The Mind-bending Joyrides That Gave Rise to Tesla
In 2003, Martin Eberhard, a cofounder of Tesla Motors , decided it was time to start wooing investors. To do that, however, he needed an electric car. So he talked to Alan Cocconi and asked if he could borrow the tZero , the revolutionary and blazingly fast electric roadster that Cocconi had built at AC Propulsion . Eberhard’s idea was to drive the tZero up and down Sand Hill Road in the heart of…
In 2003, Martin Eberhard, a co-founder of Tesla Motors, sought investors by demonstrating an electric car. He asked Alan Cocconi about borrowing the tZero, an electric roadster built by AC Propulsion. Eberhard and Tom Gage, Cocconi's partner, toured Sand Hill Road, Silicon Valley's hub of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, with the tZero.
They also planned demonstrations at Buck’s of Woodside, a restaurant popular with tech venture capitalists. The tZero impressed many with its acceleration, leaving some VCs questioning whether it was truly electric. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who visited Buck’s that day, brought in Elon Musk, a PayPal co-founder with a passion for fast cars.
Musk received an email from Gage suggesting he might be interested in the tZero, which was described as a powerful electric sports car. Musk, intrigued by its performance, drove the car to SpaceX headquarters and offered to buy it. Although the tZero was never for sale, Musk's interest in electric vehicles marked the beginning of his involvement in the automotive industry.
Written by urgent.news from IEEE Spectrum's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
