14 Facts You Didn’t Know About Tesla Motors

We've all heard of the battery-powered car that is the revolutionary next step in the industry. These facts put a whole new meaning behind the company that creates the innovative Tesla models.

The car that never turns off.

Tesla’s Model 3 is so powerful that it actually never turns off. Okay, maybe that’s not the reason, but the Model 3 in fact goes to sleep, much like your laptop does when you close it. Once you put the car in park, the Model 3 hits the hay.

Elon Musk, you are not the father!

Even though he’s made claims of being the “founder,” Elon Musk is neither the founder nor the designer of the Tesla. It was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003. Musk didn’t join Tesla’s forces until 2004 when he came in to take over investments and assist with design plans.

This revolutionary car got its name from Disneyland.

Martin Eberhard came up with the name for Tesla while on a date at Disneyland. He and his wife were eating at a restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean suite.

Now, even you can own a Tesla!

The Model 3, which is a relatively more affordable model, is scheduled to make its first appearance in 2016 for a respectable $30,000.

You can open your door like the superhero you really are.

The Tesla Model X is another new vehicle that will hit the market in late 2015. It is Tesla’s SUV Crossover Model.

Wheels up!

If this car wasn’t cool enough, it also has a self-adjusting suspension that remembers rough roads you’ve been on before. Although the driver can tell the car to raise up by almost 1.3 inches, the Model S actually remembers where you’ve done this before and will automatically lift itself up on rough terrain.

You can continue to make your license plate as cheesy as you want.

There is actually a cheat sheet that has literally hundreds of ideas for personalized license plates for a Tesla, including “GAS LOL.”

Watch out, your neighbor just might start building one.

Tesla Motors no longer has a “patent wall” protecting its patents. In 2014, it tore down this wall and its designs became open sourced. They are free for anyone to use as long as they are used to advance the industry.

Tesla’s sales model is actually illegal.

Tesla’s sales model is illegal in 48 states. If you want to buy a Tesla, you go directly through Tesla Motors — no dealership, no bargaining. In most states, cars must be sold by a franchised dealership and never directly. Tesla operates galleries where you can learn about the cars, but there’s no pricing or test drives. You have to order your Tesla online.

It’s basically a really fancy laptop.

Tesla uses basically the same battery used in your laptop, the lithium-ion 18650, to power their cars. In the car, a bunch of these batteries (made more heavy duty, of course) are wired into one.

Goodbye gas.

You can say goodbye to spending a ridiculous amount of money on gas, since it’s free to charge your Tesla at a Tesla charging station and it only takes about 20 to 30 minutes to charge.

Need a new battery? No problem.

You can also take part in the “battery swapping” done at the Supercharging stations. The Model S was specifically built to change a battery very fast (in 90 seconds to be exact). For $60 you can drive up to a Supercharging station, have your battery completely changed and come back later when your other battery is fully charged.

You can actually go 0 to 100 real quick.

The Tesla comes with an “insane” mode, which makes your car go 0 to 60 in 3 seconds. This mode removes the restrictions on the engine and releases all the power at once. Be sure to make this happen while driving next to a Mustang with tinted windows to show them who’s boss.

Coming soon: a charging house?

Tesla hasn’t just stopped with cars. Its newest innovation is a new “powerwall.” The “powerwall” is a battery intended for use in the home as a supplemental power source, with the hopes of it eventually upgrading to a primary power source.