Who Actually Invented Tesla and When? Unpacking the Dramatic History
When I first heard about the emergence of Tesla Motors around 2008, I was working as an electrical engineer for an automotive tech startup. We were trying to develop next-gen batteries and motors for electric vehicles (EVs). In other words, right up Tesla’s alley! I remember feeling astonished reading about the blistering acceleration and sleek design of the Tesla Roadster. How could a unknown startup pull off something we had deemed virtually impossible?
Soon I was engrossed in learning everything I could about the brains behind this impressive new EV company. What I discovered was far from the standard Silicon Valley overnight success story…
Meet Martin Eberhard: The OCD Visionary
Unlike most tech founders in the early 2000s, Martin Eberhard‘s background wasn’t in software or computers – it was in electrochemistry, energy storage, and propulsion systems. He already had several startups under his belt, including an electronic book reader company that was acquired by Microsoft in the 90s.
Throughout his career, Eberhard earned a reputation as a stubborn engineering perfectionist, some might even say OCD. For example, while developing a lithium polymer battery prototype in the late 90s, he insisted on personally signing off on the purchase order for every single screw and resistor that went into it!
As for Tesla’s origin story, the tipping point came when Eberhard heard news that General Motors had rounded up its fleet of EV1 electric cars sitting on leases and crushed them for scrap. He was infuriated that the first viable electric cars had been destroyed rather than allowing technology reuse.
Eberhard became determined to prove that EVs could outperform gas cars while still turning a profit. He teamed up with Marc Tarpenning, a longtime friend and entrepreneur, to make it happen. Tarpenning would handle the business side while Eberhard led engineering.
Musk Came for the Fast Cars, Stuck Around to Transform the Company
When Eberhard went searching for investors in early 2004, it didn’t take long to get connected to Elon Musk…or more accurately, get stonewalled by Musk‘s notorious assistant Mary Beth Brown! Once they did connect, Musk test drove an AC Propulsion tzero – the prototype EV that inspired Tesla’s Roadster. As a McLaren F1 owner, Musk wasn’t easily impressed, but the tzero‘s street-legal racing performance convinced him electric drive had potential.
Given his recent success selling PayPal, Musk had deep enough pockets to write Tesla a check for $6.3 million, making him the dominant investor. Eberhard gave him a spot on Tesla’s board, likely not realizing how much influence that entitled him to. For example, Musk insisted Tesla switch from AC induction motors to brushless DC motors he claimed would have superior performance – nevermind that the Tesla engineers argued otherwise!
This was just the first of many instances where Musk threw his weight around in defiance of Tesla‘s technical leadership…
The Visionary vs The Perfectionist: A Personality Conflict Doomed From the Start
Maybe it was the unchecked ego, maybe it was the A-type personalities or conflicting engineering opinions, but it took less than 2 years before tensions escalated between Chairman Musk and CEO Eberhard. Early employees describe Musk barging into Eberhard‘s meetings to criticize designs he didn‘t agree with and complaining that the Roadster rollout was taking too long.
Meanwhile, Muskfaulted Eberhard for wasting resources by machining expensive prototypes piece-by-painstaking piece in Tesla‘s shop rather than embracing higher volume, lower cost manufacturing.
The conflict came to a head when Musk lead an emergency board meeting in June 2007 to discuss Roadster cost overruns uncovered during financial auditing. Supposedly Musk accused Eberhard of hiding crucial financial details…Eberhard was then unanimously ousted from the CEO role.
Eberhard tells a very different story – that Musk orchestrated a power play to take over Tesla despite promising earlier not to oust him as CEO. Two short-lived CEOs later, and Musk assumed the helm in October 2008. The company was teetering on bankruptcy and Musk invested $20 million more of his personal fortune to save it.
Lawsuits Make for Messy History Rewrites
After being forced out of his own company, Eberhard filed suit against Tesla in May 2009 seeking to recoup financial damages and restore his reputation. He dropped the messy lawsuit 6 months later after reaching a settlement.
