Not since Henry Ford created the assembly line and the Model T has one man or company so influenced the automotive industry. Tesla Motors, a Silicon Valley upstart fueled not by profit but philanthropy, has jumpstarted the auto industry’s movement into electric vehicles. Tesla has achieved what no other car company dared think was possible: proved that electric vehicles could be awesome. Don’t take our word for it. Ask Motor Trend, who named their latest car, the Model S, 2013 Car of the Year.

Prominent industrialist and co-founder, Elon Musk, has been the driving force behind the company, taking risks and pushing forward when most would have thrown in the towel. Inspired by inventors such as Nikola Tesla, inventor of the AC Motor, he created his company to change the world.

Audacious Beginnings

When Musk finished his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, he put his focus on what he considered the most important problems affecting the future of humanity: the Internet, clean energy and space. After dropping out of Stanford, and starting successful ventures such as Zip2 and a little company called PayPal, Musk switched his focus to clean energy.

Musk believed that the best way to influence clean energy was the electric car. The combustible engine had made the world dependent on oil, resulting in climate change and massive transfers of wealth to foreign countries. It was an outdated 19^th century technology that remained pervasive, despite outliving its usefulness and harming our future in the process.

Founded in 2003, Tesla Motors faced many challenges, such as recession, zero knowledge of the car industry, lack of manufacturing facilities, mismanagement—everything including the kitchen sink. At the lowest point of the company, Musk scrambled to find financing, influence automotive giants in need of electric technology to invest in the company, and convince investors that a company that was hemorrhaging money was still a good investment. Through sheer will, luck, and ingenuity, Musk kept the company afloat long enough for investments to roll in, Toyota and Daimler to sign on as partners and other opportunities to present themselves, helping the company grow and thrive.

(Image source: thetechblock.com/elon-musk-google-win-mobile/)

Disruptive Innovation

Former General Motors VP Bob Lutz, who originally laughed at Tesla and declared it not a real car company, later admitted the upstart pushed them to invest in electric vehicles. Everyone in the auto industry believed that the technology needed to develop a viable electric vehicle was at least ten years off.

The automotive industry as it stood was too invested in the gasoline engine and would never fully embrace an electric vehicle. Tesla, on the other hand, with a more altruistic goal, was able to produce the technology. Then, after proving what is possible, the company made their technology available to competitors and pushed them to up their game.

Tesla, however, hasn’t rested on its laurels. The company is still pushing what is possible with the technology, improving with not just every new version, but also the vehicles already on the road. Cars are going farther and farther with fewer fill-ups along the way. Traveling across the country for free was once an unfathomable idea. Now, it is a reality.

(Image source: fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2012/tesla-motors)

Underdog Mentality

Founded in Silicon Valley, Tesla operated like a start-up. In fact, since the company couldn’t afford manufacturing facilities when it began, their first vehicle, the Tesla Roadster, was assembled one at time behind their offices in Menlo Park, CA.

When executives from Daimler were interested in Tesla’s technology for their Smart Cars, the company scrambled to impress them by retrofitting one of the vehicles with electric components. Unfortunately, Smart Cars weren’t sold in the US at the time. $20 thousand cash in a bag, a trip to Mexico and five-and-a-half weeks later, Tesla had an electric Smart Car ready for executives to test out.

It was this same spirit, energy, and nimbleness that inspired Toyota to invest in the company, partnering with them on the development of the electric Rav4, and which continues to help the company thrive today.

(Image source: sandacom.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/daimlertesla-smart-car-710-debut-in-pdx/)

Environmentally Conscious

As mentioned before, Tesla wasn’t founded to be a car company. It was started to change the world. Musk saw electricity as a more viable option for cars than gasoline. Electricity can be produced multiple ways, leading to competition, influencing innovation, and freeing the world from its dependence on oil. He knew that the impact of switching from gasoline to electric would be transformative.

(Image source: Teslamotors.com)

Intelligent Design

No matter what’s under the hood, what sells cars is design and aesthetics. Tesla’s design challenged what people thought when they heard the phrase “electric car”.  Their vehicles are designed to compete with high-end manufacturers such as Porsche, Lotus, BMW, and Mercedes, not just in performance, but also style.

With every car produced by Tesla, the company has pushed what is possible in the design. Musk challenged the designer of the Model S to create a sedan that seated 7. At first it seemed impossible, but when you change the technology, you change what is possible with design.

(Image source: riotengine.in/2012/02/10/tesla-model-x/)

As a company, Tesla Motors is one of those things that seems great on paper, but in actual execution wouldn’t be possible. However, Musk and associates didn’t settle for what worked in the past and didn’t just push their competition. Through determination, spunk, and can-do spirit, Tesla forced an entire industry to change and evolve for the betterment of the world. For that, Tesla has earned our admiration.