Timeline of Tesla, Inc.

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This is a timeline of the American company Tesla, Inc., a car manufacturer, energy storage manufacturer, and solar power installer.

Sample questions

The following are some interesting questions that can be answered by reading this timeline:

  • What industrial sectors are developed by Tesla?
    • Sort the full timeline by category
    • You will mostly see the sector of automotives, but also energy storage and solar energy.
  • Who are some important people involved in the running of Tesla?
    • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for rows with the value "Team".
    • Besides Elon Musk, you will also see other important people in the history of the company, including co-founders and important positions.
  • What are some events describing financial aspects of Tesla?
    • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for rows with the value "Financial".
    • You will see some events describing the financial status of the company, as well as fundings and loans.
  • What products were announced and launched by Tesla throughout its history?
    • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for rows with the value "Product launch"
    • You will mostly see releases of automotive models.
  • What are some important partnerships between Tesla and other entities?
    • Sort the full timeline by "Event type" and look for rows with the value "Partnership".
  • You will see some production contracts, among other types of partnerships.
  • Other events are described under the following types: "Company", "Background".


Big picture

Time period Key developments at Tesla
2003–2004 Tesla is founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Its initial prototype is produced. Tesla receives series A funding in 2004, led by Elon Musk.
2004 Musk joins Tesla.[1]
2004–2007 Eberhard was CEO leading the Tesla development. Tesla continually designs prototypes for the Tesla Roadster. Elon Musk was Chairman of the board, contributing to the car design and market strategy.
2006 "Originally, Eberhard and Tarpenning dreamed of building an entirely electric sports car. In 2006 they unveiled the prototype for their Tesla Roadster which entered production in 2008."[1]
2008–2012 Elon Musk gains control of Tesla and injects millions of his fortune into the company, which narrowly escapes bankruptcy. These are the years where Tesla sells its Tesla Roadsters. Sales end when Tesla runs out of Lotus gliders by 2012. Tesla reaches 3,000 employees by the end of 2012.
2008 "The Roadster met those needs. The first model produced in 2008 could travel almost 250 miles on a single battery, with acceleration and top speed compared to many consumer-level sports cars. The Roadster used a standard lithium-ion battery structure, common to many electronic devices, and customers could recharge the car in a standard wall outlet."[1]
2012–2015 Tesla starts selling the Model S and achieves rapidly growing sales. Tesla expands its network of Supercharger stations to cover the entire United States, and expands to other countries. Cumulative sales passed 90,000 units by October 2015. By 2015, Tesla introduces rudimentary self-driving software into its vehicles.
2018 In the competition arena, the world’s largest automakers, rushing to catch up with their own electric cars, invest more than US$100 billion.[2]
2019 Tesla opens its first "Gigafactory" outside the United States in Shanghai, China.
2020 Tesla hits its goal of building a half-million cars.[3]

Numerical and visual data

Year Deliveries Production Annual revenue Employees
2008 $15 million
2009 $112 million
2010 $117 million 899
2011 $204 million 1,417
2012 $413 million 2,964
2013 22,442 $2.01 billion 5,859
2014 31,655 35,000 $3.2 billion 10,161
2015 50,517 51,095 $4.05 billion 13,058
2016 76,243 83,922 $7 billion 17,782
2017 103,091 100,757 $11.76 billion 37,543
2018 245,491 254,530 $21.46 billion 48,817
2019 367,656 365,232 $24.58 billion 48,016
2020 499,535 509,737 $31.54 billion 70,757
2021 (Q1+Q2) 386,181 386,759 $22.35 billion


Date Active superchargers
January 2013 7
July 2013 15
January 2014 84
July 2014 145
January 2015 328
July 2015 432
January 2016 553
July 2016 640
January 2017 767
July 2017 889
January 2018 1,133
July 2018 1,314
January 2019 1,433
July 2019 1,594
January 2020 1,770
July 2020 1,915
January 2021 2,613
July 2021 2,966
October 2021 3,059

Google Scholar

The following table summarizes per-year mentions on Google Scholar as of November 6, 2021.[4]

Year Tesla Motors Tesla, Inc.
2005 855
2006 1,060
2007 1,170
2008 1,410
2009 1,580
2010 1,720
2011 1,820
2012 2,450
2013 2,430
2014 2,730
2015 3,110
2016 3,540
2017 4,090
2018 4,080
2019 4,140
2020 4,280
Tesla Motors Tesla Inc gscho.png


