Every Tesla, and every way it has changed.

Company timeline

1. July 2003 Tesla Motors incorporated

   Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning incorporate Tesla Motors on July 1, 2003, in San Carlos, California, naming it after the inventor Nikola Tesla. Eberhard is CEO and Tarpenning is CFO.

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2. February 2004 Elon Musk leads the Series A

   Elon Musk puts $6.5 million into Tesla's $7.5 million Series A round and becomes chairman of the board. Eberhard stays on as CEO.

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3. July 2006 Roadster prototype unveiled

   About 350 invited guests at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica get the first look at the Roadster on July 19, presented by chairman Elon Musk and CEO Martin Eberhard.

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4. August 2006 The Secret Master Plan

   Musk publishes "The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me)": build a sports car, use that money to build an affordable car, use that money to build an even more affordable car, and offer zero-emission power generation along the way.

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5. February 2008 Roadster deliveries begin

   The first production Roadster goes to Elon Musk. It rides on a heavily modified Lotus Elise chassis but shares only about 6 percent of its parts with the Elise, and it is the first highway-legal, series-production electric car to use lithium-ion cells. About 2,450 are built through 2012.

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6. October 2008 Musk becomes CEO

   Musk takes over as chief executive from Ze'ev Drori, puts more of his own money into the company, and cuts about a quarter of the staff.

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7. January 2010 Department of Energy loan

   Tesla signs a $465 million loan facility with the U.S. Department of Energy on January 20 to expand its manufacturing operations.

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8. May 2010 Toyota deal and the Fremont factory

   Tesla agrees to buy most of the shuttered NUMMI plant in Fremont, California, for $42 million, and Toyota agrees to buy $50 million of Tesla stock. Fremont becomes the home of Model S.

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9. June 2010 Tesla goes public

   Tesla lists on Nasdaq on June 29 at $17 a share and raises $226 million, the first IPO by an American carmaker since Ford in 1956. The stock closes its first day at $23.89.

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10. June 2012 Model S deliveries begin

    The first customers collect their Model S sedans at the Fremont factory on June 22. That November, Motor Trend's judges unanimously name it the 2013 Car of the Year.

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11. September 2012 The first Superchargers

    At its Hawthorne, California, design studio on September 24, Tesla unveils the Supercharger network and names its first six stations, each delivering close to 100 kW and free for Model S owners on long trips.

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12. May 2013 Government loan repaid early

    Tesla pays off its Department of Energy loan nine years ahead of schedule, wiring $451.8 million to cover principal, interest, and a $10.8 million early-repayment fee.

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13. June 2014 Tesla opens its patents

    In a blog post titled "All Our Patent Are Belong To You," Musk pledges that Tesla will not start patent lawsuits against anyone who wants to use its technology in good faith.

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14. June 2014 Gigafactory Nevada groundbreaking

    Construction begins in Storey County, east of Reno near Sparks, on Tesla's first battery Gigafactory, built with partner Panasonic. Tesla and Nevada officials announce the site publicly that September.

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15. October 2014 Autopilot hardware arrives

    New Model S cars start leaving Fremont with a forward camera, radar, ultrasonic sensors, and a Mobileye EyeQ3 chip. The hardware sits mostly idle until the software catches up a year later.

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16. September 2015 Model X deliveries begin

    Musk hands over the first six Founders Series Model X SUVs at Fremont on September 29, falcon-wing rear doors and all.

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17. October 2015 Autopilot switched on

    Software version 7.0 starts reaching cars on October 14, turning on Autosteer (labeled beta), automatic lane changes, and Autopark for Model S cars built with the 2014 hardware.

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18. March 2016 Model 3 unveiled

    Tesla shows the Model 3 on March 31, the same day reservations open with a $1,000 deposit. Within a week, reservations pass 325,000.

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19. October 2016 Full Self-Driving hardware announced

    Tesla says every car it now builds carries eight cameras, twelve ultrasonic sensors, a forward radar, and a far more powerful onboard computer, hardware it pitches as ready for full self-driving once the software arrives.

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20. November 2016 SolarCity acquisition closes

    Tesla completes its roughly $2.6 billion purchase of SolarCity, the solar installer founded by Musk's cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive, after more than 85 percent of unaffiliated shareholders vote yes.

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21. February 2017 Tesla Motors becomes Tesla, Inc.

