Tesla was named after inventor Nikola Tesla when it was founded in 2003.
The company was incorporated as Tesla Motors in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. JB Straubel, Ian Wright, and Elon Musk also played important early roles; Musk joined as an investor and became chairman soon afterward. The company adopted the Tesla name to honor Nikola Tesla’s work in electricity and motors.
Tesla’s first production vehicle was the Roadster, introduced in 2008. It used lithium-ion battery cells and was based on the Lotus Elise platform. Tesla later developed the Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Model Y, helping make battery-electric cars more mainstream.
Nikola Tesla did not participate in the modern company: he died in 1943, decades before Tesla Motors was founded. The company’s name is an homage rather than evidence of a direct business connection.