New York (AFP)

In less than seventeen years, Tesla has grown into an automotive giant. The electric car maker has overtaken Volkswagen on the stock market and is worth more there than General Motors and Ford.

When the big historic manufacturers produce millions of vehicles per year, Tesla manufactures less than 500,000. But "it is the largest automotive group in the world," said Morgan Stanley bank, while US President Donald Trump called Elon Musk, his fanciful boss, "genius."

If Tesla has never made a single annual profit since its creation in July 2003, the electric vehicle manufacturer is the automobile brand that symbolizes prestige, luxury, technology and respect for the environment for Americans, according to a November survey by the automotive firm Cox Automotive.

- How was Tesla Motors born? -

Elon Musk did not found Tesla but built it.

Tesla was founded on July 1, 2003 by two engineering friends, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who surfed the internet after creating in 1998 an electronic reader, The Rocket eBook.

The name Tesla is a tribute to the American of Serbian origin Nikola Tesla, inventor of the induction motor.

Mr. Eberhard initially planned to buy the start-up AC Propulsion, which manufactured a sports car model, the Tzero. At the time, he advised builders on new laws limiting polluting emissions in California.

- What is Tesla changing? -

Before Tesla, the electric car is considered a gadget, especially since the development of lead-acid batteries has stalled.

General Motors even ends up "killing" its EV1 electric sports car, despite an investment of more than a billion dollars in the development of this car.

Wanting a powerful, fast and much less polluting vehicle, Mr. Eberhard turns to the lithium-ion battery and the induction motor.

- Why did Tesla succeed in his bet? -

When Tesla landed in the automotive industry, the ecosystem changed: several tasks were entrusted to subcontractors, the manufacturers only taking care internally of assembling parts, engine design, sales and marketing.

Tesla also decides to partner with others, such as the British brand Lotus, to avoid heavy financial and human costs. He used the chassis of the Lotus Elise to build his very first vehicle, the Roadster, and joined forces with AC Propulsion for the transmission system.

Environmental policies have also changed. Many countries and large cities have implemented bonuses / penalties and tax credits to encourage virtuous behavior. The Paris climate agreement in 2015 accelerated things.

- Tesla's promise -

Offer high-end electric cars at a price deemed acceptable to the consumer and at a low resource cost for the planet.

- The pitfalls -

Tesla formalized its ambitions in 2006, summoning all-Hollywood to a party during which celebrities were asked to bring their checkbook.

Deliveries only started in 2008, two years late because Tesla has accumulated problems (door handles, seats, change of composite materials ...).

These delays led Elon Musk to get involved in the company and take control.

In August 2007, Martin Eberhard landed.

- The Elon Musk era -

In March 2004, Mr. Eberhard contacted Elon Musk, met during a conference on space. A month later, the man who made his fortune with Paypal, invested $ 7.5 million in Tesla Motors.

Mr. Musk, previously Chairman of the Board, will don the CEO costume in October 2008.

Twitter becomes its communication channel because it wants to speak directly to consumers.

In 2010, he listed Tesla on the stock market. The business is only worth around $ 4 billion in 2012.

Mr. Musk promises to change the automobile. The markets believe in it even if its escapades and eccentricities cause strong turbulence.

This is the case when he smokes marijuana live, goes to war against the American stock market policeman (SEC) or claims to want to withdraw Tesla from the listing, without having the money to carry out the operation.

Under his rule - he worked until exhaustion in 2018 to solve huge production problems himself - the line of vehicles sold expanded: Model S, Model X, Model 3 and soon the Model Y, a pick-up and the same semi-trailer.

© 2020 AFP