Tesla As 17 Different Companies

Covering a couple of Elon Musk tweets, I recently wrote an article titled “Tesla = Approximately A Dozen Startups.” The company is involved in several different hardcore tech efforts as well as things like insurance and seat production.

One response to that article caught my attention because of how it expanded the premise of the article, and it thus stimulated this piece. The commenter, Richard Gordon, put company names next to the various business arms of Tesla. That provided a new way of looking at this idea. Instead of just listing arms of Tesla like “Tesla Supercharging,” you can look at existing companies in the industry and better recognize that portions of Tesla could be whole companies competing basically head to head with those well known brands.

Below is primarily Richard’s list, but I’m adding in some business arms and changing a couple. I’m also adding in more of the top companies Tesla appears to be competing against, or is expected to be competing against in the near future.

1. Tesla Cars vs.
   BMW & Audi & Toyota & Honda — car manufacturing
2. Tesla Network vs.
   Lyft & Uber — mobility services
3. Tesla Supercharging vs.
   Electrify America & EVgo & Ionity & Fastned — fast charging
4. Tesla Charging vs.
   ChargePoint & EVBox & many others — home/destination chargers
5. Tesla Autopilot vs.
   Mobileye/Intel & Waymo & Cruise/GM & Nvidia — self-driving/driver-assist tech
6. Tesla Solar vs.
   Sunrun & Vivint Solar — solar panel installation
7. Tesla Solar Tech vs.
   SunPower & Trina Solar — rooftop solar generation tech
8. Tesla Energy Storage vs.
   AES & SimpliPhi & sonnen — stationary energy storage
9. Tesla Grid Services vs.
   Utilities around the world & Stem — grid services
10. Tesla Insurance vs.
    Allstate & Geico & State Farm — insurance
11. Tesla Stores vs.
    Auto dealerships — auto sales & service
12. Tesla Trucks vs.
    Freightliner/Daimler & MAN Truck and Bus & Scania & Iveco — semi trucks
13. Tesla Infotainment vs.
    Apple & Google — in-car infotainment
14. Tesla Computers vs.
    Nvidia & Intel — computer chips, systems on a chip, supercomputers
15. Tesla Batteries vs.
    LG Chem & CATL & Panasonic — battery cells
16. Tesla Seats vs.
    Faurecia & Johnson Controls & Lear Corporation & TS Tech & Toyota Boshoku — automotive seats
17. Tesla Robots vs.
    Kuka & ABB & Yaskawa Electric Corporation — industrial robots for manufacturing

We could also throw mining in there, cathode production, and many more topics I’m sure I’m missing. There are also numerous other companies than the ones listed above for the categories covered.

Want to add anything in?