Google Trends

The chart below shows Google Trends data for Tesla, Inc.(Vehicle manufacturer), from January 2004 to November 2021, when the screenshot was taken. Interest is also ranked by country and displayed on world map.[5]

Tesla gt.png

Wikipedia Views

The chart below shows pageviews of the English Wikipedia article Tesla, Inc., from July 2015 to October 2021.[6]

Tesla wv.png

Google Ngram Viewer

The comparative chart below shows Google Ngram Viewer data for Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, SpaceX andTesla Inc., from 2003 to 2013.[7]

Tesla ngram.png

Full timeline

Year Month and date Category Event type Details
1887 Automotives Prelude Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla files the first patents for a two phase AC system with four electric power lines, which consists of a generator, a transmission system and a multi-phase motor. Today, his invention is the basis for modern electrical power transmission.[8]
1971 June 21 Prelude Elon Musk is born in Pretoria, South Africa.[9]
2003 July 1 Automotives Company launch Tesla Motors is founded by technology entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in San Carlos, California.[10] The company is registered in Delaware. The name is a tribute to inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla.[2]
2004 April Automotives Financial (funding) Elon Musk, now an immigrant to the United States, and already successful entrepreneur, leads the company's $7.5 million Series A financing round and becomes chairman of the board.[10][11]
2004 May Automotives Team Jeffrey Brian Straubel joins Tesla as Chief Technical Officer.[12]
2005 February Automotives Financial (funding) Elon Musk injects $13 million more into the company in a Series B round during the development of the yet-announced Tesla Roadster.[11]
2005 July 11 Automotives Partnership Tesla signs production contract for Lotus to manufacture complete cars for what would later become the Tesla Roadster.[13]
2006 May Automotives Financial (funding) Elon Musk and Technology Partners raise $40 million in a Series C round for Tesla.[11]
2006 July Solar energy Background Elon Musk cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive, with help of Elon, found SolarCity, a solar energy generation company that would later be acquired by Tesla.[2]
2006 July 19 Automotives Product launch Prototypes of Tesla's first car, the Roadster, are officially revealed to the public in Santa Monica, California, at a 350-person invitation-only event held in Barker Hangar at Santa Monica Airport.[14]
2007 August Automotives Team Martin Eberhard is asked by the board, led by Elon Musk, to step down as CEO. Eberhard takes the title of "President of Technology".[15]
2007 November Automotives Team Israeli-born American technology entrepreneur Ze'ev Drori becomes Tesla's CEO and President.[10] A high-tech veteran, Drori previously founded Monolithic Memories, which made advances in memory such as programmable read-only memory (PROM) for semiconductors.[16]
2007 Late year Financial (status) Tesla falls into a serious financial state, with existing shareholders having no alternative but to recapitalize the company. Musk commits almost all his cash reserves to the company, leaving a few million dollars to cover living expenses.[17]
2008 January Automotives Team Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning both leave the company.[18] In the same month, Tesla fires several key personnel to pare down costs after a performance review by new CEO Ze'ev Drori.[17]
2008 January 19 Automotives Legal The Tesla Roadster is granted a waiver in regards to advanced airbags by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, since the "public interest is served by encouraging the development of fuel-efficient and alternative-fueled vehicles."[19]
2008 January 24 Automotives Legal Tesla Roadster becomes legal for sale in the United States, after gaining federal safety approval.[20]
2008 February Automotives Financial (funding) A fifth round of funding adds US$4 million, with Musk contribution cumulating US$70 million of his own money at this time.[17]
2008 March Automotives Product launch Tesla starts producing the Roadster.[10]
2008 April 15 Automotives Legal Tesla files a lawsuit against American electric vehicle manufacturer Fisker Inc., alledging that the automaker stole trade secrets and copied design concepts, after the company was hired to design Tesla's WhiteStar sedan. [21] Henrik Fisker would file for arbitration in May 2008, and an arbitrator would rule in their favor in November 2008, finding "overwhelming" evidence showing that Fisker did not do anything wrong.[22][23] Subsequently, Tesla would be ordered to pay $1.14 million in legal fees and costs to Fisker.[24]
2008 May 2 Automotive Expansion (factory) Tesla opens its first flagship store in Los Angeles. Located near the corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda, the US$2million store is designed to have a "nontraditional automative experience" based on the Apple Store concept for consumers.[25]