    With solar panels and home batteries now part of the business, the company drops "Motors" from its legal name on February 1.

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22. July 2017 Model 3 production begins

    Serial number 1 rolls off the Fremont line on July 7 and goes to Musk. The first 30 customer cars, all for Tesla employees, are handed over at a party on July 28.

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23. November 2017 Semi unveiled, with a Roadster surprise

    At a Hawthorne event on November 16, Tesla reveals the Semi with a quoted 500 miles of range at maximum weight, then rolls out a second-generation Roadster it claims will reach 60 mph in 1.9 seconds.

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24. September 2018 The "funding secured" settlement

    Seven weeks after Musk tweeted that he had funding secured to take Tesla private at $420 a share, he and Tesla settle SEC charges on September 29. Each pays a $20 million penalty, and Musk gives up the chairman's seat for three years while staying CEO.

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25. November 2019 Cybertruck unveiled

    Tesla shows the stainless-steel Cybertruck in Hawthorne on November 21. The demo goes sideways when design chief Franz von Holzhausen throws a metal ball at the "Armor Glass" side windows and shatters both.

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26. December 2019 Gigafactory Shanghai delivers its first cars

    Less than a year after breaking ground on January 7, Tesla hands over the first China-built Model 3 sedans on December 30. Shanghai is Tesla's first Gigafactory outside the United States and the first car plant in China wholly owned by a foreign company.

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27. March 2020 Model Y deliveries begin

    Deliveries start on March 13, two months after Fremont began building the compact SUV. It shares roughly three-quarters of its parts with the Model 3.

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28. September 2020 Battery Day and the 4680 cell

    Tesla shows the 4680 cell, 46 mm across and 80 mm long with a tabless design, and claims five times the energy and six times the power of its previous cells.

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29. October 2020 Full Self-Driving Beta released

    On October 20, a small group of U.S. owners in Tesla's Early Access Program gets the Full Self-Driving Beta, a rewritten driver-assistance branch that still needs a supervising driver.

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30. December 2020 Tesla joins the S&P 500

    Tesla enters the index before trading opens on December 21, the largest company ever added to the S&P 500 at the time.

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31. June 2021 Model S Plaid deliveries begin

    The first Plaid cars are handed over at a Fremont event on June 10. Tesla quotes 0-60 mph in 1.99 seconds, measured with a one-foot rollout.

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32. October 2021 A trillion-dollar company

    Tesla's market value passes $1 trillion on October 25, the day Hertz announces an order for 100,000 Model 3 sedans.

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33. November 2021 Other EVs plug in at Superchargers

    Non-Tesla EVs can charge at ten Dutch Supercharger stations starting November 1. By February 2022 the whole network in the Netherlands is open to them.

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34. December 2021 Headquarters moves to Austin

    On December 1, Tesla moves its corporate headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Gigafactory Texas in Austin.

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35. March 2022 Gigafactory Berlin opens

    Musk hands the first 30 German-built Model Y SUVs to customers at the opening of Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg in Grünheide on March 22, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in attendance.

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36. April 2022 Gigafactory Texas opens

    Tesla opens its Austin plant with a "Cyber Rodeo" party on April 7 and delivers the first Texas-built Model Y SUVs.

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37. December 2022 Semi deliveries begin

    Tesla delivers its first Class 8 Semi trucks to PepsiCo's Frito-Lay at Gigafactory Nevada on December 1.

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38. April 2023 Master Plan Part 3

    Tesla publishes Master Plan Part 3, a white paper arguing that a sustainable global energy economy would take about $10 trillion in manufacturing investment, less than projected spending on fossil fuels.

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39. May 2023 Rivals adopt Tesla's charging connector

    Ford agrees on May 25 to adopt Tesla's plug and gain Supercharger access. GM follows in June, other automakers pile in, and SAE International moves to standardize the connector as J3400, the North American Charging Standard (NACS).

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40. November 2023 Cybertruck deliveries begin

    About ten customers take delivery of the first Cybertrucks at Gigafactory Texas on November 30, four years after the unveiling.

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41. February 2024 Ford drivers join the Supercharger network

    On February 29, Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning owners gain access to more than 15,000 Superchargers in the U.S. and Canada with an adapter, the first automaker deal of its kind to go live. Rivian owners follow in March.

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42. April 2024 More than a tenth of the workforce is cut

    In a memo to staff on April 15, Elon Musk announces that Tesla will cut more than 10 percent of its global workforce, which stood at 140,473 employees at the end of 2023, citing duplicated roles and the need to cut costs.

