False economy What’s in it for me? Understand what makes the

Under Musk, Tesla Motors gave the electric 
car a future.
Electric cars used to have a less-than-cool 
reputation; they were certainly no match for 
high-power brands like Jaguar and Ferrari. But if 
you’ve seen any of the new Formula E cars, 
you’ll know things are changing. One man 
pushed harder than the rest to make electric 
cars cool and desirable, and that was Elon 
Musk.
Musk helped the world recognize electric-car 
technology for what it was: exciting, and always 
progressing.

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It all started when J. B. Straubel and, 
unbeknownst to him, Martin Eberhard and Marc 
Tarpenning, were working on electric cars 
powered by lithium-ion batteries. On July 1st, 
2003, Eberhard and Tarpenning founded Tesla 
Motors; Straubel joined later.
The idea was to license the technology that AC 
Propulsion developed to power the tzero (a full 
electric car that accelerates faster than a 
Ferrari!), and to use the Lotus Elise chassis for 
the body of the car. But venture capitalists didn’t 
invest and didn’t see beyond the shoddy plastic 
finish of the tzero.
Musk, however, chose to invest $6.5 million, 
becoming the sole shareholder and chairman. 
He thought the project could revolutionize 
electric cars, making them popular and efficient, 
and the world a less polluted place.
Despite a slow and unceremonious beginning, 
Tesla emerged as a great success. In mid-2012, 
Tesla’s Model S sedan changed transportation 
forever. With continuous internet access and a 
sensor that allowed the driver to start the engine 
without touching a single button, it’s been 
referred to as a “computer with wheels.”
In November of 2012, Motor Trend named it car 
of the year, and later, Consumer Reports gave 
the car the highest rating in its history (99/100), 
declaring it probably the best car ever built! 
America hadn’t seen such a successful car 
company since the emergence of Chrysler, in 
1925.
This achievement is rather astonishing, as 
Silicon Valley had been little involved in the 
automotive industry, and Musk hadn’t even 
manufactured cars before. But when we 
consider Musk’s determination, this success is 
perhaps not such a big surprise after all.