From “Fax: 650.329.1190”
to “Order Now”

The oldest Tesla homepage we found, from December 15, 2003, has no picture at all. Its header image does not render, so what is left is text under a browser title that says Tesla Motors Inc.: Contact Information, 845 Oak Grove Avenue, Suite #204, Menlo Park, CA 94025, a main line, a fax line and hostmaster@teslamotors.com. No car is named. The company had been incorporated in Delaware that same year.^[1]

Six months later the page is nearly identical. Two details moved. The browser title gains a comma and becomes Tesla Motors, Inc., and the email changes from hostmaster to webmaster@teslamotors.com. That is everything the June 2004 capture has to say.

The three 2005 captures we tried (January, May and November) lost their main image and left empty table borders, so the story jumps from here to the summer of 2006.

By July 2006 the page is black and the car is under a sheet. A red cover hides a low two-seater, and the words on it say The cover comes off July 20! above a clock counting days, hours, minutes and seconds. The image’s alt text puts it another way: The car will be unveiled July 20! Tesla’s own 2008 press release dates the Roadster prototype’s unveiling to July 19, 2006.^[2]

Under the car runs one line of specs: 0 to 60 in about 4 seconds • 135 mpg equivalent • 250 miles per charge • about 1¢ per mile. The alt text behind that line swaps the mpg figure for top speed over 130 mph. An asterisk leads to gray small print: We are currently in the midst of the important and time-consuming safety and durability testing for the Tesla Roadster. It warns that this testing may require design changes that affect the final specifications. Below sit an email field and a button, keep me informed.

Six months earlier, a January 2006 capture had said You Can Drive The Future. and Drivers, get ready., with 0-0-0004 in its footer. In July that footer reads Version 0-1-0017.

In June 2007 the cover is off. A red Roadster fills a dark frame under CHANGING PERCEPTIONS, and two of the five specs beside it have changed: over 200 miles per charge instead of 250, and less than 2¢ per mile instead of about 1¢. Tabs across the top read Home, Performance, Engineering, Styling, More and, set apart from the rest, BUY.

A gray column on the right makes an outright reservation pitch. Its heading is They’re Going Fast, and it ends: We are now accepting reservations for 2008 model year cars. The sooner you sign up, the sooner you’ll be going fast too. Four boxes under the photo (What’s New?, Our Press, Awards, Find Answers Fast) carry headlines like Nightline’s Tesla Roadster: No Gasoline, Plenty of Juice.

The plan behind the car had been public since August 2, 2006. Elon Musk’s “secret” master plan said to build a sports car first, then a model at roughly half the $89k price point, and it already mentioned selling a solar panel from SolarCity. It ended with three words: Don't tell anyone.^[3]

July 2008 keeps the dark frame and changes the headline to Now in Production. The spec list now reads 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds, 13,000 rpm redline, 135 mpg equivalent and 220 miles per charge. The footnote explains the 220: range came from a Validation Prototype car at an EPA-certified location in February 2008.

The What’s New box gives the news in Tesla’s own words: Tesla Motors begins regular production of 2008 Tesla Roadster. The press release said the 2008 model year was sold out and that reservations had passed 900 Roadsters.^[2] Elsewhere on the page: Reserve a 2009 Tesla Roadster, a flagship store in Los Angeles, and a Jay Leno’s Garage video subtitled Batteries are included. The awards box lists a TechCrunchie for Best Clean Tech Startup 2007.

In June 2009 a second car joins the Roadster in the hero. A silver sedan sits next to it, labeled Model S and starting at $49,900*, with up to 300-mile range, 45-minute QuickCharge and 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds. The asterisk lands in the small print at the bottom: *Price includes $7,500 US federal tax credit. Keep that $7,500 in mind. It comes back.

The news column reads like a company raising money and building a sales network: Tesla gets loan approval from US Department of Energy, Tesla Motors to Open Seven Sales & Service Centers This Summer, Tesla Motors Delivers 500th Roadster. The press list spells one Wired headline with three l’s: Feds Lend Tesla $465 Milllion to Build Model S. Under the Roadster, a small red button says buy your tesla.

In December 2010 the black frame is gone. The new page is pale gray and white, the logo is a white T on a red badge hanging from the top edge, and the photo runs wider: a red Roadster in front of wind turbines, ROADSTER 2.5 and a red button, SEE THE NEW ROADSTER. The main navigation has six labels: Roadster, Model S, Go Electric, Enthusiasts, About Tesla, Buy.

The capture’s HTML holds dated updates that tell the year. Tesla Motors has purchased the former NUMMI factory in Fremont, California, where it will build the Model S sedan and future Tesla vehicles. Another covers an agreement with Toyota on an electric RAV4, and another a WIRED cover story called SUPERCHARGED.