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43. April 2024 The Supercharger team is dismissed

    At the end of April, Tesla lays off charging chief Rebecca Tinucci and substantially all of her roughly 500-person team. Musk says the network will keep growing, just at a slower pace.

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44. June 2024 Shareholders vote again on Musk's 2018 pay plan

    On June 13, about 77 percent of votes cast back Musk's 2018 pay package, five months after a Delaware judge ordered it rescinded. The same meeting takes up a proposal to move Tesla's incorporation from Delaware to Texas.

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45. October 2024 Cybercab and Robovan at We, Robot

    On October 10 at the Warner Bros. studio lot in Los Angeles, Tesla shows the Cybercab, a two-seat robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals, and the 20-passenger Robovan. Twenty concept Cybercabs give guests rides around the lot, and Musk says the car should cost under $30,000 with production in 2026.

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46. December 2024 First annual delivery decline

    Tesla delivers about 1.79 million vehicles in 2024, down from about 1.81 million in 2023. It is the first year-over-year drop in the company's history, reported on January 2, 2025.

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47. January 2025 Refreshed Model Y launches in China

    The updated Model Y, code-named Juniper, goes on sale in China on January 10 from 263,500 yuan (about $35,950). Deliveries in China begin on February 26.

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48. June 2025 Robotaxi rides begin in Austin

    On June 22, Tesla starts paid robotaxi rides in a geofenced part of Austin, Texas, using Model Y cars with a safety monitor in the front passenger seat. The first riders are invited, and each trip costs a flat $4.20.

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49. August 2025 Six-seat Model Y L

    Tesla launches the Model Y L in China, a stretched six-seat Model Y with a 150 mm longer wheelbase and second-row captain's chairs, priced from 339,000 yuan.

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50. September 2025 Master Plan Part 4

    On September 1, Tesla publishes Master Plan Part 4 on X, built around the idea of sustainable abundance through AI, autonomy, and the Optimus humanoid robot. Unlike earlier plans, it sets out no specific products, numbers, or timelines.

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51. October 2025 Model 3 and Model Y Standard

    On October 7, Tesla adds lower-priced Standard versions of its two best sellers: the Model 3 Standard at $36,990 and the rear-wheel-drive Model Y Standard at $39,990, following the end of the U.S. federal EV tax credit.

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52. November 2025 Shareholders approve the 2025 CEO award

    At the annual meeting in Austin on November 6, more than 75 percent of votes approve a performance award for Musk worth up to nearly $1 trillion. It pays out only if Tesla hits targets such as an $8.5 trillion market value and 20 million vehicles delivered.

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53. December 2025 BYD passes Tesla in EV sales

    Tesla delivers 1,636,129 vehicles in 2025, about 9 percent fewer than in 2024 and its second straight annual decline. BYD sells more battery-electric cars than Tesla over the year for the first time.

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54. January 2026 Robotaxi rides with nobody inside

    On January 22, some Austin robotaxi riders are picked up by a Model Y with no one in the car. The driverless cars are mixed into a fleet that still mostly carries safety monitors.

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55. January 2026 Model S and Model X to end

    On the January 28 earnings call, Tesla says it will end Model S and Model X production and convert the Fremont line to build Optimus robots.

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56. February 2026 First production Cybercab

    On February 17, the first Cybercab rolls off the production line at Gigafactory Texas. Volume production begins in April, with Musk warning that output will start very slowly before ramping.

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57. May 2026 The last Model S and Model X

    The final 350 cars, Signature editions of the Model S Plaid and Model X Plaid, come off the Fremont line in early May. Tesla holds a delivery ceremony on May 20.

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58. September 2026 Roadster reveal date set

    On September 12, nearly nine years after the concept first appeared, Tesla says it will reveal the second-generation Roadster on October 1, 2026, at an event in Waco, Texas.

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59. September 2026 Semi volume deliveries begin

    On September 24, at a rollout event at its Semi factory in Sparks, Nevada, Tesla says deliveries to its first volume customers, including PepsiCo, DHL and US Foods, are beginning. It does not announce a price.

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60. September 2026 Roadster reveal moved for weather

    On September 28, Tesla moves the outdoor Roadster reveal from October 1 to October 15, citing severe weather forecast near Waco.

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