Tesla’s original corporate name was Tesla Motors when it was founded in 2003, before becoming a top market-cap automaker.
The company was incorporated as Tesla Motors on July 1, 2003, by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Elon Musk joined soon afterward as a major early investor and chairman, and later became the company’s chief executive. Tesla changed its legal name to Tesla, Inc. in 2017.
Tesla’s first production car was the Roadster, introduced in 2008. It used a battery-electric powertrain and was based on the Lotus Elise sports-car platform. Later vehicles such as the Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Model Y expanded Tesla’s market reach.
The original name is sometimes overlooked because the company’s products now include batteries, solar technology, and charging infrastructure. “Tesla Energy” describes part of its business, but it was not the company’s founding corporate name.