The Model S already had its own page. In January 2010 it showed a white prototype and three lines: Base Price 49,900*, Now Taking Reservations, Deliveries Start 2011. Its bullet list promises Seats 7 people and a 17 inch infotainment touchscreen, and the same footnote as the 2009 homepage explains the price.

In July 2011 a black Model S prototype takes over the hero, with THE FIRST OF THEIR KIND and NEW MODEL S IMAGES on the photo. The six navigation labels stay, but the code now hides drop-down lists under them. Under Buy sit Test Drive, Order, Stores, Events, Financing Options and Service. Under Enthusiasts: Blog, Electric Miles, Forums and Shop.

The news in the capture’s HTML is a mix: Autopia’s Tesla Owner Hits Major Mileage Milestone, Latest Tesla Store opens in Park Meadows, Colorado and a press release about pricing a follow-on stock offering. A year before the first Model S reached a customer, it is already the homepage’s main picture.

On July 1, 2012, the hero is a row of Model S sedans in different colors and two lines: THEY’RE HERE and MODEL S IS ON THE ROAD! Four tiles below point to a MODEL S DELIVERY CEREMONY video, a USA Today verdict (THERE’S NO OTHER WAY TO PUT IT: TESLA’S MODEL S LUXURY SEDAN IS SPECTACULAR.), RESERVE MODEL S and a red tag that says GET AMPED.

The menu has grown again. Model S now opens a Model S Design Studio, Options & Pricing and a Facts page, and the top corner says Sign In To My Tesla. The press list in the HTML carries TESLA MOTORS DELIVERS WORLD’S FIRST PREMIUM ELECTRIC SEDAN TO CUSTOMERS, dated June 22, 2012. Tesla’s launch announcement had said Model S seats five adults and two children in optional rear facing seats, described a 17" in-dash touchscreen and put reservations at a number that currently exceed 10,000.^[4]

By October 2013 the hero is one white Model S and a claim in capital letters: THE SAFEST CAR IN AMERICA, five stars, 5-STAR SAFETY RATING IN ALL CATEGORIES. Next to the name sit two buttons, ORDER and TEST DRIVE, and three small links: REQUEST A CALL BACK, APPLY FOR FINANCING, VALUE YOUR TRADE-IN. Three tiles below make the case for owning one: SUPERCHARGER (INCREDIBLY FAST. ALWAYS FREE.), BATTERY SWAP (FULL CHARGE IN UNDER 90 SECONDS) and ORDER MODEL S.

The code holds a German surprise. The call-back form asks Which Tesla Motors vehicle are you interested in?, and a list of options near it reads Linear financing, Balloon financing, RV leasing and Kilometre leasing, beside a link that says Deutschland Site Besuchen. None of it shows in our still of the US homepage.

January 2015 drops the badge and the tiles. A dark Model S drives across the full width of the screen under Introducing Autopilot and Dual Motor All Wheel Drive, with a red Order button, a black Test Drive button and Apply for financing. The logo at the top is now a thin wordmark, with no shield and no T.

The code behind the page carries a login form (Username, Password, Remember me, Create new account) and a region picker that runs from USA and Canada through Norge and Österreich to 中国 and 日本.

Three months later Tesla published a product that wasn’t. On April 1, 2015, it announced the Model W, and Reuters put out the news: As many in the media predicted, it's a watch. It was an April Fools’ joke. Reuters then said: We have withdrawn the headlines and regret putting out the material.^[5]

The domain tesla.com had belonged to Stu Grossman since 1992, and Tesla acquired it in February 2016.^[6] The December 2016 capture is the first homepage in this set at that short address. At first, TechCrunch noted, it redirects visitors to TeslaMotors.com.^[7]

On the page, a blue Model S drives toward a sunset under Full Self-Driving Hardware on All Cars, with Order Your Model S, Order Your Model X and Test Drive. A link under the headline says Learn more about Powerwall 2 and Solar Roof. In the code each car gets a short label: Model S is Quickest, Longest Range, Seats 5 Adults, Model X is Spacious, Tow Rated, Seats 7 Adults. The footer still says Tesla Motors © 2016.

Solar was not new. Musk’s second master plan, in July 2016, promised solar roofs with built-in battery storage and pointed out that the idea has literally been on our website for 10 years.^[8] The Model S page that month is a red car in a dark tunnel: Performance and safety refined, 0 to 60 mph in as little as 2.8 seconds.