2008 May Automotives Financial (funding) German multinational Daimler AG announces a US$50 million investment, giving the company a 10 percent stake in Tesla.[2] Later, Musk would state that this investment saved Tesla.[26][17]
2008 June 13 Team Deepak Ahuja is offered the position of Chief Financial Officer at Tesla Motors, reporting to CEO and president Ze'ev Drori.[27] In 2015 Ahuja would retire from the company, and then return as Chief Financial Officer again in February 2017 to replace Jason Wheeler.[28]
2008 June Automotives Product launch Tesla announces the Model S on June 30, with a starting price of $50,000.[29]
2008 July 1 Energy storage Supply contract German magazine AutomobilWoche reports that Tesla would supply lithium ion batteries to Mercedes-Benz.[30][31]
2008 August Automotives Team Tesla hires U.S. vehicle designer Franz von Holzhausen as its chief designer. He is involved in the design of the Tesla Model S.[32]
Franz von Holzhausen and Elon Musk
2008 September 9 Automotives Technology Tesla announces having completed the development of its new powertrain, which uses a single-speed transmission to achieve the original performance specifications of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in "about four seconds."[33][34]
2008 September 18 Automotives Expansion (factory) Tesla announces the acquisition of a US$250 million factory in San Jose, California, a facility that would employ 1,000 people. The company plans to build its new $60,000 sedan at the site.[35]
2008 October Automotives Product launch Tesla announces put of its Model S sedan on hold, closing the Michigan facility that was working on some of the sedan’s engineering and laying off an unspecified number of people. The company also announces that it would focus on selling its Roadster and power trains.[36]
2008 October Team Elon Musk succeeds Drori as CEO of Tesla.[10] and fires 25% of the company's staff.[1]
2008 November Financial (funding) Tesla raises $40 million in a debt-financing round and narrowly escapes bankruptcy.[37][38]
2009 January 13 Energy storage Supply contract Tesla signs a deal to provide Daimler with battery technology aimed to power 1,000 electric Smart city cars expected to be on the road by the end of the year.[39]
2009 January Automotives Financial (funding) By this time, Tesla cumulates US$187 million in funding, having delivered 147 cars. Musk contribution cumulates US$70 million of his own money to the company.[40]
2009 March 26 Automotives Product launch Tesla unveils its Model S plug-in electric sedan, the company's first all-original car. The list price of US$57,400 is eligible for a $7,500 tax credit, bringing the final effective price down to $49,900, allowing the company to reach into a much broader marketplace compared with its first offering, the $109,000 Tesla Roadster.[41][42][43]
2009 May Automotives Partnership Tesla enters into a strategic partnership with Daimler AG, which acquires 10% equity stake in Tesla for $50 million.[44]
2009 June 8 Legal Martin Eberhard sues Elon Musk for libel and breach of contract, alleging that Musk sought to "rewrite history" by taking credit for the accomplishments and the very idea behind Tesla Motors, resulting in a damaged reputation for Eberhard, who would drop his suit later the same year.[45][1][46]
2009 June 11 Automotives Team Tesla hires former Toyota executive Gilbert Passin, to lead the company's vehicle manufacturing operations.[47]
2009 June Automotives Expansion (store) Tesla opens its first European store in London.[48]
2009 June 24 Financial (loan) The United States Department of Energy lends Tesla US$465 million to build an electric sedan and the battery packs needed to propel it.[49] The company is expected to repay its loan by May 2013.[50]
2009 July Financial (profit) Shortly after being approved to receive US$465 million in interest-bearing loans from the Department of Energy, Tesla announces having achieved corporate profitability for that month, having earned approximately US$1 million on revenue of US$20 million.[51][17]
2009 August 3 Automotives Legal A San Mateo County Superior Court judge denies former Tesla Motors CEO Martin Eberhard's request that he be declared one of only two Tesla founders. The court agrees that Eberhard's claims on the question of who founded Tesla have no merit. The ruling finally keeps with Tesla's claim that the company was founded by a team of several people, including Musk.[52]
2009 September Financial (funding) Tesla announces a US$82.5 million round to accelerate Tesla's retail expansion.[53]
2009 September 21 Automotives Legal Martin Eberhard announces an agreement stating that there are now five, rather than two, agreed-upon "founders" of Tesla. These include, in addition to Eberhard, Elon Musk, J. B. Straubel, Marc Tarpenning, and Ian Wright.[54]
