Tesla is named after the inventor of the AC induction motor, and its badge is a motor too. According to Elon Musk, the T is like a cross section of an electric motor.
- Country
-
United States - Active
- Since 2003
- Founded by
- Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning
- Website
- Official website ↗
Two engineers and an inventor’s name
Tesla began in 2003 with two engineers who had already built one company together. Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning had run an e-book business, and from it they learned how to write a business plan and make the numbers add up. Their next idea was much bigger: an electric car.
The company was founded in San Carlos, California. Its name honoured Nikola Tesla, the Serbian American inventor of the AC induction motor, the type of motor the new car was going to use. So the name was never just a tribute. It was a description of the hardware.
Elon Musk arrived early. He put more than 30 million dollars into the venture and became chair in 2004. After Eberhard and Tarpenning left in 2008, Musk took over as CEO. The company that started as Tesla Motors is today Tesla, Inc., with its headquarters in Austin, Texas.
A T that is really a motor
At first glance the Tesla badge is simply a stylised T. For years fans suspected there was more to it, and in January 2017 Musk confirmed it in a tweet: “Similar to SpaceX, the T is like a cross section of an electric motor, just as the X is like a rocket trajectory.”
Look closely and you can see it. The body of the T stands for one of the poles that stick out from the motor’s rotor, and the line on top stands for a section of the stator, the fixed part around it. It is the same machine the company’s name points to, drawn in two strokes.
The shield that disappeared
The logo was created by RO Studio, the same firm that designed the SpaceX logo. According to Electrek, it was through RO Studio that Musk was introduced to Franz von Holzhausen, then design director at Mazda. He joined Tesla as chief designer and led the design of the Model S.
The first version placed the T inside a shield. You can still find it on some early documents and printed material. Tesla later dropped the shield and kept the bare T, which is the badge on its cars today.
There is also a joke theory. In 2019 someone asked Musk whether the T looked like a cat’s nose, and he replied “Yes”. It was a playful answer, and the motor explanation from 2017 is the one most people take seriously.
From hand-built roadster to heavy truck
Tesla’s story is short by car industry standards, but each step was a big one. The lineup now includes the Model 3, Model Y, Model S, Model X and Cybertruck, and the cars below mark the turning points.
Landmark Teslas, step by step
- 2008: Roadster. Tesla’s first car, fully electric, with a range of 245 miles, which was unprecedented for a production electric car.
- 2012: Model S. Tesla officially began customer deliveries on 22 June 2012 at its factory in Fremont, California, ahead of the announced schedule.
- 2022: Tesla Semi. Early production and deliveries began of Tesla’s commercial electric vehicle.
Tesla didn’t only build its own cars. In 2012 it was also earning revenue from development services for an electric vehicle program with Mercedes-Benz. For more on how simple marks like the T are put together, see how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Tesla logo mean?
According to Elon Musk, the T is like a cross section of an electric motor. The main body of the T represents a pole on the rotor, and the line above it a section of the stator.
Why is the company called Tesla?
It is named after Nikola Tesla, the inventor of the AC induction motor, the kind of motor the company planned to use in its cars.
Who designed the Tesla logo?
RO Studio, the design firm that also created the SpaceX logo. The first version had a shield around the T, which Tesla later dropped.
Who founded Tesla?
Tesla was founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Elon Musk invested early, became chair in 2004 and took over as CEO in 2008.
Rotor, stator and a T: the Tesla file
- Founded
- 2003
- Founder
- Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning
- Country
- United States
- Headquarters
- Austin, Texas, USA
- Current emblem
- A stylised T representing a cross section of an electric motor, originally set inside a shield
- Known for
- Electric cars, from the Roadster to the Model S and Cybertruck
- Website
- Official website ↗
