A Tesla timeline from its 2003 founding and the original Roadster through the Model S, Model 3 production hell, gigafactories, Cybertruck, and the trillion-dollar milestone.
Tesla went from a Silicon Valley startup betting on laptop batteries to the company that forced the auto industry electric. This timeline tracks the Roadster, Model S and 3, near-bankruptcies, gigafactories, and Tesla's rise to a trillion-dollar valuation.
Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning incorporate Tesla Motors in San Carlos, California on 1 July 2003.
Musk leads Tesla's $7.5 million Series A round in February 2004 and becomes chairman of the board.
Tesla reveals the Roadster prototype in Santa Monica, proving an electric car can be fast and desirable.
Musk publishes Tesla's 'secret master plan': start with a sports car, then move to progressively more affordable EVs.
The first production Roadster rolls out in March 2008 - the first highway-legal production EV with lithium-ion batteries.
In late 2008, with Tesla near bankruptcy during the financial crisis, Musk takes over as CEO and injects his own capital.
Tesla secures a $465 million DOE loan to develop the Model S and powertrain manufacturing.
Tesla buys the former NUMMI plant in Fremont, California from Toyota, gaining mass-production capacity.
Tesla goes public at $17 per share - the first American carmaker IPO since Ford in 1956.
Tesla delivers the first Model S sedans from Fremont; the car goes on to sweep major awards.
After its first profitable quarter, Tesla repays the DOE loan nine years early in May 2013.
Tesla pledges not to sue good-faith users of its patents, aiming to accelerate the whole EV industry.
Construction begins on the Nevada Gigafactory, Tesla's bet on cheap batteries at massive scale.
Tesla delivers the first Model X SUVs with their signature falcon-wing doors.
The v7.0 software update activates Autopilot highway driver assistance on existing Model S cars.
The $35,000 Model 3 reveal draws hundreds of thousands of deposits within days - unprecedented demand for a car.
Tesla completes its roughly $2 billion acquisition of SolarCity, expanding into solar energy.
Tesla drops 'Motors' from its name, reflecting its broader energy ambitions.
First Model 3s are handed over in July 2017, but ramping production proves brutally hard for the following year.
Musk's tweet about taking Tesla private at $420 triggers an SEC lawsuit settled with fines and his removal as chairman.
Tesla breaks ground on its Shanghai factory in January 2019 and delivers the first China-built Model 3s before year end.
The angular stainless-steel Cybertruck debuts - complete with the infamous shattered 'armor glass' demo.
In 2020 Tesla passes Toyota as the world's most valuable automaker and enters the S&P 500 in December.
Tesla's market capitalization tops $1 trillion for the first time in October 2021.
Tesla opens its first European factory near Berlin in March 2022 and its Austin, Texas plant weeks later.
Tesla delivers the first production Cybertrucks from Giga Texas, four years after the unveiling.
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