People are just realizing Elon Musk didn’t invent Tesla – and how car giant got its name

ELON Musk is probably best known for electric car mega-brand Tesla.

But even though Musk is responsible for much of Tesla's success, some people didn't realise he wasn't there from day one.

Countless on TikTok have gone viral explaining Tesla's origins.

So who actually invented Tesla, how did it get its name, and when did Musk step in?

Who invented Tesla?

Tesla was founded way back in July 2003, around 20 years ago.

The company began its life as Tesla Motors, Inc., although it's now known as Tesla Inc.

And it was founded by two Americans: Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.

The pair are both engineers born in California, and worked together on an e-book called Rocket eBook in the mid '90s.

After becoming worried about dependence on oil imports and global warming, the decided to set up an electric car company.

Eberhard served as its CEO until late 2007.

And Tarpenning served as CFO and VP of Engineering until 2008.

How did Tesla get its name?

The name Tesla long pre-dates the car company, as science aficionados will know.

It's actually named after Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla.

Tesla, who was born in 1856 and died in 1943, is a world-renowned electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and futurist.

He's best known for contributing to the design of AC (alternating current) electricity supply systems.

So he was the perfect inspiration for a car company building electric vehicles.

When did Elon Musk join Tesla?

South African business magnate Elon Musk first connected with the Tesla team in January 2004.

He contributed $6.5million of investment and became chairman of the board of directors.

Musk is said to have been heavily involved in the design of the Roadster.

And he led much of the long-term strategic vision.

Musk continued to make investments in the business, and ultimately became CEO in 2008.

In a 2009 lawsuit settlement, Musk was retroactively named as a Tesla co-founder due to his enormous early contributions.

And in 2021, Musk changed his job title to Technoking – although he retained his CEO position.