On January 1, 2017, the hero is a red Model S and one claim, Longest Range Electric Vehicle, with a link to Watch Our Self-Driving Video. The visible menu lists Energy beside the three cars, and the HTML adds Powerwall. The footer says Tesla Motors © 2017.

A month later that footer was out of date. Effective February 1, 2017, the company changed its legal name from Tesla Motors, Inc. to Tesla, Inc.^[1] The December 2018 capture has caught up. Its HTML footer reads Tesla © 2018, its browser title starts Electric Cars, Solar Panels & Clean Energy Storage, and the footer code holds a link we did not expect on a car maker’s homepage, About Elon Musk.

The 2018 page is a stack of full-screen panels: Model S on a coastal road, then Model X and Model 3, each with pill-shaped buttons, Order Now, Learn More, Test Drive. The HTML goes on to a Power Everything panel for solar panels and Powerwall, and its menu code adds Semi, Carbon Impact and Recall Info.

June 2019 leads with three cars parked side by side under Model 3 and two pill buttons, Custom Order and Existing Inventory, with Visit a Store under them. The small print at the bottom of the screen is new: You can return your car for a full refund within 7 days or 1,000 miles, whichever comes first. Further down, the still shows Power Everything and Tesla Accessories. Model S and Model X are slides of the carousel that exist only in the HTML, where they add Free unlimited Supercharging on inventory cars.

Earlier that year Tesla had told investors it would exclusively transact our vehicle sales through the Internet (except for limited inventory sales). The same filing confirmed a $35,000 base price Model 3 Standard Range.^[9] On the homepage, the return promise sits at the bottom of the hero, below the cars.

In June 2020 the Model 3 slide moves to a mountain lake. The code gives each of the four cars on sale the same line: Order Online for Touchless Delivery. Solar Roof and Solar Panels now sit in the top bar, and the menu lists Cybertruck, Roadster and Semi.

Tesla’s online shop had its own jokes that year. On July 5, 2020, it started selling red satin shorts with “S3XY” in gold across the back, a name built from the letters of its four models. Reuters wrote it up as a jab at short sellers and gave the price: The shorts cost $69.420.^[10]

In November the shop added Tesla Tequila. A 750 ml bottle cost $250, it came in a lightning-bolt-shaped bottle, and customers could buy two at most.^[11]

In the January 2021 capture the same digits are back, this time with a comma. The page opens on a white house with solar panels on its roof and no car at all. Its headline in the code is Lowest Cost Solar Panels in America, with Money-back guarantee, though neither line shows in our still. One panel further down, the HTML prices the flagship sedan: Model S, Starting at $69,420.

This capture also starts a browser title that lasts through every later year here, Electric Cars, Solar & Clean Energy | Tesla. And its photos come with descriptions written for screen readers that stay the same for years. Metallic blue Model Y driving down a hillside highway appears in the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 captures.

In June 2022 a red Model 3 drives across a pale, empty plain. A banner above it links to Read Tesla's 2021 Impact Report, and the code still says Order Online for Touchless Delivery under the cars.

In January 2023 the banner talks money: Until March 2023, certain new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit for eligible buyers. The 2009 homepage had used the same $7,500 to bring the first Model S price down to $49,900. The 2023 hero is a blue Model Y on a road below wooded hills. The HTML gives it Custom Order and View Inventory buttons that do not render in our still, and swaps touchless delivery for Schedule a Demo Drive.

In June 2024 the headline above the cars is a loan rate. Two Model 3s, one gray and one red, drive below 1.99% APR Financing and From $216 /mo Lease After Est. Gas Savings, with Order Now and Demo Drive. Further panels in the HTML quote prices too: Model Y From $31,490, Model X From $63,990, both After Est. Savings.

The Model S page tells a speed story. Its 0 to 60 mph time goes from 5.6 seconds on the January 2010 page to as little as 2.8 seconds in July 2016, 2.4s in January 2020 and 1.99 s in January 2024, a figure the page marks as Model S Plaid values. The 2024 price reads From $71,090*, or $74,990 before estimated savings. Its hero photo does not render in this capture, so the first screen is a white gradient with the numbers.

There is no 2025 picture here: the January, June and October captures we tried left the hero blank or the whole page empty. The January 1, 2026 capture opens on a carousel. Three cars, red, white and gray, stand in front of a city skyline under Model Y, 0% APR Available, a blue Order Now and a white View Inventory, and at the bottom of the screen floats one more button, Schedule a Drive Today. Cards below start with Midsize SUV and Sport Sedan, and the full page goes on to Current Offers, American Heroes and Full Self-Driving (Supervised).

2003 · Contact information2003 · Then2026 · Order Now2026 · Jan

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