Tesla was founded in 2003 in San Carlos, California, by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, with Elon Musk joining as chairman and lead investor in 2004. The company commercialized the first performance-oriented mass-market electric vehicles with the Roadster (2008), Model S (2012), and Model 3 (2017). Tesla's direct-to-consumer sales model, over-the-air software updates, and Supercharger network became industry benchmarks. In Singapore, Tesla surpassed 1,000 units registered in 2024 for the first time. It operates through its own retail and service network without franchised dealerships.