Tesla: From EV To Autopilot

Tesla is an American electric-automobile manufacturer synonymous with innovation. The company gained a head start in the industry by reenvisioning electronic vehicles and pushing the green movement forward. But before the buzz and Elon Musk, there was the GM EV1.

- Mia Carisse Barrientos

The first mass-produced and purpose-designed electric car by General Motors (GM) was leased in the late ‘90s but was later discontinued. GM deemed it too niche for the then fickle automobile market. Its death, however, sparked a dream in many: a zero-emission future.

In 2003, Silicon Valley engineers and entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning took up the mantle and started Tesla Motors. The company named after Serbian American inventor Nikola Tesla, known for his creation of electromagnetic devices, once again jump-started the development of electric vehicles (EV).

Musk

EV enthusiast and PayPal co-founder Elon Musk joined the company in 2004 as an investor and took on various roles including designing cars and serving as the chairman. Five years and several prototypes later, Tesla released its first electric sports car, the Roadster.

Compared to the EV1 which was powered by lead-acid batteries, the Roadster ran on lithiumion battery cells and could cover a distance of 300 kilometers upwards per charge, making it more sustainable than the former. The Roadster could also accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than 4 seconds and boasted speeds up to 201 kilometers per hour, which were numbers unmatched for an all-electric vehicle during its time.