Breaking into the car industry is so difficult that the last company to do it was Chrysler — in 1925. Of the established American auto brands, only Ford has never gone bankrupt.
And by 2018, it appeared that the auto industry might chew up and spit out startup Tesla, as it had done to so many others before.
Tesla was eternally behind schedule, short of cash and facing thorny production issues. To make matters worse, its mercurial frontman, Elon Musk, seemed to be increasingly unstuck, losing his temper and firing off problematic tweets.
“2018 was make or break for Tesla,” said author and Wall Street Journal tech reporter Tim Higgins.
But Tesla, improbably, did survive its year of hell, and would soon go on to become the most valuable carmaker on the planet. How Musk did it can be found in Higgins’ new book, “Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century” (Doubleday), out now.
The idea for Tesla Motors actually didn’t originate with Musk. It came from Martin Eberhard, an engineer who believed early on in the potential for electric vehicles. He soon joined with a friend, software engineer Marc Tarpenning, and launched Tesla, registering the company in Delaware in July 2003.
The headwinds facing the young company were immense. Charging stations were then scarce across the country, and the cost of batteries added tens of thousands to the price of a vehicle.
Rather than mass-produce boring, affordable electric cars, such as GM’s discontinued EV, Tesla hoped to take...
Read Full Story: https://nypost.com/2021/08/07/how-elon-musk-put-the-sex-into-tesla-and-conquered-america/
Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.
