Abstract
The electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors Inc. (Tesla) was founded in 2003, and substantially increased public attention towards electric mobility. Until the 1990s, automakers saw no pressing need to develop electric vehicle technology, largely due to low oil prices and facile environmental policies. By the turn of the millennium, some car manufacturers, for instance GM, made initial attempts to introduce environmentally friendly vehicles, such as the Chevrolet S-10 Electric. Such projects mostly failed, due to a lack of market driving factors. The most significant among them was the lack of performant batteries and infrastructural units like recharging stations, paired with a public policy not yet fully committed to supporting the development of electric vehicles. Some projects however succeeded: hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight found an incipient market of early adopters. Yet in a market, in which incumbents were mostly doubtful about the market acceptance of electric vehicles, new entrants with a sole focus on such models faced a hard time. Main entry barriers were the extremely high investments in production plants, immense technological know-how, and brand recognition. In spite of such hurdles, in 2008, when Tesla began serial production of its first model, the Roadster, it became the first company worldwide to manufacture serial electric sports cars. Tesla’s high-performance battery electric vehicle had an impressive travel range of up to 400 kilometers, which was double the range of other BEVs in the mid-2000s. Its performance was at least comparable to, if not exceeding, that of ICE vehicles. The time seemed right for setting in motion a worldwide transition towards electric mobility. This vision helped Tesla’s founders to persevere stubbornly in introducing a new product and a new business model in an industry dominated by giants.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Altenburg, T. (2014). From combustion engines to electric vehicles: A study of technological path creation and disruption in Germany. Retrieved July 30, 2015, from https://www.die-gdi.de/uploads/media/DP_29.2014.pdf.
Automotive News. (2015). Texas isn’t open for Tesla sales, governor says. Retrieved August 31, 2015, from http://www.autonews.com/article/20150714/OEM05/150719928?template=printart.
Badkar, M. (2013). Ambitious auto venture in a century nearly collapsed and then came back from the dead. In M. Marcovici (Ed.), The Tesla Motor’s way (pp. 64–87). Norderstedt: Books on Demand.
Berthold, N. (2011). E-Autos Machen für den Stadtverkehr Sinn. Retrieved September 1, 2015, from http://www.rp-online.de/leben/auto/news/e-autos-machen-fuer-den-stadtverkehr-sinn-aid-1.2409835.
Block, D., & Harrison, J., (2014). Electric vehicle transportation center: Report on electric vehicle sales and future projections. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://evtc.fsec.ucf.edu/reports/EVTC-RR-01-14.pdf.
Bullis, K. (2008). Innovators under 35. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved August 1, 2015, from http://www2.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?TRID=742.
Chan, C. C. (2002). The state of the art of electric and hybrid vehicles. Proceedings of the IEEE, 90(2), 247–275.
Charles, A. (2014). 4 social media secrets you can learn from Elon Musk. Retrieved September 3, 2015, from http://www.fastcompany.com/3030697/bottom-line/4-secrets-teslas-ceo-and-other-leaders-teach-us-about-being-social-media-savvy.
Consumer Reports. (2014). Would you buy your car again? Retrieved August 31, 2015, from http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/12/owner-satisfaction/index.htm.
D’Arcy, P. J. (2013). Tesla Model S: The disruptive marketing of an electric car. Retrieved September 3, 2015, from http://scienceofrevenue.com/2013/01/20/tesla-model-s-the-disruptive-marketing-of-an-electric-car/.
Davis, J. (2010). How Elon Musk turned Tesla into the car company of the future. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://www.wired.com/2010/09/ff_tesla/all/.
De Vries, J. (2012). Transforming automotive service. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/transforming-automotive-service.
Eberhard, M. (2006). Lotus position. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/lotus-position.
Edson. J. (2014, January 28). The car as you know it is dead. Fast Company. Retrieved August 31, 2015, from http://www.fastcodesign.com/3025453/the-car-as-you-know-it-is-dead.
Gertner, J. (2014). Inside Toyota and Tesla’s duel to fuel the cars of the future. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://www.fastcompany.com/3033198/duel-for-fuel.
Graham, B. (2002). Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles significant market potential. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://arbis.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog/2003rule/1202wkshp/graham.pdf.
Holmberg, S. R. (2011). Emerging green-technology entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurial pathways to growth in the hybrid and plug-in hybrid/electric vehicle space. ICSB World Conference Paper.
Hose, C., Lübke, K., Nolte, T., & Obermeier, T. (2015). Einführung von Elektromobilität in Deutschland: Eine Bestandsaufnahme von Barrieren und Lösungsansätzen. Arbeitspapiere der FOM 53. Retrieved September 1, 2015, from https://www.econstor.eu/dspace/bitstream/10419/107669/1/819629049.pdf.
Hurst, A. (2014). How Tesla is driving the new purpose economy. Fast Company & Inc. Retrieved September 25, 2015, from http://www.fastcoexist.com/3028540/learning-from-tesla-about-howgood-ideas-spread-to-create-a-purpose-economy.
Kanter, Z. (2015). How Uber’s autonomous cars will destroy 10 million jobs and reshape the economy by 2025. Retrieved September 1, 2015, from http://www.businessinsider.com.au/ubers-autonomous-cars-destroy-10-million-jobs-reshape-economy-2015-2.
Klooß, K. (2013, August 13). SpaceX, Tesla, Hyperloop: Die Welt des Elon Musk. Manager Magazin. Retrieved August 1, 2015, from http://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/industrie/spacex-tesla-hyperloop-die-welt-des-elon-musk-a-916336-druck.html.