2009 September 22 Energy storage Partnership Foster City, California-based company SolarCity announces a partnership with Rabobank to make electric car charging available for free to owners of Tesla vehicles traveling on Highway 101 between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Other cars that can make use of same charging technology are welcome.[55]
2009 October 27 Energy storage Efficiency A Tesla Roadster goes 313 miles on single charge, traveling through the Australian inland area from Alice Springs to Coober Pedy and rolling into town with three miles left on the battery. The event is part of a Global Green Challenge competition.[56]
2009 October Financial According to a later court filing, Elon Musk runs out of cash around this time, having to obtain emergency loans from personal friends. Musk would write: "These loans are the exclusive source of cash I have. If I did not take these loans, I would have no liquid assets left."[57]
2010 Juanuary 8 Energy storage Partnership Tesla partners with Panasonic, which agrees to be the automaker's sole supplier of electric vehicle battery packs. Tesla and Panasonic also agree to work together on developing cheap and efficient lithium-ion batteries.[58][59]
2010 January 24 Expansion Tesla opens a new retail outlet in Chicago, which is intended to serve as showroom as well as a regional hub for the Tesla Ranger.[60]
2010 May 20 Automotives Partnership Tesla and Toyota announce they would cooperate on the development of electric vehicles, parts and production system. Separately, Tesla would acquire a plant Toyota closed in the San Francisco area and build its upcoming all-electric Model S sedan at the site from 2012. Toyota also announces it would take a US$50 million stake in Tesla.[61]
2010 May 26 Expansion Tesla opens store in Zurich, continuing expansion in Europe.[62]
2010 May Acquisition Tesla acquires shuttered Nummi auto plant in Fremont, California, after paying US$42 million.[63]
2010 June 29 Financial (IPO) Tesla goes IPO at US$17 per share.[64]
2010 June 30 Expansion Tesla announces Japan to be the first destination in Asia.[65]
2010 June Tesla sales are estimated at about ten cars a week, underperforming by a good margin from earlier estimates.[66][67]
2010 July 8 Team "Tesla Hires Former Gap and Apple Executive to Make Stores More Inviting" "The electric-car maker said it has hired former Apple and Gapexecutive George Blankenship to head store development and design. Tesla has long said it seeks to make buying a car more like shopping for other high-end, high-tech products Hiring Blankenship is a significant move in that direction"[68]
2010 July 10 Automotives Partnership Tesla partners with Toyota for the development of battery-powered test versions of the Japanese carmaker’s RAV4 and Lexus RX. Tesla agrees to deliver two prototypes vehicles to Toyota in the month without identifying the models.[69] "Toyota and Tesla to develop battery-powered vehicles"[70]
2010 August 5 Financial Tesla reports a net loss for the second quarter of US$26.1 million, compared to $23.8 million in the first quarter. Tesla says it lost more money in the last three months because it is spending more on research and development, as well as on global expansion.[71]
2010 August 25 Automotives Legal Tesla pays a fine for lacking emissions Certificate of Conformity from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to comply with the Clean Air Act.[72][73]
2010 October Automotives Facility Tesla officially takes possession of the Tesla Factory site in Fremont, California and opens it.[74] The facility is acquired from Toyota for US$42 million.[75]
2010 October Automotives Expansion Tesla opens its first Japanese showroom in Tokyo.[76]
2010 November 4 Funding Panasonic invests US$30 million in Teslam, in the form of purchase of common stock in a private placement. The investment is part of a multi-year collaboration of the two companies to accelerate the market expansion of the electric vehicle.[77]
2010 November 17 Energy storage Partnership The new Toyota RAV4 EV makes its debut at the LA Auto Show. The powertrain, including the battery, power electronics module, electric motor, gearbox and software, is provided by Tesla, as a result of its partnership with Toyota.[78]
2010 December 3 Legal Tesla settles a trademark dispute in Europe with Tesla Holding, the heir to a Soviet-bloc supplier of black-and-white TVs for the masses. The 90-year-old Czech supplier at one point provided transceivers for more than 60 percent of the radio and TV broadcasts in the former Soviet Union. Tesla Motors' applications for the “Tesla” trademark in the European Union was previously tied up by opposition from Tesla Holding, which is finally withdrawn.[79]
2012 February 9 Automotives Product launch Tesla unlocks the Model X SUV.[80]
2012 June 22 Automotives Product launch Tesla officially starts selling its Model S[81], a sedan intended for the mainstream public.[2]
2012 November Automotives Recognition Just a few months after it started shipping, the Model S is named Car of the Year by American automobile magazine Motor Trend, in an unanimous vote.[2]
