THE RISE OF TESLA
INTRO
Elon Musk has become a household name in recent years.
His fame in the past year should be studied and taught to aspiring billionaires as the
man has grown in leaps.
Growing right alongside him is his groundbreaking company, Tesla Inc.
Tesla is on its way to revolutionizing energy use as we know it with a special focus on
automobiles.
It seems like Tesla and Musk showed up from nowhere but how true is that?
In this video, we will talk about Tesla and its rise to fame.
Welcome to [insert channel name]
BODY
While many companies suffered losses and some closed down in 2020, Tesla grew to be named
the most valuable car manufacturer in the world.
The company definitely deserves its accolades as the journey has not been completely smooth
training.
In 2003, two dreamers who doubled as engineers, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, started
Tesla Motors in Saint Carlos, California.
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".
Their decision to create a company that focuses on purely electric vehicles was inspired by
a General Motors fairly successful experiment on an electric vehicle.
Eberhard and Tarpenning saw an untapped market and decided to invest the funds they got from
selling their old business into creating a car that would make gas cars obsolete.
It is a little surprising to know that Elon Musk was not one of the founders of Tesla
as his name is now synonymous with the company.
Musk joined the Tesla team in 2004 after he decided to be the largest investor in the
company at the time.
Tesla's series A funding round yielded 6.5 million dollars and Musk invested 6.3 million
of that into the company's stock.
He was then appointed to become the chairman of Tesla's board of directors in the same
time frame.
Musk turned out to also be a major investment for the company as he didn't just bring money,
he also brought more investors and a clearer vision for Tesla's future.
Musk continued to work with the company in relative silence after he had gotten the founders
to agree to name him as a co-founder.
Then in 2006, Musk got the world's attention.
He released a "secret master plan" for Tesla on a blog post spelling out the company's
plans and goals.
The contents of that blog were quite intriguing, to say the least.
It was a fairly lengthy document so we will try to summarize it for you.
Tesla's first step would be to create a zero-emissions power plant sports car that would get consumers
interested and raise money for the company.
The next step would be to use the profits from that car to create a medium-volume vehicle
that would be much more affordable to more people.
Then, Tesla would use that revenue to build a car with a higher volume but still much
more affordable and that would have a wider market.
This car would be the one to make Tesla have worldwide appeal.
Sounds so easy and straightforward in theory.
Later in 2006, Tesla's revenue-building sports car was unveiled.
The car was expectedly low volume and highly-priced, something of a luxury automobile.
The Tesla Roadster was designed based on a Lotus Elise chassis and its envisioned battery
technology was borrowed from a company called AC Propulsion.
Tesla shocked those interested when production came around; the car was only a little like
the Elise and had a brand new battery built in-house by Tesla.
The Roadster crushed all the doubts the public had about EVs and showed new possibilities
of electric vehicles that could compete completely with their gas-powered counterparts.
With its 240 horsepower electric motor, a 244-mile range, and a 0-60 mph time of 3.9
seconds, the Roadster really did exceed expectations.
Despite how expensive the Roadster was with its $109,000 price tag, Tesla still sold an
astonishing 2,450 units to eager buyers.
Tesla kicked things up a notch in 2008 with the 2.5 model.
This one boasted a 288 horsepower motor and a 0-60 mph time of 3.7 seconds!
The Roadster definitely did what it was intended to do which was to create interest and generate
funds.
Tesla's decision to create the batteries in-house was what led to the price of the vehicle being
so high.
In 2012, the Roadster went out of production to make way for the next step in the masterplan,
the Model S. The Model S was identified as a luxury sedan and the beautiful vehicle has
won Tesla many awards and given it a huge slice of the retail car market.
The price of this model was easier to swallow; because it came in different configurations,
there was a range of prices.
The entry-level version came in at 57,400 dollars and the fully equipped version came
to 105,400 dollars which were definitely still better options than the Roadster.
130 miles per hour top speed, a 0-60 mph time of 3.9 seconds, and a range of 300 miles were
all factors that contributed to the Model S's huge success.
Tesla rode on this glory with the release of the Model X.
The Model X was a tiny deviation from the masterplan but the SUV market was too tempting
for Musk to pass on.
The first electric SUV had its base model, the p90, boasting a 0-60 miles per hour time
of 3.8 seconds and its top model claimed a sweet 3.2-second acceleration time.
Top speeds of 155 moles or hour and a range of 250 miles per charge were all the model
X could offer but it still held its own against the Model S in sales because those numbers
were great for the car's weight.
Then came Model 3, step 3 of the masterplan that was to bring the mass market to Tesla's
doorstep.
The Model 3 was supposed to have Tesla sealed in as a leading worldwide manufacturer of
electric vehicles and they would also compete closely with existing gas car giants.
The Model 3 has certainly delivered on sales as over 500,000 units of the vehicle have
been sold, making it the best selling electric vehicle in history.
Its comfortable base price of $35,000 was for sure an advantage to the car's success.
Its entry-level range was 220 miles, top speed was 130 miles per hour, and 0-60 miles acceleration
time was 5.6 seconds.
For its price, it was a good deal.
It looks like Tesla achieved everything on the master plan but it was not an easy feat.
After the first release of the Roadster, Tesla was very close to bankruptcy and straits were
so dire for the company that its first co-founders left Tesla completely.
It was shortly after this that Musk took on the job of the Chief Executive Officer and
started making changes.
Even with a workforce cut of 25%, Tesla got to an all-time low once where they had only
$10 million.
That may sound like a lot but with a capital intensive Roadster, it was barely enough to
complete existing orders.
Tesla's rescue came in the middle of 2009 from Daimler who bought 10% of the company's
stocks for $50 million.
It was a desperately needed influx of cash that stopped Tesla from hitting rock bottom
but it was still holding on by its fingertips.
Luckily for them, the United States government came through.
The United States Department of Energy granted the automobile manufacturer a huge $465 million
loan and this was the capital that went into bringing the written vision to reality.
Tesla went public in 2010 and it opened at 17 dollars per share.
Its IPO raised the company a decent $226 million which influenced the Model S's development
and success.
In a way, going public was a huge push to greatness for the company because of how the
Model S held the market captive.
Tesla also worked hard to innovate a lot to get to where they are today.
One important innovation is the freestanding Supercharger charging stations.
Tesla owners could charge their batteries quickly and at no cost then.
From 6 stations in just California, there are now a reasonable 1800 stations all over
the world that charge a small fee to be used.
Tesla knew that they had big plans so they also invested in a huge factory.
The Gigafactory in Nevada was designed to be a one-stop-shop for Tesla vehicle production
as all parts would be manufactured under one roof.
Tesla now has Gigafactories in places like Shanghai and Berlin with the Nevada branch
still maintaining its lead of being the most efficient battery cell producer in the world.
Tesla has several updates coming to its existing models and amazingly, a new model that could
end gas cars is on its way.
Combine this inexpensive model, the planned return of the Roadster, and Tesla's other
pursuits in energy distribution and vehicle manufacturing, you have a company not ready
to stop soon.
Do you think Tesla is here for the long haul?
Let us know in the comment section.
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