Brand Development

Background

Tesla was founded as Tesla Motors in July 2003 by Marc Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard. It is clean energy and electric vehicle company. It is headquearted in Palo Alto, California, United States (US). The company was named after Nikola Tesla, a Serbian American inventor located. Tesla designs battery energy storage from home to grid-scale, electric cars, solar roof tiles, solar panels and other services and products related. The company is funded from various sources, but the most notable was more than $ 30 million from Elon Musk who served as the company's chairman beginning 2004.

The first completely electric vehicle was released in 2008 called Roadster. The cars would complete 394km on a single charge, which has never been done before to produce electric cars. Additional tests found that its performance could be compared with gasoline-powered sports cars; the Roadster could accelerate to 96km per hour in less than 4 seconds and reach 200km per hour top speed. The body was lightweight and made out of carbon fibre; it did not emit a tailpipe since it did not use an internal combustion engine. The cars attained efficiency ratings by Tesla Motors, and the ratings were equivalent to a gasoline mileage of 57km per litre. The Roadsters cost made it a luxury item (Shevchenko 2018).

Tesla stopped producing the Roadster in 2012 and started concentrating on the S sedan, the new model. The S sedan was praised for its design and performance, having three batteries which gave an estimate of 379 or 483 km. The battery option gave a top speed of 209 km per hour and acceleration up to 96km per hour in slightly more than four seconds. The S sedan has its battery underneath, providing extra storage in the back and improving handling since it lowers the centre of gravity compared to the Roadster, which the barrage was placed up (Perkins and Murmann, 2018)

Martin Eberhard resigned as president and CEO of technology in late 2007 and joined the advisory board of Tesla; he left the company in 2008 but remained a shareholder. The vice president of electrical engineering, Marc Tarpenning, who supervised the development of software and electronic system, also left the company in 2008. Elon Musk took over the company as CEO. (Tesla, Inc. | History, Cars, Elon Musk, & Facts, 2021).

The company’s valuation has risen reaching $1 trillion market value in 2021. It became the first car manufacturing and sixth American company after Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Alphabet (Google) to reach the milestone (McGee, 2021). Currently, it is worth more than the next nine carmakers combined. With increased production and delivered vehicles (Figure 1), the company has opened new production lines (Giga centres) in Germany and China in attempt to satisfy the demand.

In addition to producing vehicles (Model Y, Model S, and Roster), the company aim to start manufacture of Cybertruck, SUV, and semi-truck – all electric cars – as a product expansion strategy. Additionally, Tesla energy globally is one of the largest battery energy suppliers, 2020 installing three gigawatt-hours. In 2020 again, Tesla had the most sales in plug-in electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles. The company missed its a million target narrowly (Dey, 2021)

Brand Identity

The Tesla Visual Identity stands for who we are; it is more than a logo. It visually represents the brand's values and the commitment to be the best of the technology and automotive worlds. Tesla has three variations: The Tesla Wordmark, The Tesla Flag, The Tesla T. The Tesla T and Tesla flag are used only with explicit. In the visual identity of Tesla, the relationship between elements is considered, the colours being unique and distinct, the letters are also especially drawn. The relative size and position of the components are fixed and should not be changed (TeslaGuidelines, 2021)

It is easy to assume the T-shaped logo stands for Tesla but Elon Musk shade some light on Tesla's design. The logo design has a hidden layer of creativity and brilliance; the T is like a cross-section of an electric motor. The use of icons and shapes in a logo is nothing new but a better way to remember a brand is by using unique forms. Thinking of Tesla bringing innovation, the company takes a different approach in logo design. The design goes inside to get the car's product to a less known icon, the electric motor, instead of using commonly used and recognized shapes. Tesla's editorial and brand guidelines state that future transport will be made possible and aims to be accessible through its innovation (Bloem, 2017).

The Tesla’s logo has a perfect manifestation of its brand. A car can move because of its engine; therefore, symbolically, the electric motor catalysts innovation or movement. Its icon is particular to reference, which many people hardly recognize or understand. The Tesla Logo is intelligent and innovative, precisely what the brand aims to be (Bloem, 2017). When it comes to electric vehicles, the consumers will point out Tesla.

Brand Meaning

Points of Difference

Tesla is exciting to drive because of its unique features like the Autopilot, which increases safety on the road and gives drivers more confidence. Tesla also provides accident prevention technology that activates emergency steering and breaks the Tesla cars' nature is different from the other vehicles in the consumer market. All these make driving on the highway more enjoyable (Ingle and Phute, 2016). Tesla has superior technology. It has mastered multiple technology domains, which include motors, sensors, artificial intelligence and glass. Tesla has unique features, an example being sentry mode, the cameras placed around were purposely designed for Autopilot. These cameras in the front, side and rear of the car have provided security since a thief could rethink twice about stealing with the fear of being caught by the camera, which is on multiple angles. This feature gives the owner peace of mind.