The consequences didn‘t end there however. As part of the resolution, Tesla‘s board adopted a resolution to retroactively add five co-founders: Eberhard, Tarpenning, Wright (an engineer hired in 2004), Musk, and JB Straubel.
Wait – if Musk was now a founder, did that absolve him of playing the villain in Eberhard‘s ousting? Needless to say, Eberhard wasn‘t pleased about glossing over the coerced leadership change.
Straubel – The Quiet Genius Often Overlooked
Airplane, Tesla’s original chief technology officer (CTO) and the battery architect behind the Roadster and Model S, is often listed alongside Musk as critical to the early technical innovations.
However Straubel kept an exceptionally low profile until his own surprise resignation from Tesla in 2019. He had taken over leadership of Tesla’s complete powertrain development fairly early on:
“By 2006, JB was de facto head of all engineering.” according to Musk.
Straubel had been friends with Eberhard for over a decade before Tesla’s founding and silently played a monumental role in pulling off the Roadster‘s groundbreaking specs.
Engineering Feats Ahead of Their Time
Remember, Tesla was designing the Roadster to something no startup had achieved – create an electric car that could compete with $100k+ supercars.
Tesla outfitted the Lotus Elise glider with a custom 53 kWh battery pack providing up to 244 miles per charge, and an electric motor putting down 288 hp and 0 to 60 acceleration in 3.7 seconds. For context, GM‘s 2-seater EV1 released in 1996 had a 16.5 kWh battery, 120 hp motor, and 0 to 60 acceleration of around 8 seconds.
Tesla‘s first vehicle was essentially twice as capable as the most advanced production EV available less than a decade prior! And while the EV1 carry a base MSRP of only $33k, Tesla would sell each Roadster for over triple that – $109k. Even at that price, naysayers argued no startup could produce cutting edge EVs profitably.
It would be 6 long years before Tesla delivered their first Roadster in 2008. But when it arrived, it absolutely demolished expectations and shifted many industry expert opinions about the potential of electric cars. Suddenly Musk‘s visions of a mass market, affordable EV seemed not so farfetched.
A Rocketship Growth Trajectory
Fast forward 14 years from those first deliveries, and Tesla is now the world‘s most valuable automaker, eclipsing industry giants like Toyota and Volkswagon in market cap. Beyond making a luxurious yet accessible EV (Model 3 starts at $46k), Tesla has achieved paradigm shifts in battery efficiency, computing, and self-driving.
Check out this growth curve for Tesla vehicle deliveries since 2012:
[insert chart showing deliveries by year, exponential curve upwards]And Tesla‘s stock has behaved accordingly, catapulting 1300% from January 2019 to peak over $1,200 in late 2021:
[insert stock price graph over time]Imagine you had invested $10k into Tesla‘s IPO back in 2010 – it would been worth nearly $3 million by last year! A 19,900% return turning modest savings into potential millions. I don‘t know about you, but I really regret missing out early on TSLA, there‘s been no other growth story like it!
But does Tesla still have room left to run? Well Musk claims the Cybertruck, Semi, and Robotaxi programs have potential to each grow revenue as much as Tesla‘s existing business. If he‘s right, today‘s nearly $700 billion market cap could triple or quadruple again!
The Vision vs The Reality
It‘s somewhat ironic that Tesla‘s meteoric rise happened only after the original visionary, Eberhard, left the company. Perhaps his perfectionism and methodical approach prevented Tesla from scaling production quickly enough before money ran out.
Yet Tesla might also have floundered under someone less relentless than Musk – after all, his aggressive leadership and appetite for risk is a major force propelling the company forward today.
Did Eberhard deserve to have control wrested away and his legacy erased? Or did Musk save Tesla from its own creator? I‘ll let you be the judge.
Regardless, Tesla has fundamentally transformed from its original vision of crafting an exclusive, tiny production run sports car for the ultra wealthy. It is now leading the path towards sustainable transportation and energy for the masses. And if it achieves full self-driving capability? That may redefine transportation as we know it.
Thanks for sticking with me on this journey back through Tesla‘s turbulent origin story! Let me know if you have any other questions – I‘ve been fascinated by this company from early on and always happy to dig deeper on its history.
