RESEARCH ESSAY: TESLA
By: Maya Schwab
Turned in: Monday, December 3rd, 2018
Tesla is a very popular electric car company. Though it was founded 15 years ago Tesla has a complex history. It spiked in popularity in 2017 and has only gotten more popular. In 2017 Tesla sold a whopping 103,000 cars and the prices ranged from $35,000 to $145,000.
Tesla is an electric car company based in Palo Alto California. The Company was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003 who were later joined by investor, Elon Musk . The company was named after Serbian American Inventor Nikola Tesla. The First Tesla was the Tesla Roadster. The first Tesla Roadster was delivered in February 2008 to Tesla co-founder, chairman and product architect Elon Musk. The company produced 500 similar vehicles through June 2009. In July 2009, Tesla began production of its 2010 model-year Roadster—the first major product upgrade. In 2008 Tesla made 14.74 million dollars. Though it seems like a lot in 2017 they made almost 840 times their 2008 revenue, earning about 11,758.75 million dollars. Since 2008 Tesla’s popularity has grown immensely and they have made a big impact in the automobile industry. They are also now considered a high end brand as their cars can be very luxurious and expensive.
As I mentioned before Tesla started to become big in 2017. Though it originated 15 years before Tesla had a slow rise to popularity. Figure 1 shows Tesla's yearly income from 2008-2017. As you can see from 2008-2012 Tesla’s revenue more or less stays the same. This was because until recently electric cars weren’t as popular. This was because in the early 2008’s we didn't think global warming was that much of a big deal, but now with all the research people are doing things such as buying electric cars to cut down the use of fossil fuels. This happens to be one of the main reasons that Tesla grew in popularity. Another reason is that the category that tesla falls into is the high-end electric sports cars. This market is very small , as very few cars fall under this category. This made it easy for Tesla to be noticed as it is one of the best cars in it’s category. Since Tesla’s rise in popularity more celebrities and influencers have bought and/or talked about them. This spreads the word of Tesla’s as a many of these influencers have millions of followers. As the years ave gone by Tesla has gotten bigger and bigger.
People have pointed out many benefits of owning a Tesla but as with anything there are also some drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is how expensive the cars can be. The cars prices range from $69,500 to $250,820. With prices like these the cars are more catered to wealthier people. The Tesla is one of the most popular electric cars at the moment, which makes it very desirable, with the prices and the high demand it is very difficult to attain a Tesla. Though the price is a drawback one of the reasons why he Tesla is so expensive is because of the amazing technology. For example the Tesla app. The Tesla app allows to do simple things such as lock and unlock your car but it also has more advanced features such as being able to turn on the horn, flash the lights and climate control. Climate control allows you to turn the heat in your car up or down without being in it. Though the technology is amazing one of the biggest drawbacks of Tesla’s is that there aren’t charging ports available everywhere. Though the world is advancing and adding more charging ports in some places charging ports aren’t very common. This is a huge drawback because if your in the middle of nowhere and you're Tesla dies there won’t be places to charge it. As well as this Tesla has its own special charger. This charger is called the Tesla supercharger. This means to be able to charge your Tesla at any other charging station you would need have an adapter at all times. These are just a few things to consider if you want to buy a Tesla.
Overall Tesla is a popular company with an interesting history. As the world advances so do there cars, as they have great technology. They are also a great alternative as they are better for the environment but you do have to think whether or not it is worth it.
Work Cited
William, James. “5 Pros and Cons of the Tesla.” Drivetribe, 2017, drivetribe.com/p/5-pros-and-cons-of-the-tesla-model-bW2-zUr9T-if4mNr6LrlIA?iid=DlB9crEcS0yZSOpyauxWvw.
Arata, Nicole. “What Does a Tesla Really Cost?” NerdWallet, NerdWallet, 5 Oct. 2017, www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/cost-tesla/.
Sandru, Ovidiu. “How Tesla's Superchargers Could Be Profitable, Despite Charging Being Free.” The Green Optimistic, The Green Optimistic, 5 Mar. 2014, www.greenoptimistic.com/tesla-superchargers-profitable-20140305/#.W-xm3GhKjrc.
Laporte, John. “Topic: Tesla.” Statista, 2018, www.statista.com/topics/2086/tesla/.
Steinbuch, Maarten. “7 Reasons Why Tesla Has Been So Successful.” Steinbuch, 18 Feb. 2016, steinbuch.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/7-reasons-why-tesla-has-been-so-successful/.
Hogan, Mack. “These Are the 11 Coolest Features of the Tesla Model S.” CNBC, CNBC, 17 Nov. 2017, www.cnbc.com/2017/11/17/tesla-model-s-best-features.html.
Figure 1