Tesla cars are environmentally friendly since they are electric (Shevchenko 2018, pg. 1); they do not release harmful waste from combustion to the environment since they are electric. The ground does not have to be destroyed to mine minerals for fuel. Tesla also has a great design with its electric power train and battery plus a 17-inch display screen.

Having a Tesla, just like the other cars, is essential because it provides opportunity and personal control. In areas where people are sparse, owning a Tesla is crucial because it allows long distances due to minimum or no public transport. For people with walking disabilities or old and cannot cycle or walk to the bus, stop driving is often the only option for movement.

With your own Tesla, you enjoy the convenience of travelling anywhere at any time you want. One will also enjoy the independence of not relying on carpools, public transit or rideshare systems. With your car, you are the manager of yourself where you go, leave or arrive.

Another great deal about owning a Tesla is that it saves your time. When one does not have time to spend waiting for a mode of public transport, they can leave at their own time. There might be minor traffic while driving, but you get to determine your schedule. If you are travelling to another town or city, you do not have you alight a bus and wait for another.

Owning a Tesla makes you have the ability to enjoy your road trips. You can drive across the country or even to another country if you want to. A road trip with your car saves a lot of you are in a group, instead of each getting a ticket you can all get in your car and start the journey.

Brand response

Tesla is a prevalent and technologically advanced electric vehicle. Its impressive design, quiet cabin, and eco-friendly features make it a sought-after alternative to traditional combustion engines. Tesla doesn't provide complete details about their vehicles. Also, they don't compete with established auto manufacturers.

Since electric vehicles don't use petrol, they don't require to go to service stations to recharge. Instead, plug it in at home, and it will be fully charged before travelling long distances, Tesla cars can be set at one of the company's almost 2,000 Supercharger stations around the world. There are also Tesla charging stations located in various places like hotels, shopping centres, and more (Thomas, and Maine, 2019)

Running cost

Tesla use less energy to operate and have better air quality than diesel or petrol cars. They're also cheaper to work as they require less gas to run. Also, recharging at home saves you time and helps avoid the smell of toxic fumes (Akakpo et al., 2019). Compared to internal combustion engines, electric vehicles have fewer moving parts. They require less maintenance and are more energy-efficient (Gilson, and Abbott, 2017). Another benefit of owning a Tesla car is that it comes with a limited warranty for eight years

Winning performance

Tesla modelled its brand on fast acceleration attaining 0-60 mile under 5 seconds for Model S Plaid and can reach velocities of over 200 miles/hour. They are one of the fastest vehicles ever. With their impressive performance, Tesla are the best value for money (Thomas, and Maine, 2019). Many Tesla owners believe that taking one for a drive will make driving a standard car boring. It could make driving a regular car feel like an unnecessary chore.

Innovation technology

Tesla Motors is known for its forward-thinking approach to tech, and its engineers are constantly working on new ways to improve the efficiency of their cars. Their work on battery production is also continually improving, as they discover new ways to reduce internal stress (Kim, 2020). Tesla drivers can do almost anything with their fingertips, from starting the car to controlling various features, such as the heated seats and the dual-climate control (Furr and Dyer, 2020). The vehicle's centre console also has a large touch screen, letting users control multiple systems and features.

Updated Autopilot

Tesla's Autopilot is the most advanced self-driving tech available. With its on-board computer and eight external cameras, it can detect and act on various driving-related stimuli. It can also control itself when needed and overtake other vehicles. Elon Musk knew that eventually, the company would release self-driving software updates for the Tesla Model S, and he planned to make the updates available through the internet (Ingram, 2018). This strategy lets the vehicle be fully autonomous once the software is available.

Brand relationship

Tesla designs battery energy storage from home to grid-scale, electric cars, solar roof tiles, solar panels and other services and products related. Tesla's mission solely rests on its products. From the beginning, Tesla's focus has been to create products that are not only sustainable but better than fossil fuel, becoming their alternative. Many people believe that choosing sustainable products makes the consumers compromise performance and price. Tesla's electric vehicles combine safety, efficiency, and performance; hence, the best cars in the world (Shao et al., 2021). Tesla's storage products and energy generation both remote and urban communities with affordable and reliable energy. Tesla's ecosystems, batteries, vehicles, and solar, aim to reduce the environmental impacts of electricity production, transportation, and energy used by people in homes, businesses, etc. Since the largest sources of GHG emissions are electricity and transportation, which make more than half of all U.S. emissions (Impact report, 2021)

Conclusion

Before Tesla production of Roadster was launched in 2006, there was no other all-electric vehicle option on the market. The market has growth to 9% globally with over three million vehicles globally on the roads, and more are being produced daily. The industry has recognized the harmful impact of internal combustion engines and started to make the future more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Tesla is bringing what the society and the consumer need, a friendly environment to people's health. The attachment of the brand and consumers is mainly because of the efficiency of the product.

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Bibliography

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