History
From two engineers and a Lotus chassis to a robot company. Scroll the years or jump to one.
Tesla Motors is incorporated
Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning found the company in San Carlos, California, named for Nikola Tesla.
Musk arrives
He leads the $6.5M Series A and becomes chairman. JB Straubel joins as CTO.
The Roadster ships
The first highway-legal production EV with lithium-ion cells. Musk becomes CEO in October 2008 as the financial crisis nearly kills the company; a Christmas Eve funding round saves it.
IPO at $17
The first American car company to go public since Ford in 1956. Tesla buys the NUMMI plant in Fremont the same year.
Model S
First deliveries in Fremont; the first Supercharger opens in September.
Autopilot
Hardware announced at the “D” event; software ships a year later.
Model X
Falcon-wing doors and a long, painful ramp.
Model 3 revealed; SolarCity acquired
400,000 reservations in weeks. The $2.6B SolarCity deal closes in November.
Model 3 deliveries — and “production hell”
The Semi and a new Roadster are unveiled in November.
The $55B pay package and “funding secured”
Shareholders approve the 2018 award in March; the August tweet brings an SEC settlement and the loss of the chairmanship.
Shanghai and Cybertruck
Giga Shanghai goes from groundbreaking (Jan 7) to deliveries (Dec 30) in under a year. The Cybertruck is revealed November 21 — and its window breaks.
Battery Day; S&P 500
4680 cells announced September 22; Tesla joins the S&P 500 on December 21 and becomes the most valuable carmaker.
AI Day: the Tesla Bot
A dancer in a suit introduces Optimus.
Berlin and Texas open
Giga Berlin March 22; the Giga Texas “Cyber Rodeo” April 7. First Semis delivered to PepsiCo December 1.
Cybertruck deliveries
Four years after the reveal.
Delaware, Texas, We Robot
Chancery rescinds the 2018 package (Jan 30); shareholders re-ratify it and move Tesla to Texas (June 13); Giga Mexico is paused (July); the Cybercab is revealed (Oct 10).
Robotaxi, Diner, the $1T vote
Model Y Juniper (Jan); Robotaxi launches in Austin (June 22); Tesla Diner (July 21); Dojo shut down (Aug); the 2025 CEO award approved (Nov 6); Delaware Supreme Court restores the 2018 package (Dec 19). First annual revenue decline.
Model S and X discontinued; $2B into xAI
Fremont to be rebuilt for Optimus. First public no-monitor Robotaxi rides (Jan 22).
Terafab; Europe approves FSD; Cybercab and Semi production
Terafab announced March 21; the Dutch RDW approves FSD Supervised April 10; Dallas and Houston Robotaxi April 18.
Cybercab in service, Roadster revealed, Optimus in production
Cybercab enters service September 3; the Roadster flies October 15; merger committees with SpaceX October 20; Optimus production begins October 21.