In 2016, Tesla started to move into adulthood. Though the company hasn’t been a startup for years (Tesla was founded in 2003), it’s still a small fish in the world of car manufacturers. But it’s getting bigger, and as it grows, Tesla is becoming a large company with consequential responsibilities.
Grown-up companies can no longer blame problems on youth and inexperience. While Tesla has been experiencing some growing pains, especially around the rollout of the Model X, overall things seem to be going according to plan. Whether things will continue to go according to plan is the great question for 2017.
At the beginning of this year, Tesla predicted it would deliver between 80,000 and 90,000 cars during 2016. Though we won’t see the final numbers until early 2017, Tesla appears on track to hit the low end of that guidance. That’s a good start: selling cars means bringing in revenue.
Can we trust Tesla cars to autonomously drive themselves?
And boy, were there cars to marvel at this year. In March, we got a look at the Model 3, the electric car for the masses. Starting at $35,000, the company took in an impressive 400,000 preorders of the car. Tesla also created an “upgradable” car, a vehicle outfitted with all the necessary hardware for features that owners individually unlock. Lastly, it made the Model S even more ludicrous with a 100kWh battery and a 0 to 60MPH time of 2.5 seconds. All Tesla cars built after October 2016 would also contain all the hardware required for “full self-driving capabilities,” once the software is ready.