Tesla's Timeline: The Birth and Rise of Tesla
The Birth of Tesla: The name Tesla motors is an homage to Nikola Tesla, who patented his AC induction motor in 1887. 2000 : Two silicon valley engineers named Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning sell their ebook reading business for $187 million. 2003 : The two entrepreneurs are inspired to reduce the world’s dependence on middle eastern oil, as well as to help combat climate change. They begin looking into options including hydrogen and electric cars. 2004 : Elon Musk leads the $7.5 million series A round and joins the board of directors as its chairman, and takes on operational roles as well. 2005 : Tesla’s forms a strategy to build a high performance sports car first. 2006 : The company signs a contract with British sports car maker Lotus to use its Elise Chassis as a base. Tesla raises a series C for $40 million, led by Elon Musk and Vantage point venture partners, Google, Larry page, Sergey brin, and J.P.Morgan also participate in the round. T