2013 June 11 Service (charging) Product launch Tesla announces the goal to deploy a battery swapping station in each of its existing supercharging stations, now to be renamed Tesla stations.[82]
2013 October 2 Automotives Safety A Tesla Model S catches on fire after hitting debris on the highway.[83] The Model S has as a large battery pack under the passenger compartment, protected by a quarter-inch-thick metal shield, which according to experts, if it's punctured by debris and the battery is damaged, it can cause shorts and arcing that can touch off fires.[84]
2014 March Automotives Legal New Jersey bans sales of the Tesla in the state, by finding that Tesla’s sales model violated regulations requiring that auto sales happen through a middleman franchisee.[85]
2014 June Company Tesla open-sources its patents.[86]
2014 September Automotives Product launch All Tesla cars start shipping with sensors and software to support Tesla Autopilot, a suite of advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) features that amounts to Level 2 vehicle automation.[87]
2014 November Automotives Competition Chinese automobile manufacturer NIO is founded.[88] It is a top Tesla competitor in China.[89]
2015 February Automotives Competition Apple Inc. rumors to be working on a project, codenamed "Titan", to create an Apple-branded electric vehicle that resembles a minivan.[90]
2015 March 18 Legal American politician Chris Christie signs a law reversing New Jersey's ban on Tesla selling its cars directly in New Jersey.[91]
2015 April Energy storage Product launch Tesla enters the energy storage industry by announcing the Tesla Powerwall, a set of high-capacity batteries that can be used for home energy storage.[92]
2015 May 7 Manufacturing Acquisition Tesla Motors acquires a Michigan-based auto supplier Riviera Tool, marking the first acquisition. Riviera's 100 employees would be retained, and the acquired company renamed Tesla Tool & Die.[93]
2015 September Automotives Competition Porsche unveils its new Mission E electric car concept at the International Auto Show in Frankfurt. It will be expected to reach the market by 2020.[94]
2015 September Automotives Product launch Tesla officially starts deliveries of the Model X.[95]
Tesla Model X 100D
2015 October Automotives Product launch Tesla introduces autopilot for its Model S.[96] The software already starts auto-improving later the month.[97] Later, Tesla restricted autopilot mode to stop people from doing "crazy things".
2015 December Automotives Sales Global sales of the Tesla Model S achieve the 100,000 unit milestone.[98]
2016 January 10 Automotives Notable comment Elon Musk predicts a Tesla will be able to drive itself across the country in 2018.[99]
2016 April Automotives Product launch Tesla Unveils the Model 3. Aimed for mass market consumers so it is planned to have a more affordable price[100] of $35,000 (£24,423) and will have a range of at least 215 miles (346km) per charge. It has over 375,000 pre-orders[101] that exceeded expectations; the car is due to be delivered in late 2017.[102][103]
2016 November Photovoltaics Acquisition Tesla acquires SolarCity, in an all-stock US$2.6 billion deal, entering the photovoltaics market.[104]
rhumb
2016 December Manufacturing Acquisition Tesla acquires German engineering firm Grohmann Engineering in Prüm as a new division dedicated to helping Tesla increase the automation and effectiveness of its manufacturing process.[105]
2017 February Company Tesla Motors is renamed to Tesla Inc,[106] to better reflect the scope of its expanded business, which now includes electric vehicles, battery energy storage systems, and solar power generation.[107][108][109]
2017 February Expansion Tesla begins operating in Portugal and Taiwan.[110]
2017 February Automotives Recognition Consumer Reports ranks Tesla as the top American car brand and the 8th among global carmakers.[111]
2017 July Automotives Product launch Tesla begins selling the Model 3, its fourth vehicle model.[112] With its pledged starting pricing of US$35,000, this model responds to Musk’s ambition to bring a fully electric car to the mass market.[2]
2017 August Solar energy Production of solar panels begins at Giga New York factory, located in Buffalo.[113]
2017 October Solar energy Philanthropy Tesla installs a solar plus storage system to restore electricity at a hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after the country is hit by Hurricane Maria.[114]
2017 November 8 Manufacturing Acquisition Tesla announces acquisition of Minnesota-based Perbix, which designs automated manufacturing equipment, and had been a Tesla supplier for nearly three years. Tesla announces that “With the acquisition of Perbix, Tesla further advances its efforts to turn the factory itself into a product to build the machine that makes the machine”.[115]
2017 November 16 Automotives The Tesla Semi is unveiled at a press conference, as an all-electric battery-powered Class 8 semi-truck.[116] Production is planned for 2023.[117]
