Tesla pitch deck (2011)
Tesla's 2011 investor presentation is the deck the company showed investors after its 2010 IPO. It walks from the Roadster to the Model S sedan and the Fremont factory that would build it. It is not an early fundraising deck, but the Tesla pitch deck is still worth studying for how it uses partners and reservations as proof.
- Company
- Tesla
- Year
- 2011
- Round
- Investor deck
- Slides
- 15
- Type
- Investor presentation
ⓘ This is a public-company investor presentation, not an early fundraising deck.
Deck © Tesla. Shared for learning, credited to pitches.ai.
What's in the Tesla pitch deck
All 15 slides, in order.
Slide 1 · Cover
The Tesla wordmark and the words Investor Presentation.
Slide 2 · Team
Twelve executives shown with logos of where they worked before, including SpaceX, PayPal, Google, Apple, Toyota and Audi.
Slide 3 · Engineering Growth
A chart shows engineering headcount roughly doubling from Q1 to Q3 2010, to more than 400 people across powertrain, vehicle and manufacturing engineering.
Slide 4 · Toyota
Toyota invested $50M at the IPO and signed a $9M prototype contract for the RAV4 EV, with a development contract expected to bring $60M in revenue.
Slide 5 · Panasonic
Panasonic invested $30M in Q4 2010 and is developing a custom battery cell with Tesla, backed by a quote from Panasonic's CTO.
Slide 6 · Daimler
Daimler ordered battery packs for 1,500 Smart fortwo cars and about 500 Mercedes A-Class cars, and a chart shows sales to Daimler rising each quarter of 2010.
Slide 7 · Roadster
Over 1,400 Roadsters are on the road in 31 countries with over 8 million miles driven, plus new stores in Tokyo, Copenhagen, Milan, Newport Beach and Paris.
Slide 8 · Model S
The Model S is projected at 20,000 units a year for 2013, about 1% of the global premium car market.
Slide 9 · Model S Specs
Planned features include up to 300 miles per charge, a 45 minute quick charge, 0 to 60 mph in under 6 seconds and a 17 inch touchscreen.
Slide 10 · Reservations
Cumulative Model S reservations climb every quarter from about 500 in Q1 2009 to about 3,000 in Q3 2010, with a $5,000 minimum deposit.
Slide 11 · Platform
One common battery and powertrain platform is shown feeding a sedan, a cabriolet, a van and a crossover or SUV.
Slide 12 · Timeline
The Model S plan runs from alpha build in 2010 to beta build and crash tests in 2011 to production validation and first deliveries in 2012.
Slide 13 · Fremont Factory
Tesla bought the Fremont plant for $42M, a site with historical capacity of over 400,000 cars a year that the slide calls ideal for a third generation car.
Slide 14 · Asset Purchases
Photos of the stamping lines, cranes and paint shops Tesla bought for the factory.
Slide 15 · Fremont Progress
Ownership transfer is complete, equipment is arriving and the plant is being prepared for prototype builds in 2011.
What the Tesla deck does well
- Slides 4 to 6 give one slide each to Toyota, Panasonic and Daimler, so outside partners do the work of proving the technology.
- Slide 10 shows Model S reservations rising every quarter and adds that the sales team was not even pushing them.
- Slide 11 explains the long term plan with one picture, a single platform under a sedan, a cabriolet, a van and an SUV.
What founders can learn from it
- Show demand before the product ships, the way slide 10 counts paid reservations for a car that did not exist yet.
- Let credible partners vouch for you with real numbers, like the $50M from Toyota and $30M from Panasonic on slides 4 and 5.
- Put your plan on a dated timeline investors can check later, as slide 12 does with alpha build, beta build and first deliveries.
Questions about the Tesla pitch deck
- How many slides are in the Tesla pitch deck?
- The Tesla investor presentation has 15 slides.
- What's in the Tesla pitch deck?
- It opens with the leadership team and engineering headcount, then covers partnerships with Toyota, Panasonic and Daimler. Next come the Roadster's results and the Model S with its specs, reservations and timeline. It closes with the purchase of the Fremont factory.
- Can I download the Tesla pitch deck?
- Yes. The full 15 slide deck is available as a free PDF on this page.
- Is this Tesla's original pitch deck?
- No. It is a 2011 investor presentation made after Tesla went public, not a deck used to raise early money from venture investors.
- What did the Tesla deck say about the Model S?
- It projected 20,000 Model S cars a year for 2013, about 1% of the global premium car market. Planned specs included up to 300 miles per charge and 0 to 60 mph in under 6 seconds.
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