Kobuta, Y. (2014). Tesla CEO says could sign new deal with Toyota in 2-3 years. Retrieved September 1, 2015, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/08/us-tesla-motors-toyota-idUSKBN0H30K520140908.
Lambert, F. (2015). Tesla’s original team, where are they now? Retrieved August 1, 2015, from http://electrek.co/2015/05/16/teslas-original-team-where-are-they-now/.
LeBeau, P. (2014). The young and rich snapping up Tesla’s Model S. CNBC U.S. Retrieved September 25, 2015, from http://www.cnbc.com/id/100970641.
Loveday, E. (2014). U.S. model-by-model market share plug-in electric vehicles—BEVs & PHEVs. Retrieved September 25, 2015, from http://insideevs.com/u-s-model-model-market-share-plug-electric-vehicles-bevs-phevs/.
Mangram, M. E. (2012). The globalization of Tesla Motors: A strategic marketing plan analysis. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 20(4), 289–312.
Marcacci, S. (2013). Electric vehicles speeding toward 7% of all global sales by 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://cleantechnica.com/2013/09/30/electric-vehicles-speeding-toward-7-global-sales-2020/.
McGlaun, S. (2010). Tesla and Panasonic team up on batteries for Roadster, Model S. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://www.dailytech.com/Tesla+and+Panasonic+Team+Up+on+Batteries+for+Roadster+Model+S/article17346.htm.
Morris, C. (2014). Q&A with Ian Wright: The CEO of Wrightspeed on Tesla, gas turbines and electric trucks. Retrieved August 1, 2015, from https://chargedevs.com/features/qa-with-ian-wright-the-ceo-of-wrightspeed-on-tesla-gas-turbines-and-electric-trucks/.
Musk, E. (2012). The Tesla approach to distributing and servicing cars. Retrieved September 26, 2015, from http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/tesla-approach-distributing-and-servicing-cars.
Newbury, S. (2014). Tesla. Retrieved August 1, 2015, from http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/220784/Tesla.pdf.
Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation—A handbook of visionaries, game changers and challengers. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Poczter, S. L., & Jankovic, L. M. (2014). General Motors: The electric revolution. Journal of Business Case Studies, 10(2), 185–190.
Rappold, T. (2015). Silicon Valley Investing: Investieren in die Superstars von heute, morgen und übermorgen. München: FinanzBuch.
Richardson, E. (2011). Tesla goes mainstream. Automotive Industries, 190(4), 30–32.
Reilly, C. (2014). Tesla unveils first Australian supercharger locations. Retrieved September 25, 2015, from http://www.cnet.com/au/news/tesla-motors-unveils-first-australian-supercharger-locations/.
Schaefer, S. (2015). Morgan Stanley thinks Tesla’s real battle might be with Apple, Uber and Google. Retrieved August 31, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveschaefer/2015/08/17/forget-the-automakers-teslas-real-battle-might-be-with-uber-and-google/.
Schilling, M. A. (2014). Case 14 Tesla Motors. In C. W. L. Hill, G. R. Jones, & M. A. Schilling (Eds.), Strategic management: An integrated approach (11th ed., pp. C-201–C-209). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Schreiber, B. A. (2008). Eberhard, Martin and Tarpenning, Marc. In K. J. Sparks (Ed.), Britannica book of the year 2008 (pp. 78–79). Chicago, IL: Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Stanford University. (n.d.). JB Straubel. Retrieved August 1, 2015, from https://energy.stanford.edu/people/speaker/jb-straubel.
Statista. (2015). Prognose zur Anzahl der Verkäufe von Elektroautos weltweit in den Jahren 2015 und 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2015, from http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/406683/umfrage/anzahl-der-verkaeufe-von-elektroautos-weltweit-prognose/.
Sun, L. (2011). Tesla Motors (TSLA) is more Silicon Valley than Motor City. Retrieved September 3, 2015, from http://www.investorguide.com/article/10521/tesla-motors-tsla-may-overtake-detroit-steel-with-silicon-valley-smarts/.
Surowiecki, J. (2014). Shut up and deal. Retrieved August 31, 2015, from http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/04/21/shut-up-and-deal.
Tao, R. (2014). Cast studies: Tesla created a custom-built supply chain that competes with the best, and so can you. Retrieved August 31, 2015, from http://www.tradegecko.com/blog/tesla-custom-built-supply-chain.
Tesla. (2008). Tesla Motors begins regular production of 2008 Tesla Roadster. Retrieved September 3, 2015, from http://ir.teslamotors.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=478036.
Tesla. (2015). Form 10-K. Retrieved August 1, 2015, from http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ABEA-4CW8X0/0x0xS1564590-15-1031/1318605/filing.pdf.
Van den Steen, E. (2014, January). Tesla Motors. Harvard Business School Case, 9-714-413.
Woodall, B. (2014). Tesla third-quarter loss doubles to $75 million, shares jump. Retrieved September 25, 2015, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-teslamotors-results-idUSKBN0IP2SI20141105.
Zollenkop, M. (2014). Management des Geschäftsmodells-Portfolios—Konzept, Fallbeispiele, Erfolgsfaktoren. In D. R. A. Schallmo (Ed.), Kompendium Geschäftsmodell-Innovation: Grundlagen, aktuelle Ansätze und Fallbeispiele zur erfolgreichen Geschäftsmodell-Innovation. Wiesbaden: Springer-Gabler.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Voigt, KI., Buliga, O., Michl, K. (2017). Driving Against the Tide: The Case of Tesla Motors. In: Business Model Pioneers. Management for Professionals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38845-8_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38845-8_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-38844-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-38845-8
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)