Tesla Motors

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Tesla Motors, Inc.
Type Private
Founded 2003
Headquarters San Carlos, California, USA
Key people Ze'ev Drori (CEO)

Michael Marks (former CEO)
Martin Eberhard (co-founder)
Marc Tarpenning (co-founder)
Elon Musk (Chairman)

JB Straubel (CTO)
Industry Automotive
Products Tesla Roadster
Employees 250 +
Website http://www.teslamotors.com/

Tesla Motors, Inc. is a Silicon Valley automobile startup company focusing on the production of high performance, consumer-oriented electric vehicles. The firm was started in July, 2003 by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in San Carlos, California and has since grown to include several team members with extensive computer, electrical, and automotive engineering backgrounds from around the world. Tesla Motors is named after inventor Nikola Tesla.[1][2]

Contents

[edit] Financing and Organization

The initial, Series A investment round of USD$7.5 million was led by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk in April 2004 and included Compass Technology Partners. Mr. Musk became Tesla's Chairman of the Board and in February 2005, led Tesla Motors' second, USD$13 million Series B investment round which added Valor Equity Partners to the funding team. Mr. Musk co-led the third, USD$40 million Series C round in May 2006 along with VantagePoint Venture Partners. Tesla's third 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 JP Morgan.[1]

The fourth, Series D round in May 2007 added another USD$45 million and brought the total investments to over $105 million USD through private financing. Elon Musk, who was President of PayPal before it was bought by eBay, has contributed $37 million of his own money to the company. In August, 2007 Martin Eberhard was replaced by an interim CEO, Michael Marks. In December 2007, Ze'ev Drori became the permanent CEO and President of Tesla Motors. As of January 2008, Tesla Motors had quietly fired several key personnel that had been involved from the inception after a performance review by the new CEO.[3] [4]

[edit] Current models

Tesla Roadster
Tesla Roadster

Tesla Motors' first production vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, is an all-electric sports car. According to test results from an EPA certified laboratory, the car has a range of 221 miles (356 km). The company and reviewers state that the Tesla Roadster accelerates from 0 to 60 mph (100 km/h) in less than 4 seconds, and has a top speed of 125 mph (201 km/h) (limited for safety). The cost of powering the vehicle is estimated at US$0.02 per mile.[5]

Prototypes were introduced to the public in July 2006, and the Tesla Roadster was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in December 2006 as the recipient of the magazine's "Best Inventions 2006 - Transportation Invention" award.[6] Demand has been high for the first "Signature One Hundred" set of fully equipped Roadsters, which sold out in less than three weeks,[7] and the second hundred sold out by October, 2007. As of May 2 2008, more than 600 Tesla Roadsters have been reserved and 400 more are on the waiting list.[8] The first production model was delivered to Elon Musk, Chairman of the Board, in February, 2008 and were in general production by March 17, 2008.[9]

Tesla plans to offer home roof mounted solar-photovoltaic systems through Solar City, another Elon Musk–funded company, that will offset power used by the home charger, allowing 50 miles (80 km) of travel per day without burdening the power grid, thus making the package "energy positive" for a driver whose average daily mileage is less than that.[citation needed]

[edit] Planned models

Tesla is also currently working on an announced but unrevealed sedan, codenamed "WhiteStar", which may be introduced in 2009 as a 2010 model. It is being designed as an alternative to cars such as the BMW 5 Series and the Audi A6, with an estimated price of $50,000-70,000.[10] WhiteStar is to be built in a new plant in New Mexico.

Future plans include a more affordable third model. The development and production of this future model, codenamed "BlueStar", will be funded by profits from the WhiteStar sedan. According to Tesla, if everything goes according to plan, BlueStar will be released in 2012 and cost around $30,000.[11]

[edit] Facilities

Tesla Motors' headquarters are located in Silicon Valley, San Carlos, California. Much of the development of the Tesla Roadster occurred here.

[edit] Europe

Tesla Motors has facilities in England related to the design and assembly of the Tesla Roadster.

The Tesla Roadster is currently being assembled by Lotus Cars in Hethel, England.

[edit] Asia

Tesla Motors has facilities in Taiwan for motor production. These will be used in the Tesla Roadster and the Tesla WhiteStar.

[edit] United States

The Michigan Technical Center, located in Rochester Hills, Michigan, opened January 26, 2007. It is a 19,240-square-foot (1,787 m²) facility located at 1840 Enterprise Drive. Approximately $47.7 million will be spent on tooling.

The primary focus of the facility is on research & development for future Tesla products. The first priority is the four-door electric sports sedan project codenamed “WhiteStar”. It will be a four door, five-passenger, lightweight, high-performance sedan planned for production around 2009.

BlueStar, the more-affordable third model, will also be developed here.

The region has an existing base of automotive companies, facilities and engineering talent, with thousands of highly experienced automotive experts. Utilizing these existing resources will reduce costly investments for Tesla Motors.

Tesla Motors is planning to construct a new plant for mass production of the Tesla WhiteStar in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A total capital investment of $35 million is projected to be spent on the 150,000-square-foot (14,000 m²) plant, which would provide employment for over 400 people. Competition for the plant was intense, as several states including California, Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Michigan were vying for the investment.

This facility will be the world's first factory dedicated to the mass production of electric vehicles. The company intends to produce at least 10,000 vehicles per year.[12] SunCal, a land development company, has pledged to provide up to 75 acres (300,000 m²) of land next to the initial site at no cost, if Tesla Motors undertakes a major expansion in the future.

Construction was originally planned to begin in April 2007, with completion expected by 2009, including tooling. Tesla Motors has stated that it intends to offer the Tesla WhiteStar for sale in the Fall of 2009.