2018 May 8 Expansion The Tesla (Shanghai) company is formally established, with an authorized capital of 100 million yuan, wholly owned by Tesla Motors Hong Kong.[118]
2018 July Philanthropy Tesla donates US$37.5 million to kindergarten to 12th grade science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education in Nevada.[119]
2018 July Expansion Tesla signs an agreement with Chinese authorities to build a factory in Shanghai, which would be Tesla's first Gigafactory outside of the United States.[120]
2018 August Company Elon Musk briefly considers taking Tesla private.[121][122] The plan would not materialize, giving rise to much controversy and many lawsuits including a securities fraud charge from the SEC.
2018 November 8 Team Australian business executive Robyn Denholm succeeds Elon Musk as chair of Tesla, Inc., having previously worked as Tesla board member and technology executive.[123]
2018 December Automotives Commercial performance Tesla Model 3 becomes the world's best selling plug-in electric car for the year.[124]
2019 January 30 Team Zach Kirkhorn is announced to replace Deepak Ahuja as Tesla's new CFO on the Q4 Tesla earning call.[125][126]
2019 March 14 Automotives Product launch The Tesla Model Y is unveiled. Elon Musk states that this model will be a “manufacturing revolution”. The 12-volt battery architecture used in Tesla’s other vehicles is planned to be discarded, thus dramatically reducing the length of electric wiring needed and simplify the production process. Less wiring means more automation in the production process, and Musk announces plans to introduce more robots into the production line.[127]
2019 April Automotives Product launch Tesla announces that all of its cars would include Autopilot software (defined as just Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer (Beta)) as a standard feature moving forward.[128]
2019–2020 From July 2019 to June 2020 Financial (profit) Tesla reports four profitable quarters in a row for the first time, which makes it eligible for inclusion in the S&P 500.[129]
2020 January 10 Financial (valuation) Tesla reaches a market capitalization of US$86 billion, breaking the record for greatest valuation of any American automaker.[130]
2020 January Philanthropy Tesla donates 5 million Yuan (US$723,000) to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China.[131]
2020 March Automotives Product launch Tesla begins deliveries of its fifth vehicle model, the Model Y crossover.[132]
2020 June 10 Financial (valuation) Tesla's market capitalization surpasses those of BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen combined.[133]
2020 July Financial (valuation) Tesla reaches a valuation of US$206 billion, surpassing Toyota's $202 billion and becoming the world's most valuable automaker by market capitalization.[134]
2020 August 31 Financial (stock split) Following this increase in value, Tesla has a 5-for-1 stock split.[135]
2020 December 21 Financial Tesla is added to the S&P 500 share index.[136]
2021 February Financial (investment) Tesla reveals having invested some US$1.5 billion in Bitcoin in 2020.[137]
2021 March 24 Automotives Currency adoption Tesla starts accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for vehicle purchases in the United States and states that they would introduce Bitcoin payment in other countries later in the year.[138]
2021 August 19 Robot Project launch The Tesla Bot is unveiled at the company's AI Day as a conceptual general purpose robotic humanoid planned by Tesla. Musk claims during the event that Tesla would build a prototype by 2022.[139]
2021 September Automotives Safety The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) orders Tesla to submit data on its Autopilot self-driving software or face about $115 million in fines. Tesla is ordered to provide a wide-ranging set of data related to its Autopilot driver assistance system, as part of the agency's investigation into a series of crashes involving Teslas with the Autopilot software activated.[140][141][142]
2021 October 26 Financial (valuation) Tesla's market capitalization reaches US$1 trillion, the sixth company to do so in U.S. history.[143]
2021 October Company Tesla announces that it would move its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, Texas.[144]
2021 Literature Tim Higgins publishes Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century.[2]
2022 January 10 Automotives Expansion Drive Tesla reports that Model S and Model X are set to debut outside of North America at a special viewing event in Taiwan. It is also reported that there would be a new design feature added to the Model S.[145]
2022 March 22 Automotives Expansion Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg officially opens.[146][147] Located in Grünheide (Brandenburg), Germany, 35 kilometers south-east of central Berlin near the Berlin Brandenburg Airport, it is Tesla's first manufacturing location in Europe.[148][149]
Tesla Gigafactory 4 DJI 0336.jpg

