About Tesla
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 the summer of 2003 by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in San Carlos, 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 Serbian inventor, electrical engineer and scientist Nikola Tesla.
Financing and Organization
Initial investment came from PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, who became Tesla's Chairman of the Board. He also led Tesla Motors' first two rounds of financing and co-led the third round along with VantagePoint Venture Partners. Tesla's third round included investment from prominent entrepreneurs, such as Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and former eBay President Jeff Skoll.
As of May 2007, the company has raised 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. As of 2008, Elon Musk has successfully ousted Tesla's original founder Martin Eberhard from the company and fired several key personnel that were there since its inception. New direction is now under Ze'ev Drori, the current CEO of Tesla Motors.
Planned models
Tesla Roadster
Tesla Motors' first production vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, is a performance sports car and electric vehicle which emits no exhaust. According to official test results from the Environmental Protection Agency, the car has a range of 221 miles (394 km). The company claims that the Tesla Roadster accelerates from 0 to 60 mph (100 km/h) in less than 4 seconds, and a top speed of 125 mph (201 km/h) (limited for safety). The cost of powering the vehicle is estimated at 2 cents per mile.