[edit] Service Centers

Tesla Motors dealership on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, California
Tesla Motors dealership on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, California

Service Centers for the Tesla Roadster are planned for the following United States Metropolitan Areas:

Tesla Motors has stated that it will build additional service centers over the next few years in order to support sales of its next vehicle, the sports sedan currently codenamed the Tesla WhiteStar. "To do 10,000 units for WhiteStar, we need to be in a lot more places," said Darryl Siry, Vice President of Marketing.

Planning is currently underway for an additional fifteen service centers in major metropolitan locations.[15] There are currently no planned service center locations outside of the United States.

There is minimal maintenance required of an electric vehicle. There are no oil changes and brake maintenance is minor due to regenerative braking. Transmission, brake, and cooling system fluid changes will be required as for gasoline-engine cars.

[edit] Partners

Tesla uses several domestic and overseas suppliers and partners.

The brakes and airbags of the Tesla Roadster are made in Germany, while the chassis of is made in Norway. The batteries are assembled into sheets for integration into the Energy Storage System by a Tesla supplier in Thailand.[16]

Tesla Motors licensed AC Propulsion's Reductive Charging(tm) patent, which integrates the charging electronics into the inverter in a way that reduces mass and complexity. Tesla Motors has designed and builds its own power electronics, motor, and other drivetrain components that incorporate this licensed technology from AC Propulsion.

Tesla has a significant relationship with Lotus Cars. A design contest was held for the final styling of the Tesla Roadster, then codenamed Dark Star, which Lotus's design studio won. The Roadster includes several components from the Lotus Elise like the windshield and air bag systems, but neither the chassis nor any of the body panels are sourced from Lotus Cars. The chassis design is licensed from Lotus, based on the Elise chassis, was built using the same Lotus software tools used to build the Elise chassis, and is built by the same Norwegian manufacturer. Similarly, the body panels were designed under contract by Barney Hatt of Lotus Design Studios in cooperation with Tesla, but are manufactured from carbon fiber by a third party vendor. Final assembly of the Tesla Roadster is done at Lotus Cars in Hethel, England by both Lotus and Tesla employees.

[edit] Lawsuits

In March 2008 it was announced that Tesla has filed a lawsuit against Fisker Automotive saying Henrik Fisker "stole design ideas and confidential information related to the design of hybrid and electric cars". Tesla hired Fisker to design the WhiteStar sedan but decided against the design as it was, according to Tesla chairman Elon Musk, "substandard".[17]

Also in March 2008, Magna International filed a lawsuit against Tesla claiming that it was never paid for services rendered. Tesla hired Magna to help design a 2-speed transmission for its Roadster (a transmission they decided not to use).[18]

[edit] Tesla Energy Group

Interest in Tesla Motors' battery technology led to the formation of a division called the Tesla Energy Group. Think Global was to be the first customer, placing an order for development and delivery of battery packs for their electric cars. However, Tesla put their plans on hold due to delays in production and engineering, and Think has accordingly found a new battery supplier, EnerDel. [19]

[edit] Moniker

Tesla Motors is named after Nikola Tesla, an inventor, electrical engineer and scientist. The principal visionary and inventor of the alternating current induction motor and polyphase system of electrical distribution, Tesla's designs and ideas changed the world, providing a stable means of delivering electricity over enormous distances; the War of Currents with Edison over this issue went on for years with Tesla and George Westinghouse ultimately triumphing. The Tesla Roadster's power plant is basically a Tesla three-phase AC induction motor.

[edit] Board of Directors

  • Elon Musk - Chairman of the board of directors, former President of Paypal, founder and CEO of SpaceX
  • Ze'ev Drori - CEO of Tesla Motors
  • Ira Ehrenpreis - General Partner, Technology Partners
  • Antonio J. Gracias - CEO and Chairman of the Investment Committee at Valor Equity Partners
  • Jim Marver - Co-founder and managing partner, VantagePoint Venture Partners
  • Kimbal Musk - CEO of Medium, Inc.
  • Steve Westly - Former Controller for California and founder of The Westly Group
  • Laurie Yoler - Managing Director, GrowthPoint Technology Partners

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Martin Eberhard (2007-08-07). The Future of Cars is Electric. Retrieved on 2008-06-10. “"Video available from Google Video"”
  2. ^ Why the Name "Tesla"?. Tesla Motors. Retrieved on 2008-06-10.
  3. ^ The Next Leg of the Race (2007-08-15).
  4. ^ Anita Lienert, Correspondent (2008-01-11). "Stealth Bloodbath" Roils Tesla Motors. Edmund's Inside Line. Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
  5. ^ Tesla Motors
  6. ^ TIME Best Inventions 2006
  7. ^ Tesla Roadster ‘Signature One Hundred’ Series Sells Out @ Megawatt Motorworks
  8. ^ "Tesla opens first dealership in Los Angeles" (HTML), AutoWeek, 2008-05-02. Retrieved on 2008-05-05. (English) 
  9. ^ We have begun regular production of the Tesla Roadster. Tesla Motors (March 17, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  10. ^ WindingRoad.com
  11. ^ BusinessWeek profiles Tesla Motors
  12. ^ TeslaMotors.com - announcement of Albuquerque plant
  13. ^ [1]
  14. ^ Palo Alto Daily News
  15. ^ Solving the Car-Propulsion Problem - Pogue’s Posts - Technology - New York Times Blog
  16. ^ Can Silicon Valley Reinvent The Car? - Forbes.com
  17. ^ Autoblog - Tesla files suit against Fisker Automotive
  18. ^ Autoblog - Tesla Motors Sued By Transmission Supplier Magna
  19. ^ Tesla Motors (2007-05-22). "Tesla Energy Group, a New Division of Tesla Motors, Signs Development and Supply Agreement Worth $43 Million with Think of Norway" (HTML) (in English). Press release.

[edit] External links