Meta information on the timeline

How the timeline was built

The initial version of the timeline was written by User:Issa.

Ongoing expansion by User:Sebastian

  • Base literature: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century (2021), by Tim Higgins.


Funding information for this timeline is available.

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What the timeline is still missing

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See also

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Reed, Eric. "History of Tesla: Timeline and Facts". TheStreet. Retrieved 1 January 2022. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Higgins (Journalist), Tim (3 August 2021). Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century. Random House LCC US. ISBN 978-0-385-54747-5. 
  3. Business, Chris Isidore, CNN. "Tesla hit half-million car target in 2020". CNN. Retrieved 5 November 2021. 
  4. "Tesla Revenue and Production Statistics for 2021". Backlinko. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022. 
  5. "Tesla, Inc.". Google Trends. Retrieved 7 November 2021. 
  6. "Wikipedia Views: Tesla, Inc.". wikipediaviews.org. Retrieved 7 November 2021. 
  7. "for Tesla Motors, Elon Musk, SpaceX andTesla Inc". books.google.com. Retrieved 7 November 2021. 
  8. Stevic, Zoran (19 December 2012). New Generation of Electric Vehicles. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 978-953-51-0893-1. 
  9. "Elon Musk | Biography, SpaceX, Tesla, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 25 April 2022. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "Tesla: The Origin Story - Business Insider". Businessinsider.com. Retrieved November 8, 2015. 
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Tesla Motors". Retrieved November 8, 2015. 
  12. Vance, Ashlee (May 19, 2015). Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the quest for a fantastic future (First ed.). New York, NY. pp. 151–155. ISBN 978-0-06-230123-9. On July 1, 2003, Eberhard and Tarpenning incorporated their new company. " "The third desk was occupied a few months later by Ian Wright..." "...the three men went hunting for some venture capital funding in January 2004." "With an investment of $6.5 million, Musk had become the largest shareholder of Tesla and the chairman of the company." "Straubel stopped by the office for a meeting, and was hired right away in May 2004... 
  13. "Supply Agreement for Products and Services - Lotus Cars Ltd. and Tesla Motors Inc. - Sample Contracts and Business Forms". Contracts.onecle.com. Retrieved November 29, 2015. 
  14. Lambert, Fred (19 July 2016). "Tesla launched the Roadster exactly 10 years ago and came out of stealth mode - Here's a trip down memory lane [Gallery]". Electrek. Retrieved 3 November 2021. 
  15. Kanellos, Michael. "Tesla CEO steps down as possible delays loom". CNET. Retrieved 3 November 2021. 
  16. "2007: Tesla names Ze'ev Drori new CEO". The Mercury News. 29 November 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2022. 
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Seedhouse, Erik (15 June 2013). SpaceX: Making Commercial Spaceflight a Reality. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4614-5514-1. 
  18. "Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning | American entrepreneurs". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 3 November 2021. 
  19. "Tesla Roadster gets out of air bag requirement for green behavior". Engadget. Retrieved 18 February 2022. 
  20. "Tesla Roadster now legal for sale in the US". Engadget. Retrieved 18 February 2022. 
  21. "Tesla Motors sues Fisker over stolen secrets". Engadget. Retrieved 18 February 2022. 
  22. Claire Cain Miller, "Tesla Promised Another $40 Million, Loses Lawsuit," New York Times, 3 November 2008.
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