History of Computers - Tesla
Introduction
Tesla was founded in 2003 by a group of engineers who wanted to make electric more efficient, quicker, and better than gasoline-fueled cars. Tesla manufactures electric vehicles and clean energy generation and storage products.[1]
Tesla Model S[2]
Overview
The founders of Tesla, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, wanted to make an electric car in an attempt to get the world to stop using fossil fuels as a source of energy.[3] Elon Musk became CEO in 2004 and provided the majority of Tesla’s funding.[4]
In 2008, the Roadster came out which was an expensive all-electric sports car that was very advanced for its time.[5]
In 2012, the Model S came out which is the first practical electric car as it is an expensive Sudan that can go from 0-60 in 2.5 seconds with a five-star safety rating. The Model S experimented with new technology such as autopilot and supercharging and is one of the first cars that contained a computer which helped the autopilot feature.[6]
In 2015, the Model X came out which is an improved version of the Model S. It included all the same features as the Model S plus new ones such as falcon-wing doors and motor cooling systems.[7]
In 2017, the Model 3 came out which is a cheaper version of the Model S Sudan. The Model S costs $74,500 while the Model 3 only costs $35,000 dollars. Although the Model 3 contains many of the same features, due to being much cheaper, it is much slower than the Model S and is overall not as nice of a car.[8]
Significance
Tesla was the first company that really combined cars with computers. Now every car comes with a powerful NVIDIA supercomputer that runs the autopilot that will eventually become the future. Also, each Tesla comes with downloadable software changes. This is important because Tesla cars have merged with computers and might stop humans from ever driving on their own. Autopilot could be a huge disruptor to the car manufacturing business, taxies, and other services that give rides such as Uber and Lyft.
Citations
Tesla, 2018 September 16, https://www.tesla.com/about.
Tesla, 2018 September 16, https://www.tesla.com/models.
Where is Roadster, 2018 September 16, http://www.whereisroadster.com/tesla/.
