What was Tesla, Inc.’s original company name when it was founded?

Tesla, Inc.’s original company name when it was founded was Tesla Motors.

The company was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning as Tesla Motors. Its name honored Nikola Tesla, the inventor and electrical engineer associated with alternating-current power systems and the induction motor. The company initially focused on creating an electric sports car, which became the Tesla Roadster.

Tesla Motors used that name for more than a decade. In 2017, the company changed its legal name to Tesla, Inc., reflecting a broader business that included electric vehicles, batteries, solar energy, and related services.

The name change is sometimes confused with Tesla’s earlier expansion into energy products. Tesla introduced the Powerwall and Powerpack before the legal renaming, so the company’s energy activities did not begin only after 2017. The original “Motors” name reflected Tesla’s initial concentration on automobiles.