum power output is currently 500 kilowatts (kW).

Tesla also has a network of "Destination Chargers", slower than Superchargers and intended for locations where customers are expected to park and stay for several hours, such as hotels, restaurants, or shopping centers. Unlike the Supercharger network, Tesla does not own the destination chargers; instead, property owners set up the devices and set pricing. When the network first launched in 2014, Tesla provided free charging equipment and covered installation costs. …

Tesla subsidiary Tesla Energy develops, builds, sells, and installs solar energy generation systems and battery energy storage products (as well as related products and services) to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The subsidiary was created by the merger of Tesla's existing battery energy storage products division with SolarCity, a solar energy company that Tesla acquired in 2016. In 2023, the company deployed 14.7 gigawatt-hours of battery energy storage products, an increase of 125% over 2022, but only deployed solar energy systems capable of generating 223 megawatts, a decrease of 36% over 2022.

Tesla Energy products include solar panels (built by other companies for Tesla), the Tesla Solar Roof (a solar shingle system), and the Tesla Solar Inverter. Storage products include the Powerwall (a home energy storage device) and the Megapack (a large-scale energy storage system).

For large-scale customers, Tesla Energy operates an online platform which allows for automated, real-time power trading, demand forecasting and product control. In March 2021, the company said its online products were managing over 1.2 GWh of storage. For home customers, the company operates a virtual power company in Texas called Tesla Electric, which utilizes the company's online platforms to manage customers Powerwall devices, discharging them into the grid to sell power when prices are high, earning money for customers.

At the time of Tesla's founding in 2003, electric vehicles were costly. In 2006, Musk stated that Tesla's strategy was to first produce high-price, low-volume vehicles, such as sports cars, for which customers are less sensitive to price. This would allow it to progressively bring down the cost of batteries, which in turn would allow it to offer cheaper and higher volume cars. Tesla's first vehicle, the Roadster, was low-volume (fewer than 2,500 were produced) and priced at over $100,000. The next models, the Model S and Model X, are more affordable but still luxury vehicles. The Model 3 and the Model Y, are priced still lower, and aimed at a higher volume market, selling over 100,000 vehicles each quarter. Tesla continuously updates the hardware of its cars rather than waiting for a new model year, unlike nearly every other car manufacturer.

Unlike other automakers, Tesla does not rely on franchised dealerships to sell vehicles. Instead, the company sells vehicles directly through its website and a network of company-owned stores. The company is the first automaker in the United States to sell cars directly to consumers since the widespread adoption of the franchised dealer model. Some jurisdictions, particularly in the United States, prohibit auto manufacturers from directly selling vehicles to consumers. In these areas, Tesla has locations that it calls galleries that the company says "educate and inform customers about our products, but such locations do not actually transact in the sale of vehicles." In total, Tesla operates nearly 400 stores and galleries in more than 35 countries. These locations are typically located in retail shopping districts, inside shopping malls, or other high-traffic areas, instead of near other auto dealerships.

Analysts describe Tesla as vertically integrated, given how it develops many components in-house, such as batteries, motors, and software. The practice of vertical integration is rare in the automotive industry, where companies typically outsource 80% of components to suppliers and focus on engine manufacturing and final assembly.

Tesla generally allows its competitors to license its technology, stating that it wants to help its competitors accelerate the world's use of sustainable energy. …